My Tekvest - Paris Dakar Story

By Mike Hahn #83

February 21, 2001 

When I was preparing for the Paris Dakar Rally, I insisted on quality equipment and the best safety gear available.  Why? I knew I would probably crash.  

The Paris Dakar Rally is the longest and possibly the most dangerous rally in the world. You may be doing speeds of up to 160 Kilometres per hour. You will cross some of the most inhospitable and difficult terrain on this planet, in the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert. Day after day, for 20 days, you could find your self riding in numbing cold or blistering heat. The days are long and you know sometimes you'll be dead tired, but need to push on. The terrain is unfamiliar, with many traps, boulder fields, and unexpected nasty surprises. In the past, many of the best motorcycle racers in the world were injured and had to be air-lifted out.  About half of the motorcycles typically don't finish. That's the reality. That's what you prepare for.

The first time I tried on the Tekvest, it felt a bit strange, different from anything I had ever worn. It seemed more like a lifejacket than a motocross chest protector. It was richly padded and thicker. I could see right away, the level of protection was much higher, as the padding and semi-rigid plastics combined to enhance impact absorption. To my surprise, it wasn't too bulky and fit nicely under my enduro riding jacket. The real bonus was the Teckvest's many pockets which distributed my supplies evenly around my body.  This eliminated the need to carry a knapsack. 

The race organizers recommend against using knapsacks. A knapsack can be fatiguing and unsafe in a crash. My Tekvest was able to carry all of the things one would normally pack in a knapsack without the usual discomfort. This included 100 ounces of water, a spare tire tube, first aid kit, toilet paper, safety flares, flashlights, food, emergency blanket, strobelight, patch kit, air pump, compass and clothing. There was no chafing and I found the Tekvest comfortable to wear all day. It provided good upper body movement and its special safety strap allowed cooling air to flow through the vest during the hotter parts of the day.

I was determined to ride safely and not to crash, yet in Morocco I had two "minor incidents". The first was when a ditch suddenly appeared in front of my front wheel. I didn't expect it on a gravel road and didn't see it until it was too late. It kicked me into the air and after tumbling through the gravel, I found myself sitting on the ground, dusting myself off. No harm done, just my pride. I picked up my bike checked it over and carried on. I never gave my Tekvest a second thought, but I did make mental note to be more careful.

The second incident involved Feshfesh, a talcum powder like sand, which is so fine you can sink right into it up to the axles. I was motoring along a gravel road when I came upon a short sandy section. Suddenly, my font wheel dropped and lurched sideways. I slammed hard into the ground. When I opened my eyes, there was such a cloud of dust, I couldn't see anything. The dust slowly blew away and it looked like someone had thrown a bag of flower over me. My bike was lying on its side almost buried, totally covered in white. "So this is Feshfesh," I thought as I waded though it. The ground underneath the feshfesh was hard and rutted. I dusted myself off, started my bike and carefully rode on. I felt fine and the Tekvest was the furthest thing from my mind.

My Dakar rally came to end a few days later in the Mauritanian desert. It had been a bad morning. My three litre water tank broke off the motorcycle and had to be abandoned. The 50 ounces of water remaining in my Tekvest was all I had with about 600 kilometers of desert riding to go. My odometer malfunctioned rendering my roadbook useless. My GPS also malfunctioned.  My navigation system was toast.  The front rim on my bike had a flat spot and became unstable at high speeds. I teamed up with Patrik Polimak, a faster rider, and we pushed on. Around noon, at about 120 kilometres per hour, I hit a blind ledge and woke up in a helicopter. For me, it was all over, just like that. Months and months of preparation ended in a split second. 

I spent a few days in hospital where doctors diagnosed some lacerations, a broken rib and some broken bones in my left hand.  Later, Patrik told me about the crash. He saw me launch over the handlebars, up into the air, with the motorcycle cartwheeling behind me. After I landed, the 450 lb. motorcycle landed on me. For Patrik, this was the absolute worst motorcycle crash he has seen in his life.   

Although it didn't end the way I had hoped, my Dakar experience was incredible. I made a lot of good decisions and a few bad ones. One of the good decisions was to wear a  Tekvest.  I am convinced it saved my life. My first impression proved to be true, for me the Tekvest was indeed a lifejacket.

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