Death on Dakar
 

A recent news wire post that carries some sad news....

French Rider dies on Dakar

Thanks
 

Hi, that's sad news, but thanks. Linzi

What terrible news.

The BBC report has slightly better detail, says he was sat next to his helmet with some food waiting for a rescue team.

Andy

Tragic, but everybody knows the score, I feel for his family and friends.
Given the chance I'd be there myself, wirhout out any hesitation

sad story.

I guess dehydration...

last minute data
From ADV:
Quote
Looks like he had problem (no fuel...). Informed ASO about it. Removed helmet and protectors, prepared shelter against sun and been waiting. He also sent distress signal (button on iritrack) one. May die on heart attack or so. But the distress signal came to Argentina from centre at France way too late. But maybe he was dead after while even if they would come in two hours or so. It may explain why he did not looked what is up when they loaded another bike nearby.

Sad to read all this!I had the wish with a non fatal rally.But as a extreme the Dakar will be giving us news like that for shure.
Here a picture i tool from him at Saladillo gas stop.

My condolences to the family....

192 standing for gas
 

This is really so ****ing sad. All the entrants to the Dakar are aware of the risks involved but this is really awful. The event has always had an image of camaraderie with competitors mucking in to help each other out. To think that this poor bloke activated his emergency beacon then found some shade to await rescue but no body found him for three days. Absolutely unforgivable.

new update
 

quoting from ADV
Austrian broadcasting reports that Terry died of a heart attack on sunday or sunday night, according to the coroner's report of the hospital in Santa Rosa.

Eurosport reports that the distress signal reached Paris on sunday but wasn't relayed to Argentina until monday.

Could have been cardiovascular insult caused by dehydration--mainly a problem of shock, not helped by a thickening of the blood.

Would I do the Dakar? Well if you paid for my bike, the bike preparation, the time and expenses I needed for training, plus £50,000 on top for my trouble, then I would still say, "No thanks." Just the thought of being chased down by idiotic cage drivers terrifies me.

Tim

I think Tim and I are travellers not racers. You wouldn't get me on the Dakar if they threw in free beer for life and a couple of oil wells.

I do however have a lot of respect for someone whose obviously pursued their dream. I think the Dakar people really need to get their act together if the information coming through is correct. I think this poor guy might have lost his life because of the time difference and the fact it was the weekend. If that is the case, it is utterly unforgivable.

Tim, you seem to know about this condition? Would water have been the only self help? Thickening of the blood I know is helped by Asprin, would you risk taking it without seeing a doctor first if you knew you'd be out there for hours? I guess if you had internal injuries Asprin would make it worse?

Andy

would aspirin help? who knows..
 

these might be known to most of you there, but I would like to drop a few lines; just in case:

• first of all, no one seems to know the exact cause of death; it could be a heart attack in the first place;if then, dehydration might have deteriorated the situation;
• dehydration is loss of critical amount of water from the body-AND-the electrolytes; of which, sodium (table salt) is the most critical one... So, plain water could only deteriorate the whole equilibrium of the body by diluting the left amount of electrolytes. mineral water could be more rational for it contains electrolytes, but won't solve the problem! Dehydration is an emergency and should be treated properly.
• aspirin does not do any harm to you if you are dhydrated.( but won't help either !)
• if one has a cardiac situation, a heavy dehydration and fatigue-which is the rule in such physical conditions like Dakar rally, a heart attack can occur. and what a heart attack add to the situation is, the pain; and pain changes the way the metabolism runs, seriously.
• if there's no stomach ulsers etc. then, aspirin 100-300 mg/daily is recommended for men over 40; all the time, Dakar rally included. it is beleived to postpone heart attacs, you know.
• AND, if you feel something wrong while on the track OR anywhere-doing anything; stop whatever you're doing, and RELAX; get an aspirin if you have one-you can chew it and in emergency situation, chewing is better; call an ambulance; wait ( or hope ?)
• if there was an emergency signal mechanism and was used as expected, why it did not work like there was an "emergency"; it is hard to understand. they should've calculated the time zones etc. already.

Good point. To travel or to race is totally different, quite a few people don’t realize this.
Personally I have interests in both and have started to pick up racing again after 20 years absence.

Could not agree more, travelling and racing could not be further apart.

I saw the thread title a few times and though 'how very sad, but this person was probably actually living his life's dream - so what a way to go out"

BUT, NO

having time on my hands I read the thread. The circumstances surrounding this guys death (as we know them so far) are absolutely inexcusable. Whether he was racer, traveller or dreamer, he not only had the time to do so, but actually did, all the right things. The organisation let him down.

