To Dakar... or not to Dakar

The Dakar rally is on at the moment and for no reason I can defend, I love it.

There is so much wrong with the race: I'm not into cars (at least not non-electric ones), there's all those carbon emissions and dust, there's the whole crossing disputed territories thing, not to mention the ridiculous waste of money that could be better spent, you know, feeding and clothing people. It really is an awful, silly thing.

So what is there to actually like about the race? Only one thing, my friends: the fact that 80% of the entrants are amateurs. That's right, 80%! Imagine the javelin competition at the Olympics with 80% amateurs! Or the skeet shooting! Or the pole vault! Ah mercy, we'd all be watching then.

I also like watching the line advance on the race map each night on the news, but that's got more to do with my nut-bar cartographic infatuation than anything else.