Riding the South America Dakar Rally route
 

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone out there have done riding the South America Dakar Rally (Argentina, Chile and Bolivia) route outside the Dakar season? This is in no way participate in the competition but just tracking the Dakar route with a group of riders unassisted.
Appreciate any advice or contact point for me to start planning.

Amzah

:scooter:

I'm also interested in this, as the route across Argentina in the first few rounds looked fantastic and not too technical at all. Just hard packed gravel with some fantastic scenery.

Believe me, you NEED support!! :helpsmilie: Don't try this alone, or even with one other person!! You need a team of riders and you ALL need to be in TOP shape, no matter how fast or slow you go! We are talking about EXTREME and/or DANGEROUS camping, as at the most you will do 1/2 of the kms per day that the Dakar does... and that leaves you out in the middle of a desert or some valley where there is not even water, much less gas! You might even have to endure 15,000 ft overnight!

Rally bikes can go 250 kms on a tank and they have AT LEAST one refill (provided by ASO, sometimes must be flown in by helicopter!) per day.

I know... I live in Peru and do extreme moto tours, even a FOLLOW THE DAKAR tour. adventure motorcycle tours in Peru and all South America - Follow the Dakar 2016 Even with support, it is difficult to get into the deserts and valleys, high passes, etc that the Dakar transits thru!

No you don't (not in my opinion anyway), at least not for the majority of routes. People have ridden then before the Dakar and people will do afterwards. Hell, in Africa the locals ride old routes all the time on mobylettes.

If you're not going at the speeds they are going at, not on the time frames they are going at, and are sensible there is no reason you can't ride a good number of Dakar trails.

15,000 feet overnight,well anyone who has ridden south west Bolivia has done that. Being in the desert with nothing around, well anyone who's done some Sahara routes has done that. Fesh fesh, dunes, rocky terrain, it's all been done.

As for fuel, well plenty of ADV riders carry 500km worth.

I'm not saying there aren't risks or that it's not difficult, but a huge percentage of it can be done.

Dakar
 

Hello Amzah
Five of us followed the Dakar a couple of years ago - by far the best trip we have ever completed.

Because we chose to actually view the race it was impossible to do the same route as them plus not sure our KLR 650's (hired in Argentina) would have been able to cope with a lot of the sections the competitors travelled on.

Nonetheless I believe you can get a real taste for the Dakar and with careful planning, can do it on your own.

Pleas let me know if you would like any more information.

JP

Long distance traveling in remote areas need some serious thinking and proper planning, including looking at fuel options, water and food supplies, and the like. With a two-way satellite communication device for safety (just in case) I think it can be done, but not advisable doing it with a group of less than 3 riders. Everything is fine until it goes wrong, but hey, isn't it what the true spirit of adventure riding is all about?

What I'd like to know if how to get hold of the itinerary, knowing a great part of the Dakar rally raid is also made of thousands of kilometers of liaison roads and not just hard core stuff. Riding the latter is what would be of interest to me. This is definitely something a ride I'd like to do, with or without support.

Dakar
 

On our 2014 trip the 'rough map' of the route was on the Dakar website about 6 months before the race.

Most of the specific details of each of the legs was only announced a day or two before it took place.

Too be honest, you get to see more of the Dakar on TV than following it live but that's not really the point I guess!

JP

I don't know why people keep talking about following the Dakar. The OP clearly stated he was interesting in riding the routes outside of the period when the Dakar is in town.

Some routes from the 2014 and 2015 Dakars must be known by some. A lot of it, just like in Africa used pre-existing trails.

To the OP:

It depends how much is off-road? I mean, like really off-road. The only maps I can pull up of the Dakar are not detailed enough for me to see.