“Going to Dakar was a true challenge. I’ve had some pretty grand ideas, but doing that race might be. The. Dumbest. You question everything. You question your existence. You question, ‘This is what I do for fun? This is what I choose to do with my money?”—Mo Hart
‘Why should you watch the Dakar Rally? Why should you be interested? Because it's brilliant, that's why….Specifically, the Malle Moto class. That is the hard, hardcore. That’s real bike shit right there”.—Liza Miller, Owner of Re-Cycle Garage and the Host of Motorcycles and Misfits Podcast
This is the story of one man's attempt to be one of the first U.S. citizens to finish in the hardest division of the world’s most difficult off-road motorcycle rally.
Since 1978, racers in off-road motorcycle rallies have dreamed of racing in The Dakar, formerly known as the Paris to Dakar Rally. Now held in Saudi Arabia, the race features competitors in several categories and vehicles, competing in a grueling two-week event. In the most difficult category, the Original by Motul, a select number of motorcyclists compete unsupported by mechanics, sleeping on the ground in tents, and repairing their bikes after racing across the desert for ten hours or more.
Before the 2023 Dakar, no U.S. racer had finished in the Original by Motul class.
In 2023, Mo Hart, admittedly not the fastest off-road rider, joined the largest group of American racers to ever compete in the ObM. In an attempt to finish, he experienced exhaustion and extreme weather while riding for up to ten to twelve hours a day, returning to camp to repair and maintain his bike, and getting up at 4:00 a.m. to start it all again.
It's the story of a guy from the East Coast, now living in California: a sailor, an IT security consultant, a surfer, a mountain biker, and a motorcycle enthusiast. A guy who battled his inner demons and his exhaustion in his attempt to finish the race. Yes, it's a book about off-road motorcycle racing. It's also a book about perseverance, helping others, accepting help, and overcoming hardship while knowing exactly who you are and what you need to do.
His stories and descriptions, told with honesty and self-deprecating humor, focus on his challenges and the people who helped him in the months leading up to the Dakar and during his time in Saudi Arabia.
Barbara Hart's career included broadcasting, advertising sales, and recruiting. In 2002, she and her husband, Stew moved a 47-foot sailboat, living aboard in Maine, year-round, until 2010 when they set sail down the East coast, to the Bahamas and then the Caribbean.They spent five years cruising, three of them in the Eastern Caribbean, crossing the Atlantic to the Azores and Canaries, returning in the Caribbean, and sailing to Panama, where they cruised the Guna Yala region. Barb focused on her writing, posting in her blog, and then using it to compile a book about their first year at sea, called "Harts at Sea, Sailing to Windward."Barb has written for a tourism website since 2019, with plans to write non-fiction books. "Mo's Dakar" is both a labor of love and an inspirational story about following your dream. In this case, Mo, her stepson's dream.
An adventurer, racing sailor, surfer, mountain biker, and a motorcycle enthusiast, Mo was born in Western New York, spent most of his teens in Maine, and ultimately settled in California. For eight years, he competed to represent the U.S. as an Olympic sailor. In California, he was an IT security consultant who enjoyed tackling new challenges. In 2022 he upended his life to qualify and compete in the 2023 Dakar desert race in the Original by Motul Category.attempt to finish the race.
