Yup....I snickered at that too back then and realised, probably like everyone else, that you were far too busy riding to be bothered by the antics of some armchair warrior... !

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I haven't read all the posts, and it seems like it degraded to insults, but in Mexico, in Baja, it seems that the races there are well-like and supported. The original organization that preceded SCORE now has their own 1000, so there are 2 1000's there every year, as well as the shorter ones--again, the locals don't complain, but not sure how/if it is messing with any endangered flora or fauna.

I watched a program about the Dakar, and there where protesters aganst it at the race.
The race organiser explained months in advance the rout is picked, the argentian archilogical bods given route then they go over historical sites rout changed to ensure they do not go to near them, bar wrapping them up in cotyon wool nothing else would stop them falling down as argentinia leave them buildings out to the elements.

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We are the Pilgrims, Master, we shall go Always a little further: it may be beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow, Across that angry or that glimmering sea.

Barring old structures (which the organisers and countries protect anyway)the terrain is basically harsh desert that suffers negligible damage anyway. Maybe if it was run in Hyde Park the Eco protestors may have an argument. Have any of you environmental nazis ever ridden in a desert? There's bugger all there to destroy compared to most normal areas.
Toby Price would cause less harm in a Dakar than 1 day of emissions and rubbishy generated out of a small town in any developed country.
I hope the Dakar goes on forever.

I hope the Dakar goes on forever too ... but you are 100% wrong about the Desert. I grew up in the Mojave Desert and have been riding there as well as Northern Mexico and Baja Sonoran Deserts for 40 plus years.

The fact is, there is a lot to destroy. I don't mean Sand Dunes ... Dunes do not suffer any damage ... but most other areas do and there are dozens of species of flora and fauna that can suffer. It's documented that dozens of species have gone extinct in last 50 years.

Plants in a Desert environment are "stressed" to begin with. So running over them doesn't help much. Add to this dozens of insects, Birds, Tortoise, Spiders, and furry critters that live on or below ground level. And don't forget streams and rivers. (Argentina) It's a whole Eco system and all can come under attack if riders aren't careful.
I'd suggest reading up on it.

But here is some more irony for you: Our military has used our California Deserts (and Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico too) for running military exercises ... for over 60 years. NO RULES! They blew the be jesus out of the Desert for decades.

And yet ... the Deserts are still there! Now, military maneuvers are very limited ... we don't need to practice here, as we've plenty of "real" wars to train in. Lots of Drones in the air around here however!

So a reasonable compromise has to be reached. But that is not easy.

The Blue Ribbon coalition is a pro off road riding group in USA. They try to preserve riding areas. One thing they do is try to keep riders on DESIGNATED trails ... limits damage. Logical, right?

Sadly, many of our own Jack Asses here don't stay on the trail and piss off the Green Nazi's ... who, by the way ... have ALL the Money and ALL the Power.

They've already managed to lock up about 2 million acres of Desert here in California. YET ...(ironically) they will allow rich developers in to build yet more track homes! ) Pure Bull shit.

Best the Argentines and French Dakar organizers can do is LIMIT damage by clearly marking route and levy steep penalties for going off course for no good reason.

Good news for Dakar fans is so much money is being tossed around to greedy Argentines officials, not much chance an environmental protest will gain much traction anytime soon. Money talks. Bullshit Walks.

But if they plan to be there for the long run, they better address these issues, and it's not just Argentina, you've got Chile, Peru and Bolivia to deal with as well.

Just reminiscing with a good mate what I saw in January...

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