Fransua Rachmann: Paul, Sean and I were in the desert this morning kitting up as the sun came over the horizon. Sean had programmed a 135km route into each of our Garmin GPS units so that we could all follow the same route from waypoint to waypoint.

Navigation is an important part of any desert enduro race. The 201 Garmin GPS gets programmed the same way for the Desert X races. So it's good to practise using it. But for the Desert Challenge there is another more sophisticated GPS system that are given to the riders to follow the route through the Liwa Desert.
That GPS system will only be given to the riders before the race so practising using GPS and following the route is a vital part of preparation for the big one!

The first leg from Bab Al Shams Road to Al Faqa was a technical section with small dunes, Sean lead the way and did a good job getting the team in one piece to Al Faqa service station for a quick refuel and a small bite to eat.

I then had the difficult job of navigating bigger dunes and soft sand from Al Faqa to Cattle Grid. Following the GPS religiously is sometimes not a good idea because there might be easier ways through the dunes a little bit off the route. Although it might mean riding further, sometimes there are flat sections that can be ridden in a shorter time than the direct route. The going was slower than it should have been but it luckily there is not too many sections like this in the Desert Challenge.

Paul lead the last leg from Cattle Grid back to the cars at Bab Al Shams road. The pace was very fast and it was possible to open up the bikes on the long flat sections. The few dunes on the route was the only parts where the bikers had to gear down, but most of the way it was 5th gear and the wind in your ears!

Check out the latest video to get an arm chair ride through the desert!

Moving Time: 2Hrs 58min
Moving Average: 45.5km/h
Distance covered: 135km