Great Group B video

Back when the men were men and the spectators were NOT scared.

source:jalopnik

The future approaches

With magazines and print publications closing their doors right and left, I have to ask myself, "Self...? What be' the future of editorial content?" Well, I think with the advent of the popular Amazon Kindle and now Apple's tablet, rumored to be announced this week, there is hope for people creating visuals for editorial content. Watch this little demo piece for a yet to be created electronic version of S.I.

Team America has left the building!

I put this video together of various scenes from Dakar.

Return to Buenos Aires

After some 7600 kilometers on and off road in Argentina and Chile, we are back in Buenos Aires. Tomorrow we’ll watch the podium ceremony with the thousands of locals that will line the streets. A bit road weary, bug bitten and dusty around the ears, we have gone a long way without incident thanks in large part to Darren’s safe driving. I’ll probably spend close to a week straight going through the 13,657 images I shot (190 gigabytes of stored photos!) and editing them down to my favorites. I also have loads of HD video shot with my new D3S that I’ll have to share some how.
I guess it’s time to crack some of the wine we’ve collected.
B.




We drove past a winery in Mendoza and convinced them to let us in (they weren’t open to the public). We got a couple cases dirt cheap.


Mom & pop parilla lunch of beef ribs, chicken, lamb, and sausages,


Gauchos

Harry





The Andes

Vallenar redux...

Having left Copiapo later than planned due to some badly needed truck maintenence, the 4 hour drive to the bivoauc in La Serena would get us in after dinner. We would have to stop for food somewhere. Looking on the map we thought we might have found our spot.

Vallenar is a town or perhaps more a village, of colonial heritage that if not for the omnipresent grafitti and cellphone shops, could be mistaken for a place stuck in time. Set up on tall fort-like walls bisected by a lush green river bed, it was quite different from the dusty grit of the Atacama Desert. Our meal was a fresh and tasty tapas style dinner served up in a bar occupying a space which was obviously an old house. The floors creaked but the stereo blasted modern rock and hip hop spun by Chilean hipsters working behind the bar.

After dinner we headed downstairs to the street and the big truck parked on the narrow avenue. A crowd of locals had gathered to gawk at our ride and take pictures with their cell phones. They wanted to pose with us, they wanted to try and talk to us, bost most unsual they wanted to give us things. It started with a group of goth kids giving me an unopened can of warm beer . Then a man presented us with a worn sign which read "Hielo La Piramide Del Sur".

So apparently he owned this business and wanted us to take this sign on our journey... wait a second... hielo means "ice" in spanish... we need ice! He refused our money and gave us two bags and then insisted we follow him down the street to his store so he could give us a bottle of local booze called pisco which is made from distilled grapes. As it turned out this man owned a liquor store and gave us a couple of bottles with explicit instructions on when and how to consume them. After many thanks and photographs with him and his entire family we were on our way, thankful we left our planned route and stumbled into Vallenar.

B.

Santiago!

Leaving chile back to Argentina via the Andes tomorrow.

We are heading to the wine region in Mendoza... yum.

Hummer VS Kamaz

We are HUGE in Argentina!

Chile...

This is Andy.
Andy stopped us on the highway in the Atacama desert... the driest desert on earth, and needed water. He is from Minnesota and rode his bike all the way here from his house... dude is nuts!






















Yesterday the Dakar traveling horsepower circus left Argentina for Chile. Our route took us over the Andes mountains to a maximum elevation of 15,500 ft. A surreal liaison with scenes straight from another planet. Difficult to breathe and at times tough to concentrate on anything for more than short periods of time.
We are starting to get into a rhythm of navigating our way through the day using a variety of roadbooks and maps to find our way out to the special section followed by making camp, eating and a little sleep. Wake up at dawn, break camp and repeat. As I write this we have just seen our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean where the infamous Atacama desert meets it.
By the way Robby took the stage win yesterday... America, Fuck yeah!
-B.

I wrote the above yesterday. Today Robby had a horrible day and is not really a factor the win but our man in the VW camp Mark Miller is in contention for the win... stay tuned.

Robby podium jump...

New Years in Buenos Aires..

At the rooftop party on New Years eve thrown by last minute, Team America F#&K Yeah sponsor, BE HOLLYWOOD HOTEL. Full moon and all!

Stage 3

I awoke this morning in my tent to thunder and rain, guess we should have put the rain fly on last night. Today is a 675 kilometer long stage (liason and special) from Cordoba to La Rioja. The bikes have been leaving the bivouac in the wet weather with their heads hung low. I wouldn't want be one of them today. I'm hoping to post some photos later if we find a gas station with free wi-fi.
Don't forget to check the Spot tracker link, which is below on the right " find Boyd "
-B