INEXCUSABLE

I'd question the advice to take anything other than water on a continuous basis...
While a product may 'postpone heart attacs' it could lead to liver damage for instance... If you do take anything other than water on a daly basis .. see your doctor! A better, more varied diet might be a better solution... I always vary my beer consumption ... Tooehys Old .. Coopers Light .. etc ... :)

Oh and a bit of exercise... think that is better overall for the body/mind than any consumed/injected drug.

I totally agree, there are only one pill that should taken every day and only if you are a girl :flowers:

It does appear according to 'UK Eurosport' that the organisation let him down, but after watching the way car and trucks are driving 'blind' through the dust it will unfortunatly be sooner rather than later that they hit, injure or kill a motorcycle competitor. In 2006 when I followed the rally in Africa I was overtaken on the tarmac by a Kamaz support vehicle, I tucked in behind him and I reached speeds of 80 mph, upon realising the danger I 'backed off' and was astounded that the Kamaz still maintained these speeds through built-up areas, the draft from this monster could easily have 'sucked' a human from the roadside beneath its wheels. At an overnight stop many of the british m/c competitors were telling tales of close misses with cars but especially the trucks. We all know its racing, but you don't race to run the risk of getting run down or side swiped by a car or truck, incidently ex bike turned car competitors like Alfie Cox, Stephane Peterhansel and Thierry Magnaldi show great respect for the bikes.

From what i heard from police forces here is that even if the help would reached the same day(two hours later)he would have been dead anyway.It looks he stops as he felt bad.Maybe he took some kind of chemical booster.....and body said....no thanks?
A second biker was rescued very near his position and he had to hear the truck if still allive.
I wouldn´t blame so fast no one.If you know those areas,the heat,the constant limit exhausting excercise!
To many ifs.Hard to say.First rally.Previous conditions?
He knew high risks are in.
I choose dieing there as been hit by a taxi in the city!!!!!!
My two cents

An idea for the DAKAR RALLY
 

We sometimes ride the bush, the deserts, I remember it being very rough very isolated, sometimes very scary.... and I have often wondered our fate if we were injured or had an unexpected medical emergency, or if both bikes broke and we ran out of water.

I, too, share the point of view, already expressed here, that I would rather check out doing what I loved than doing the routine.

But, the death of French rider Pascal Terry might have been prevented if Dakar officials provided safe flares that are color coded to each competitor.

If anyone, even another competitor ... spots a red flare, for example, it should be made obligatory to render assistance.

Our hearts reach out to the family and friends of Pascal Terry and to all who represent the Dakar Argentina-Chile 09.

Ed and Elisa

It’s not failsafe but the Sentinel-system helps a bit:

For more info: YouTube - DAKAR -4: On the trace

In Africa they usually had a lot more space, now they drive a lot on narrow tracks and the risks are higher.

Changing the subject - would you consider opening another thread in the appropriate section explaining how we might ride some of this route? Watching the Dakar on Eurosport has really opened my eyes to the amazing territory that is this part of the world but a lot of it seems to be private land.

Sentinel helps a bit..........Only when the approaching vehicle decides to activate it, and often they don't.

If they are driving blind what benefit is it to the competitor already in the 'dust'? He may just get one last chance to scream 'Oh Fcuk' before getting mowed down.

The risks, even in africa have been high, and by your own admission state that on this rally the tracks are narrower and the risks are higher. This should not be the case. I am 'Pro' bikes and definately NOT anti car or truck, but surely commonsense should prevail. Even experienced middle order riders have expressed concern, so what must it be like at the back of the motorcycle pack being charged down firstly by the quickest cars, and to top it off the trucks as well?

It would be nice to see the bikes run a day ahead of the rest, but due to the logistics of running such an event would probably be unworkable mainly due to cost.

not being in possession of all the facts, I won't comment on the poor man's death & certainly wouldn't apportion blame.

However I do consider the delay in finding him to be unnacceptable & there are obviously some gross disfontionements within the organisation here.

a couple of days ago Jean- le-Cam capsized his boat. The sarsat beacon was instantly activated & within minutes (ie less than an hour) a search & rescue operation was being organised. Jean Le Cam was about 5000nm (thats over 9000km!) from the vendee globe race headquarters.

