Experiencing red mist during the Kalahari Rally

Red mist. I had never heard of this term but definitely experienced it when I entered the Kalahari Rally 2021 in South Africa.

It all started with an accidental meet-up with James Alexander in the Botswana bush (Episode 71). His fascinating stories about Dakar and me pushing myself to ride faster with James and his friends, sparked a new interest in riding a rally myself one day. Well, honestly the day after I had met them I already started researching where and when the next rally would be that I could participate in.

First time Kalahari Rally

Soon I found out that the Kalahari rally in South Africa was only one month away and I could still enter it. I soon found out that this rally is a large, professional rally. The Kalahari Rally is in fact an official Dakar qualifying rally and it received the ‘road to Dakar’ status. The winner of the Kalahari Rally wins a free ticket to the Dakar rally. A serious prize for a serious rally. You can imagine that I was a bit intimidated by all this as a rally new-bee.

But it didn’t stop me, and I registered myself for the Kalahari Rally! As I was still in Zimbabwe, I sped up my travels and pretty much raced back to South Africa so I could prepare myself for this new experience as well as I could.

When I arrived at the first bivouac in Mafikeng, South Africa, I felt even more intimidated. There were all these professionals with their big support trucks setting up camp. I was very happy I came with a van, and my own support team: my good friend Mandy. She would help me with all the logistics and the filming. We set up camp together and pretended that we belonged here, had done this many times before, and knew exactly what on earth was going on in this busy bustling bivouac. 

My goal for my first rally

I had entered the rally in the Adventure Category, which meant that I would not be competing for any of the prices. Besides that I had zero experience with roadbook navigation and didn’t have a navigation tower set up on my bike, I didn’t want to either. All I wanted was to get a taste of what a cross country rally would be like and to see if I liked it enough to do more rallies in the future. 

Entering in the Adventure Raid category meant I was navigating with GPS, something that I am used to! ’I have nothing to prove here’, I told myself the day before the first stage. My goal was not to end up in a hospital, so I was going to take it easy and just try to finish the rally. No crazy racing, just slow and steady riding. 

Guess how long I stuck to that goal? Yep, not long!

Experiencing Red Mist for the first time

The first stage, called the Super Special, was 100 kilometers long and went through an area close to our camp at Mafikeng. The results of this stage determined the starting position of the competitors for Stage 1. Somehow, as soon as the guided safety convoy ended and the race was on, all my good intentions for that day went out of the window. 

Every rider in front of me turned into a strong magnet that I had to try to get closer and closer to. Every rider behind me turned into some sort of predator that I desperately tried to stay in front of. There I was on my little CRF250L, riding faster than I had ever ridden before. I was drifting through the sand in sharp corners and flying over the tracks.

I had forgotten all I had agreed to with myself before the actual rally started. I even didn’t want to stop to turn on or off the cameras as I had planned to do so. I just wanted to ride the best I could, the fastest I could, and truly compete with the other riders. 

With the spectators lining up alongside the trail, seeing other riders, buggies, and race cars doing their thing, it all made me feel like I was in the middle of a race. I was riding on a massive adrenaline rush that started at the beginning of the stage and lasted until a few hours after the race. It made me feel so incredibly alive, it’s hard to describe. For the first time since I started riding a motorcycle, I understood the feeling that riders get when they race. And why they keep on coming back for more. 

Pushing my boundaries

Later, during the other stages, I found out I could even ride faster. Blast through thick sand and ride those technical dune sections I didn’t even know you could do on a 250cc motorcycle. I still wonder how my riding would have evolved if the rally had 10 or more stages. 

Of course, the red mist appeared in front of my eyes at every stage. Even though the Adventure Category officially wasn’t timed and therefore not considered a real race, it was a race to me. Why else would I come here to the Kalahari Rally if it wasn’t a race? So I treated every stage like a race and made goals for myself at what position I was trying to finish that day. Top 5, Top 3, or even arriving as the first rider. Just to set a goal and push me through the inevitable fatigue to get there. 

I realized that if I want to become a better rider, this is the way I should do it. Riding outside of my comfort zone, finding my own limits, and push just a little beyond that. Probably not everyone will understand this. Some consider riding a motorcycle around the world exciting enough. Which of course for some is! But I have been doing that for several years now, and am ready for a new challenge. That is who I am, I take calculated risks on a daily basis and I thrive on that. I do this to feel alive, to grow, and to live my passion every single day. 

Experiencing the red mist has learned me many things about myself, my competitiveness, and my riding skills. I would not have wanted to miss it for anything in the world. When is the next rally??