Thursday, September 2, 2010

They have been brought together through their love of riding motorbikes. And in November the four friends will be putting their bodies on the line to compete in a rally that every year proves to be a punishing test of endurance. Paul Anselmo, Steve You, Sean Curnow and Jonathan Quan say they are looking forward to the UAE Desert Challenge 2008 but know there is a long way to go in terms of practice and fitness training for the event. After all, the men have only been riding motorbikes for two years and are not professionals in their sport. The UAE Desert Challenge takes in some of the most remote, unforgiving desert regions of the Emirates. Paul, Steve, Sean and Jonathan will go head to head with 4x4s, cars and other motorbikes under a sweltering hot sun, as they raise funds for the Dubai Centre for Special Needs and an as yet unconfirmed Ugandan children’s charity. Their team is called the UAE Charity Challenge. The rally lasts six days, across 2,200kms of vast desert called “The Empty Quarter”, and 7DAYS will be following the men’s progress throughout their ordeal. They will be riding their new Honda CRF450 X motorbikes which were picked up last week fresh from the Sheikh Zayed Road showroom. Sean, a 36-year-old consultant from Australia, says he is looking forward to the event. “The bikes have been provided for us at a discount from Honda. We told them what we were trying to do and they jumped on board. Over the coming months we will be modifying the bikes for endurance with bigger petrol tanks and better suspension - and that will cost almost as much as the bikes themselves.” The Desert Challenge is still some seven months away but the team have already come a long way in terms of getting bikes, equipment and sponsorship together. “Four months ago we were just four guys sitting on our bikes on the dunes saying ‘Let’s do the Desert Challenge’”, reflects Sean. Jonathan explained the team’s reasons for competing in this year’s event. He said: “It’s a personal challenge for all of us but we also want to give something back to the community and we really want to do this to raise money for charity. None of us have ever done anything like this before. We will travel around 400 kilometres on average a day for six days, over big dunes, with trucks and cars coming flat out at us. The preparation will all be about getting ready for the physical and mental fitness challenges we will face. We’ve been told we will want to quit ten times a day so we will have to be strong mentally and physically.” To help get their fitness levels up to scratch, the team will be spending lots of time in the gym as well as doing long rides around the country at weekends on their motorbikes. It will all help in preparing to spend up to nine hours a day in the saddle during the Desert Challenge. Sean added: “We are not in it to win it - we are doing it to finish, and to help raise money for charity.” The team members have visited the Dubai Centre for Special Needs to see the work that goes on there as well as to see how and where their sponsorship money could be spent. Details on how to sponsor the team are available at: www. uaecharitychallenge.com A TOUGH EVENT The UAE Desert Challenge rally kicks off with a prologue for spectators in Dubai before its official launch in Abu Dhabi the following morning. The show serves as a qualifying stage, establishing the running order for the main event. Last year’s race clocked in at around 2,200km with more than 130 entrants. Involved in the race were 40-50 cars, 60-70 bikes, and a handful of trucks. Route planning is done over several months in the build-up to the event, but official routes are not released until the night before the first stage. Last year’s car event was won by Mitsubishi driver Stephane Peterhansel (his fourth win at the event). The bike event was won by Spaniard, Marc Coma. The UAE Desert Challenge was conceived by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, whose motorsport career goes back to the early 1980s and who has 14 driving titles to his name. The event begins with a ceremonial start in Abu Dhabi and heads south into the desert for several days of hard driving.