The 43rd edition of the Dakar Rally is underway in Saudi Arabia. We?ll be sharing daily updates from our friends at WESTx1000. Stay tuned. 
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SS9: Mortal Combat
Beginning a Pilgrimage for Glory to Better Remember a Legend 

Adventure: an unusual and exciting or experience. This is the Dakar Rally in a nutshell. A contest to test the limits, offering barely more than the glory of being the best in the world. An odyssey to far-off lands, encountering foreign cultures and mindsets and bringing home insight. This isn?t just a race. It?s the modern ?hero?s journey? ? a concept discussed in Joseph Campbell?s work ?The Hero with a Thousand Faces? (first published in 1949) which he observes a mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths. Throughout history, mankind has challenged themselves through by venturing into the unknown, facing their fears and returning from their epoch enlightened. Whatever way we define it contemporarily, we ? even the era of technology, comfort and entitlement ? need adventures to find ourselves, to grow. And there?s no doubt that each man and woman who enters this most infamous competition, exits at least a little bit transformed. Some for the better; others for the worse; always indefinitely.
January 12th marked the one-year anniversary of HERO MOTOSPORTS all-star athlete, and everyone?s good friend, Paulo ?Speedy? Gonçalves death. He tragically lost his life as a result of an accident w...