VOL. 50 ISSUE 9 MARCH 5, 2013 P71
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I KNEW I COULD WIN A STAGE, BUT DOING IT
WAS ANOTHER ACCOMPLISHMENT.
how far out in the middle of absolutely nowhere we were sometimes. But the whole experience
and being in the race was the
best part.
Did it ever get, well, scary?
Not really scary. The medical
staff and the organization and
how they do everything is unreal,
and I felt so safe. There are helicopters that are always within
10 or 15 minutes, so if you pull
your emergency beacon or need
help, they are there right away
with a doctor, so you don���t really
feel like you���re far away from your
group of people or anyone who
can help you, but at the same
time, civilization is pretty far away.
Now I go down to Baja and I just
kind of laugh, if I go that way or
that way I���ll hit an ocean or there
will be somebody somewhere,
so it kind of puts things in perspective.
What were you most anxious about starting in your first
Dakar?
Going into this, I was nervous
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about the terrain, the speeds,
the riding and stuff like that, but
it was surprising that I ended up
feeling so comfortable with the
terrain. It was the same as the
Southern California desert, Baja,
Best in the Desert kind of thing,
so the riding part I adapted well.
What was most difficult to
adapt too?
The biggest thing to adapt to
were just the times, waking up
at three in the morning, being on
the bike and riding at four in the
morning, and not getting off until six o���clock that night, it���s just a
long time on the bike and mentally it definitely wears you out.
Anybody who has woken up early
and had a long day at the office,
or whatever it is, by the time the
day���s over, you don���t want to talk
to anyone and your brain is just
kind of worn out, and you really
feel like that every day at Dakar.
That was tough. Trying to navigate was tough, too. Trying to
figure that out - I���ve never done
anything like that before, and
(Above) A busy schedule was one
of the toughest parts of the Dakar
for Caselli.
(Top left) The two-time hare and
hound champ was all smiles even
after a bad day at the office.
so I was stressing myself out, I
was thinking so much. I mean,
you���re looking down every five to
10 seconds, making sure I���m not
going the wrong way, so that was
tough.
How did you feel when you
took the checkered flag for
the last time and that you just
completed the Dakar Rally for
the first time?
It was a little melancholy when
I finished. I was happy I was there
but at the same time I was ready
to race when I got the checkered
flag on the last day. At that point,
I felt like I figured some things out
a little bit more, and I was comfortable with the bike. I was a little
frustrated with how I did, I had a
couple of good days, but at the
same time, I wanted to improve
on that. Now I have a whole year
to think about it and try to get
ready to go back.
So you want to go back and
do it again?