(as an aside he was rapidly located by the Chilien, i think, airforce & rescued by a fellow compettitor)

My point is, that the technology exists & works to alert the race organisation of a problem & rapidly locate the source. What went wrong with their systems?

I think that is the question that they should be asking, rather than trying to approtion blame.

My thoughts & prayers go out to his family.

It is so easy to become dehydrated, just the fact that you are breathing heavily through your mouth--rather than your nose--in hot climes increases the moisture loss. Simon Pavey (who's a Dakar'09 competitor) stresses the importance of hydration on his offroad courses and reckons there's a huge impact on the brain's decision making at just 5% under-hydration.

Too much water washes out the body's electrolytes, which is why sportspeople normally drink isotonic drinks. Studies have shown, however, that simple sugar/salt/water mixes are just as effective as complex glucose/electrolyte products.

Asprin (or in the old days the bark of the willow tree) is one of nature's miracle drugs. My wife feeds me with 75mg of Asprin every morning (one 300mg tablet cut in four). Any more than this and you run the risk of stomach ulcers.

Tim

Yes, as I said, the system is not failsafe. It makes it less risky and hopefully the system will be better over time, but no system is better then the users.

It must be a nightmare!
As far as I know there hasn’t been any serious accidents related to this yet. There have been a couple of times where cars have crashed into fallen motorbikes. But as far as I know no people has been injured because of this.
Of course this is not the way it should be, they need more space! Do they drive trucks and motorbikes at the same time on a RR-competition?

But personally I’m not a fan of the “new” Dakar-rally, it has transformed into a crowded track-race instead of a huge open desert-race.


One thing is cost, but a lot of the trucks are also supply-vehicles for both cars and bikes.

hydration
 

For further information on this subject if anyone is interested, what Tim says above is entirely correct.
I could write you an essay but just to say, if you are mixing your own drink, use fruit sugar for the sugar element (fructose) you can buy it in the supermarket, so it's no fag to find it. It's longer chain and therefore effective for longer and prevents "highs and lows".
Regarding brought drinks, my wife is a state registered dietician (not a "nutritionalist" whatever that is?) and in the survey she conducted for the NHS, lucozade sport is the most effective of ALL the energy drinks! Fact! But it should be consumed 50/50 with water, not relied upon on it's own.
Hope this helps if anyone cares.
If you feel thirsty, it's too late, buy a "camelback" type drink system, Kriega is best, with best bladder and insulation.
Happy drinking (don't fill her with casablanca beer, it's not what she's for).:palm:

Aspirin
 

You are correct re quantity of aspirin and the recommended level is 88mg which i understand you can buy in Canada over the counter but the standard in OZ is 100mg. In the 60's and 70's if you worked in extremely hot environments you were issued with salt tablets and the practice continues today in many ME counties. Bill

This very sad thread has given me a little new knowledge on dehydration, thanks.

But, so what is best for the regular bike traveler? I am sure we have all been there, you are dressed in your full bike gear, the compromise gear you have for your trip whether it is cold or hot... but today it is a very hot day, 38/40C and you are stuck at a border in the sunlight with the official giving you some hassle and wanting a 'gift', you are getting very frustrated and with the heat you are sweating heavily... you finally sort things out and are on your way again, but the going is very tough and you are having to work hard to keep your heavy bike upright and heading in the right direction... you are still sweating heavily in your bike gear making slow progress through the sand and dirt tracks for several hours.

You now feel drained and are drinking water but it doesn't seem to refresh you as normal and you are in the middle of nowhere with no Lucozaid Sport around!

So, what would be best??? add sugar to your water? try to get some fruit juice? or go for a Coke sugar boast and some water?

STOP. Rest. Don't pushg on to find whatever .. you need time to regain your normal ballance. Drink water .. with sugar and salt .... wait for your body. You have gone past your limit .. 'hit the wall' ... Rest, the sooner you recognise when you get near your limit and back off the better. If you try and push on the recovery times will be longer .. and during the 'push on' you will not be thinking straight .. so increaed risk of crashing ...

Yes, the almost always follow the same route at least (only occasionally there may be a special stage/test section that the trucks miss out). The bikes usually start first (that's why you often see them starting in the dark at 4am!), then it's the cars a set period of time later, then after another gap the trucks (quads usually go off after the bikes, before the cars).

The organisation usually ensure there is sufficent space between them so that each group don't come across the other... however, with something like Dakar that has such long stages (and thus a higher potential for things to go wrong for competitors), it is inevitable that the following group may well catch up the slower or unfortunate members of the previous group... (of course there are also some bloody fast cars, and even bloody fast trucks in the Dakar!)

