SDAR to Help Sponsor Local DAKAR Rally Rider

[KTMrad 513]

The following message is from a friend of mine I have known for a few years, who also rides a Ducati E900 Elefant.

His dream has been to enter the Dakar Rally.....well, that time has come for him.

San Diego Adventure Riders wants to help John fulfill his dream....we will be making a contribution to his race effort. Some proceeds from our last dualsport event will go to this, and if anyone is interested in contributing under the SDAR name, your name will be listed as participating in this partial sponsorship

I'm excited for John, as his adventure is just beginning...........read on............

BTW, John and his Elefant have been on the front page of our site for quite some time now, the upper right hand photo at the top of the page.....Lucky Explorer Elefant riding through the silt on the Lucky Explorer Rally, 2005.

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Well guys the adventure has begun………………

At the end of last year 06 I made the commitment to myself and my family to partake in the 2008 Dakar Ralley. As most of you already know, it has been a life long dream/obsession of mine. Every year for the last 15 or so, I get completely miserable for the month of January (during the ralley) and then for the rest of the year, I wear out video’s watching it over and over again.

Finally in the fall of 2004 I had the opportunity to race the UAE Desert Challenge, which is the last of the FIM Cross Country World Rallies before the “big one” Dakar. The UAE Desert Challenge was a week long Dakar styled ralley across the sands of the Empty Quarter outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. That race went pretty well, finishing second in class against the worlds best ralley racers (only missing 1st, by 7 minutes after a week of racing) and 16th overall. Along with the UAE Ralley, I’ve honed my skills by racing Baja Score races, Best in the Desert, Nevada races and some local desert Hare and Hounds. So,,,,,,,,Technically and skill wise I’m ready, physically I’m almost ready and financially ???? (Anybody want to buy a couple of kids or a nice house in Mission Viejo? )

Anyways NO turning back now, so here’s the first of many updates on my progress. I may convert my Elefant site into a RACE-2-DAKAR website, but we’ll see.

After much research, debate, sleepless nights and, combining that with my experience and engineering logic, I’ve chosen to race the Dakar on an Aprilia RXV 450 and probably more important, I’ve joined up with TeamRally Panamerica, www.rallypanam.com to have any hope of finishing this three week, 7000 mile offroad hell, across Africa.

I’ve already started mocking up the larger front fuel tank (hopefully 6+ gallons) and next will be designing the rear tanks( approx 3 gal). From there I will have to redesign the exhaust system. Like I said, I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

John Deykes

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[sandiegoland 0]

Randy, why don't we set a goal to raise enough for some aspect of the race... like shipping his bike one way... or outfitting some spares crate... Fuel and tires for 10 days... or whatever you can come up with...

Then we can have one or two big local rides with John... raise awareness... give supporters a sticker for their bikes...

...just brain storming...

[KTMrad 513]

I'm open to suggestions. By the way, John did not ask for help.....I decided this as soon as I heard he was entering the Dakar.

For one, I'd like to push for contributions to go towards his expenses, since the entire effort costs well over $20,000.

Whatever we can do, and we'll post details about how to contribute monetarily to his race effort.

[KTMrad 513]

John on his Elefant from the Lucky Explorer Ride in the High Sierra, 2006.

photo hijacked from Brett

[KTMrad 513]

John (in black) posing, on a ride we did in 2002 from Barstow to Vegas.

[Brett 0]

John on his Elefant from the Lucky Explorer Ride in the High Sierra, 2006.

photo hijacked from Brett

What are the chances that just 2 days prior to receiving John's Dakar announcement I would post that photo with other LER pics in Best Shots (2nd post) ...

Last night during our weekly meeting, we round-tabled ways to raise $ as a group. Many good ideas were forthcoming, and some downright generous offers. One guy said he would give $500, but that coulda been the beer talking We'll let him just pitch in like the rest of us ...

Here's the idea I like the best:

Design a T shirt with the Dakar logo / John on it / etc. Go see John since he only lives in Mission Viejo, & have John sign the shirts. I think it would be cool to do this a day or two before he leaves as a send-off. The high-dollar shirt contributions would have already been collected and given to John.

I'd pitch in 50 bucks for a shirt like that, knowing I'm over paying, but it's an opportunity to contribute as well.

[KTMrad 513]

From our 2005 Lucky Explorer Rally, John riding through a silt bed in Nevada

Will be posting more details about how to help with the sponsorship, what else we will be doing to help John, etc.

[unclecameron 0]

I might be able to help him with some website work if he needs help with that, didn't see any contact info on his current site, but if someone is interested they can PM me.

[KTMrad 513]

John's Dakar website is race2dakar.com

I started off with a nice amount donated to his race effort in the name of San Diego Adventure Riders. If you want to donate under the club name, there's a way to donate on his site through Paypal....make sure you send a note along with the donation saying you're with SDAR, and I believe our name and the individuals who donate directly, will be listed as sponsors....waiting for more info from John on this.

We will be helping sell t-shirts and apparel also.

More details will be posted as I get them.

[Yeti 0]

HECK!, if I can get a t-shirt or stickers out of it I'll contribute!!

I figure each sticker is worth 5hp and each t-shirt knocks 5 pounds off the bike!!

[Brett 0]

John's Dakar website is race2dakar.com

I started off with a nice amount donated to his race effort in the name of San Diego Adventure Riders. ...

