Think you’re too unfit, too inexperienced, or simply too old to tackle a proper off-road motorcycle adventure? Think again. Here’s how one self-confessed desk jockey prepared himself to take on the Sahara.
There comes a point in many an adventure biker’s life when watching other people disappearing across deserts and blasting along trails on YouTube is no longer enough. You want a piece of the action yourself.
The trouble is, reality has an irritating habit of getting in the way. Perhaps your off-road experience amounts to the occasional green lane. Maybe the closest you’ve come to Dakar levels of fitness recently is wrestling your adventure bike onto its centre stand after a Sunday roast.
And then there’s that nagging question: am I actually good enough to do this? It’s a question ABR reader Miguel Fernandez asked himself when he signed up for a week-long motorcycle tour through Tunisia.
At the time, Miguel described himself as an overweight desk jockey with love handles, limited off-road skills, and serious doubts about whether he could keep up. But seven months later, he found himself riding a KTM 450 EXC across salt flats, dried riverbeds, rocky trails, and some seriously big Saharan sand dunes.
So, how did he go from Dad Bod to Trail God?
1. Get some training
Miguel didn’t wait until he reached Africa to discover whether he could ride off road.
During the seven months before the trip, he deliberately sought opportunities to improve, including riding at the ABR Festival and joining Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF) rides.
You don’t need to become Graham Jarvis before booking an adventure, but spending time practising standing on the pegs, controlling the bike on loose surfaces, and getting comfortable when it starts moving around beneath you will pay dividends.
2. Get bike fit
Adventure riding can be exhausting. Miguel knew this, so he joined a gym. His philosophy was beautifully straightforward: “If I couldn’t ride the bloody bike up something, I would carry it.”
You don’t need the physique of an Olympic athlete, but improving your general fitness, strength, and stamina will mean you’ve got more energy left when the riding gets difficult.
3. Wear the right kit
Miguel quickly realised his usual UK riding gear wasn’t going to cut it in the Sahara. After overheating on British trail rides, he invested in lightweight motocross kit.
His bargain-bin purchases didn’t match and, in his words, left him looking less like a Dakar racer and more like Joseph in his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. But they did the job. Looking cool is optional. Staying cool isn’t.
4. Accept that you’re going to fall off
This might be the most important lesson of all. Miguel crashed. Then he crashed again. At one point he spent half an hour repeatedly falling off while trying to work out how to ride dunes.
Eventually, something clicked. He learnt to lean back, stay loose, and allow the front wheel to float across the sand. Then, feeling rather pleased with himself, he promptly flew over the handlebars again. That’s learning.
5. Stop worrying about everyone else
Before leaving home, Miguel’s biggest concerns weren’t really Tunisia or the Sahara. They were whether he’d be fit enough, whether his riding skills would be good enough, and whether he’d hold everyone else back.
He needn’t have worried. His group contained riders of different abilities and fitness levels. Some had skills but struggled physically. Others had determination but less experience. When somebody struggled, the others helped. Nobody judged.
And that may be the biggest lesson from his entire trip. You don’t need to be a riding god before having a proper motorcycle adventure. Sometimes you’ve simply got to book the bloody thing and discover what you’re capable of along the way.
Miguel’s resulting journey involved spectacular crashes, desert riding in darkness, Star Wars locations, new friendships, a camel, a birthday in the Sahara and, unfortunately, a rather memorable bout of the squits.
Get the full story
You can read the full story of Miguel’s Tunisian adventure in the July/August issue of Adventure Bike Rider magazine. Get you copy today with FREE UK postage HERE.
Who knows, it could be the start of your own Saharan adventure…
