VOL. 53 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 26, 2016 P81
Those guys are really con-
fident in their road books and
they've been doing it for a long
time so they understand it better
than I do, but I think eventually
when I get a little more time and
practice with the road book I'll
be able to do their speed be-
cause I wasn't far behind the first
week at all.
Road Book Secrets And
Speed
Experience plays a big role
in it because it's all in how you
mark the road book. The more
you mark the road book, the
more you do it; you learn what
colors [correspond to what road
book notes]. Usually you mark it
pretty simple so you're not look-
ing down and seeing a bunch of
color.
When you're on the roads
it's real easy to find your way
and navigate because you have
plenty of time to look down at
your road book. But when you're
doing the off-track (off-piste, as
the Europeans refer to it) stuff
through the bushes, that's when
it gets difficult.
I think they have it mastered
to where they can look at three
notes at a time and remember
them. I think they can look at the
first note and once they're done
with the first note, they already
know what the second note is
without looking down too long;
they just look down [quickly]
to remember. I think that's just
experience because that's like
the only type of racing they have
out there.
I was getting better at it as
the race kept going, marking
the road book simpler because
you really just want to mark
what direction the arrow's going
and if it's something important,
highlight the kilometers, like
the odometer [reading]. That
way when you look down re-
ally quick, you want to see the
numbers and what way you have
to go so that way you can line up
your odometer on the bike [with
what's on the road book].
Otherwise, you get too much
color across the paper [of the road
Brabec, the 2014
AMA National
Hare & Hound
Champion, is
no stranger to
the often times
desert-like terrain
of Dakar.
