Bought A Desert Sled And Took It To The Desert

How's it going, y'all? After years of avoiding bikes due to the fear of potential injury derailing my sporting pursuits, I decided "what the heck" and jumped in head first. I've ridden downhill MTB and done all sorts of stuff on bicycles, but you know how people are about motorcycles; not encouraging, to say the least. Especially coaches who like to tell you how such and such athletes have clauses prohibiting motorcycle riding and whatnot. Well, Dennis Rodman rode a bike and he seemed to be having much (much) more fun than all the other coddled, straight-laced athletes, and so I harbored secret dreams of riding bikes one day and here I am.

Started off on the street and decided that I needed to be able to do some stuff off-road as well for the sake of completeness as a rider. That's why my latest purchase was a Ducati Desert Sled. After living in constant fear of dropping it on fire trails other light off-road terrain, I decided to take it to the desert because it says it right there on the name: "Desert Sled". Living in Lyon at the moment, the closest desert was the Sahara and I was offered a gig in Senegal. Having never ridden on sand beyond short stretches here and there, it has been quite the experience. I didn't die and I didn't even drop my bike. The Desert Sled is a truly surprising motorcycle. I'm thinking that if security conditions improve, I'll actually try to ride from Senegal all the way up to Morocco. Big "if" as things are dicey right now.

I shall post my first off-road fall when it happens. I've taken to powersliding in the sand, so it's only a matter of time. Don't worry, I ride ATGATT.

 

I'm terrible about pictures, but I'll definitely share some. I scouted a couple of nice dunes last week on a quad bike outing. Tightly packed, so doable with the stock Pirellis on the Desert Sled. I'll take some pics if I take my bike up there, as it looks fun. Hope I won't be biting off more than I can chew because everyone feels like a pro on a quad bike. Whole different kettle of fish when you only have two wheels and you're fishtailing through sand at high speed.

 

Thank you and the rest of the crew for the warm welcome. Warmest welcome I've ever had in a forum! I'll see what I can do about pictures for sure!

 

Senegal's borders are open with the exception of crossing into Mali (currently under sanctions following a coup). I understand that Morocco remains strict, on the other hand. I can ask around and let you know. Have some Moroccan friends here who travel back frequently.

 

Coming soon!