The Sandraiders website provides a handy little ticker to remind you how unprepared you are:

When I first discovered the Tunisia option, it said 9 weeks. 9 seemed a lot. 4 does not. As mentioned earlier, I was aiming for the Morocco 2024 spring event, but with that being full, Tunisia was the only option.

So I did what anyone else would do in the event of lots to do and little time to do it - I wrote a list.

1. Sign up and pay some £££

2. Get a bike

3. Learn to ride off road

4. Get some kit - helmet, boots and such like

5. Improve my own fitness level

6. Sort logistics for commitments at home (8 days total away)

7. Book flights

Fortunately, there are some elements that Sandraiders take care off. They sort hotels or camp at each location, security, fuel stops, food and water on route, medical backup, mechanical backup, GPS, shipping of the bike to Tunisia (more on that later), support vehicles and general all-round logistical support to ensure that entrants can focus on riding alone. The setup does seem very professional and from the few YouTube videos and blogs I've seen of previous competitors, they have nothing but praise for the whole infrastructure that supports the event. That's reassuring.

So some of that list I ticked off pretty quick. I got signed up no problem, paid my deposit and received all the usual confirmations. Now there is about 8 weeks.

Next up was to see if I could actually ride a bike like this off road, and start to investigate buying a bike of my own. I quickly found 2 perfectly timed events run by Honda and BMW. They run training / Adventure schools using their own bikes which allows newbies like me to play around in the gravel and mud and improve skills. So I quickly booked onto the Honda Adventure - run by 4 time motocross world champion Dave Thorpe. That is based in Exmoor, Devon. Then, just a week later, the BMW school in the Breacon Beacons. Whilst neither of those would provide riding experience on exactly the right bike, it would definately tell me if there were any real barriers to participation - mainly due to my own lack of fitness or ailments.

There is (will be) a separate blog on each of those event upcoming.

I have written and re-written many lists. I have spent (lost) many hours reviewing equipment and bikes - mainly YouTube. It's an easy trap. I realise of course, this is not about the kit or the bike. No, you can't head out on a GSX-R and full leathers, but you can spend too long convincing yourself that you need X or Y piece of kit when in cold reality, the single most important element to prepare is myself. I am not fit. I am overweight. This will hurt a lot if I don't sort those two things out as a priority. So, back to those YouTube helmet reviews.....