As for the situation with Pascal Terry, as I understood it from a news report here in the US a couple of days ago, he initially ran out of fuel, then got some from a fellow competitor.

He then checked in again saying he felt unwell (which I presume is when he went and found shade away from the rallye track). Unfortunately, while the rescue party was dispatched initially, it seems there was a confusing report that he had actually reached the end of the stage, and the search was called off. Of course as soon as the mistake had been realised the search resumed, but by then it may well have been too late anyway. I was surprised to hear it took them 3 days to find his body, even though I understand he was about 100m from the rallye track/his bike.

It is very sad, but like so many things in life, a knee-jerk reaction to this sort of tragedy is not going to help the event in the long run.

I imagine there will be an official enquiry?

xxx

Sorry my fault....

With RR I meant Road Racing. What I tried to say is that it’s not common to race bikes and trucks at the same track on the same time.
They have always done it in the Dakar rally but they used to have loads of space, now they mostly follow dusty single-tracks.

Hydration
 

Hi Will, for my twopennyworth it goes like this:
I guide off road in Morocco regularly on enduro bikes, mainly off road for 5 to 8 days at a time, our routes take us into the Atlas, into the dunes and along the Atlantic coastline.

All I can say to you, and anyone else that will listen, is that hydration is the key to your well-being.

I'm not sure how many of us realise that the "P" gauge should be used at all times. Your "P" should actually be clear and odourless at all times. Your kidney(s) are designed to filter the impurities and waste in your body, if your "P" is heavily yellow and has an odour, you have so many impurities your kidney(s) cannot process them and is simply passing them out of your system to rid you of them. You are DEHYDRATED! It is very hard to re-hydrate yourself after becoming dehydrated and therefore prevention is better than cure!

Please always have water with you, better to be out of fuel than out of water, I typically drink between 6 and 9 litres of water per day (three refills of a three litre bladder system) when guiding in Morocco. If you can, take some re-hydration products with you (salts) and use them wisely regarding the "P" gauge in the evenings when you stop.

Many enduro-style jackets have an internal facility in the back for a bladder and internal routing for your drink tube (I use an OF3 enduro jacket. This is much more convenient than a separate pack on your back and is less to take off/ put on/ lose. In this way, while you are tired/ hot/ frustrated at the border, in traffic etc, you can be happily slurping away inside your helmet. So choose your clothing carefully when you are considering your trip. A jacket with a removable lining can also help regulate temperature.

Finally (what a killjoy) stay off the beer! As much as they feel good after the day's ride, they de-hydrate you, the opposite of how they feel! If you must, and for sure we all do, have one beer, one water, one beer, one water, etc.

I have had riders collapse after two hours of riding in the morning (around 11am), this is danger time for me and is always time to be diligent for the guide. They had a few the night before, and it comes and bites them on the ass! It takes a long time to re-hydrate them, usually in the support vehicle with their bike in the back for the day.

Hope this helps, I guess be prepared is always the motto for anything! Also be as flexible as you can with your clothing, many thin layers and adjustable thickness in items such as jackets really helps, also internal drink systems are unobtrusive and helpful. I also choose helmets very carefully regarding the ability to vent a hot head (and close up when the temperature drops).

Safe riding!
Tim:mchappy:

Re-hydration salt is one tea spoon of salt and two of sugar, to be disolved in 10 litres of water if memory serves. A real life saver, zero cost and zero weight.

It is worth labelling it though. Small packets of white powder found at a border crossing will make dehydration seem a minor concern right then!

Andy

Way too weak. One teaspoon of salt, eight of sugar in one litre.

This link describes why the salt is important (to encourage you to keep on drinking). It also mentions the fact I alluded to earlier, that dehydration thickens the blood and could have contributed to heart failure.

I love the Moroccan coffee (nus nus) but like beer it's not helpful for dehydration, so it is completely normal for the waiter--unasked--to bring a glass of water at the same time.

Tim

Thanks
 

That all sounds very solid and sensible advice and i do think i personally do need to take more care concerning dehydration... as my instinct is always, plug on and get to your destination and sort it out there! but some times i have felt shattered and probably put myself at risk. So, many thanks and i am now carrying salt and sugar with me now. Feel a little more knowledgeable.Ta

Anyone coming through the US southwest deserts or northern Mexico possibly starting in late March (not a rule of thumb for the timing, but it could happen this early) needs to read and heed this advice.