Ghost of Dakar

I have been fascinated by the discipline and persistence that one must have to compete in and finish the Paris-Dakar rally. I first saw a report on it when I was in the university. It was a dream of mine to ride in it. It became a kind of “bucket list” item. While living in Nice, France in the early nineties, I had the opportunity to see several of the bikes that had competed in the rally in a couple of the local motorcycle shops. I envisioned myself riding them. One day I was given an opportunity to ride a Suzuki 800 single, a bike that was conceived and fashioned after the Dakar rally bikes. It was not really that much like them but riding that booming single just blew my mind. It was a particularly sunny day and my vision was obscured as I squinted my way down the road. Though I was riding in broad daylight, it was almost as though I was riding in the darkness as I rumbled down the road. I imagined being lost in the desert in the darkness with only the stars and my headlight to find my way.