Not content with taking the long way round, Charley Boorman now intends taking the most difficult.For Boorman, who along with Hollywood film star, Ewan McGregor achieved cult status among the motorcycling fraternity following the return from an epic 20,000-mile round-the-world odyssey which spawned the 'Long Way Round' book, DVD and television series is immersed in preparation for the 2006 Dakar Rally.
The most gruelling and downright lethal motorsport endurance race in the world, the 6,000-mile event has so far claimed the lives of 45 competitors - 11 of them motorcyclists - since its first running in 1978-79. Last year two riders died within 48 hours and only 104 of 230 motorcyclists who crossed the start line managed to complete the challenge.
This time around the field will start in Lisbon on New Year's Eve before taking in Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Guinea before arriving in the Senegalese capital on January 14. But many of those who line up on the start line in Portugal will be missing by the time the trans-continental race has run its course with geographical, logistical and mechanical problems not the only threats to safe passage.
"Yes, there are a couple of dangerous places we pass through and we've been warned there are areas where the locals might take a few shots at us," said 39-year-old actor and presenter Boorman.
"Things are bound to go wrong along the way, they always do, but I think the biggest challenge I'll have to face will be a personal one. It's going to be about keeping my body and my mental health in one piece just as much as it is the bike. But what 'Long Way Round' did was give me a confidence and a belief in myself.
"I'm still the same person, but some things do change and now if I choose to do something I have the bottle to go out and do it with a confidence I'm capable of seeing it through to the end. I've had this dream to ride in the Dakar since I was a child and first saw TV footage of those cars and trucks and bikes crashing through the sand dunes. So I want to get as far as I possibly can, I want to get to Dakar."
Boorman will ride in partnership with Simon Pavey, already a veteran of three Dakar rallies and an off-road riding instructor based in Wales. Pavey also helped prepare Boorman for the 'Long Way Round' journey, and the latter said: "I've been trying to get down to Wales two or three days in every week and we've done a lot of work on the technical aspects of riding off-road terrain.
"I've done plenty of road riding and track days at various circuits but that doesn't prepare you. I'm going to have to put 15 or so days together riding at a level I've never experienced before. It's 15 days of racing and 12 to 15 hours of it every day, but I've been getting fitter and fitter and what that's done is help me improve my concentration. That's a very important factor because the Dakar doesn't exactly have a great reputation for being safe."
And just as 'Long Way Round' took motorcycling to a broader audience, so his adventures on the Dakar are set to be similarly documented and then broadcast on the Sky One channel next year.
Boorman, who is also the official face of the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show which runs at Birmingham's National Exhibition centre for 10 days from today, said: "Long Way Round is still going strong and the success of it has been awesome, something we never expected.
"Countries all over the world have been interested in the TV series and the book was in the top five of the best-sellers list for weeks. Since then I've joined James Whitham in presenting a DVD about crashes in the British Superbike Championship and I also thought it would be interesting to film our progress on the Dakar too so there's going to be a camera crew along with us. There's an awful lot of organisation gone into it so I can't fail and let people down can I? I'm finishing."