... donation saying you're with SDAR, and I believe our name and the individuals who donate directly, will be listed as sponsors

Randy, I know how much you donated for the group. Will John be willing to list SDAR here?:

http://www.race2dakar.com/SPONSORS.html

Hopefully he can name the link "San Diego Adventure Riders", not the url of "dualsport-sd.com"

[sandiegoland 0]

Done. SDAR noted...

[KTMrad 513]

HECK!, if I can get a t-shirt or stickers out of it I'll contribute!!

I figure each sticker is worth 5hp and each t-shirt knocks 5 pounds off the bike!!

I'll be talking with John more this weekend.

I think there will be a few options....you can just buy a t-shirt for X amount, or a button down shirt for XX amount.

Or, you can donate $$ directly under the SDAR name, and your name will be listed under SDAR as sponsors.

Or, you can donate individually....I'm not sure what the terms will be to be listed if you donate individually.

Will keep y'all posted with more details.

[Yeti 0]

I'll be talking with John more this weekend.

I think there will be a few options....you can just buy a t-shirt for X amount, or a button down shirt for XX amount.

Or, you can donate $$ directly under the SDAR name, and your name will be listed under SDAR as sponsors.

Or, you can donate individually....I'm not sure what the terms will be to be listed if you donate individually.

Will keep y'all posted with more details.

I'll be getting a shirt and donating. Heck, if I can't get to Dakar at least my money will!

It would be cool if John would do some sort of informal "talk" when he gets back to tell us all about it.

[KTMrad 513]

Plans for shirts and stuff have not worked out yet, but John's wife is supposed to be sending me some shirts to sell.

John starts the race in a couple of days.

[KTMrad 513]

From John..........

To all,

As most of you know I’m going on an off-road racing adventure across Africa. It’s the longest, most grueling motorsports event in the world. I have raced the Baja 1000 and 500 and raced in one other international rally in the United Arab Emirates in 2004, but these pail in comparison to the Dakar Rally.

I’ve attached a link to the Dakar Rally website, which is very interesting and full of information. Also, during the race you can log onto the website, type in my race number, which is 152, and actually track my progress in real time. On every vehicle, (motorcycle, car or truck) there is a GPS/LoJack type of unit that tracks my every move. Also, the race is televised daily on the Versus channel (formerly Outdoor Life Network).

The actual race is from the 5th of January till the 20th, and don’t forget about the time difference of 8 hours.

Wish me luck, and I need to thank all the sponsors and supporters that helped me make this “Lifelong” dream happen. Almost all of the support I received was from great friends and family, so THANK YOU SO MUCH. For any of you still thinking of contributing, the easiest way would be to log onto my race website www.race2dakar.com and click donations or just buy a shirt or two….. Every bit really helps!!!

Dakar Rally Website

"A challenge for those who go.”

“A dream for those who stay."

[KTMrad 513]

Our Club Stickers will be in the Dakar Rally on John's racebike....Aprilia 450 twin.

So, if any of you follow John's race progress, keep an eye out for him, his bike and our stickers.

[Crawdaddy 96]

Bad News - Dakar Rally Canceled

[sandiegoland 0]

Bad News - Dakar Rally Canceled

Tears...

[christi20 0]

Whaaaaa????

How can that be?

What is the reason?

[Brett 0]

I feel so very sad for all the participants, and our friend John. This was his lifetime motorcycle goal and his first entry.

[bikeslut 1]

Whaaaaa????

How can that be?

What is the reason?

terrorist threat... if you want all the facts, AND all the BS look at the ADVrider.com site...

This really must suck for the small time guys, scraping together the money and support to do a "once in a lifetime" thing like this, and have it go away.

Being the person that I am, I would say "F 'em... we're racing anyway..." but between insurance and all the other logistics, it just wasn't going to happen this time... total bummer.

If somebody got to the caravan, in a place with civilians around, and they organizers had advance warning of an attack...

[DigDug 0]

Being the person that I am, I would say "F 'em... we're racing anyway..."

I'm with you!!!

Living your life in fear is that the TERRORists want. Apparently, we're not the only ones who think so. Here's a quote from the linked AP article:

Experts cautioned — as Western governments have often warned — that bowing to terror threats could encourage more violence. They said al-Qaida's North African wing had scored propaganda points as it seeks to increase its reach in the region.

"They scored a media victory without firing a shot," said Louis Caprioli, a former assistant director at France's counterintelligence agency DST. "Everybody gets the impression that they are very powerful, when they in fact represent a small number of people in this region."

Adam Raisman, senior analyst at the SITE Institute in Washington, said "the jihadist Internet community is quite happy with the closing, seeing it as a victory."

Sorry to "hijack" (no pun intended) the thread - but the terrorists are winning every day.

[Brett 0]

This really must suck for the small time guys, scraping together the money and support to do a "once in a lifetime" thing like this, and have it go away.

This is the case with John Deykes. I also noticed a day or two ago when the Dakar site was still up ( Now the cancellation message: http://www.dakar.com/indexus.html ) that there is a huge influx of 1st timers this year - Something like 40% !!! These are non factory sponsored privateers that just lost their "own" time and $.

[KTMrad 513]

See John's post about the cancellation of the Dakar Rally HERE