{"id":1348,"date":"2014-02-15T14:32:09","date_gmt":"2014-02-15T14:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=1348"},"modified":"2014-03-09T10:40:09","modified_gmt":"2014-03-09T10:40:09","slug":"notes-from-the-road-8-to-14-feb-2014","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=1348","title":{"rendered":"Notes from the Road – 8 to 14 Feb 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTES FROM THE ROAD<\/h2>\n
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< more recent<\/a> | 8 to 14 FEB 2014 | older ><\/a> <\/p>\n

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Getting More Familiar with Sand<\/h5>\n


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Teaming up with fellow Gazelles Emme Hall and Sabrina Howells to practice navigation at Glamis…<\/strong><\/h6>\n


10 FEB 2014:<\/strong> One of the Rally’s biggest challenges is driving through the massive sand dunes of the Sahara. There will be two days in two different “sand seas” during the competition, and the consensus of experienced Gazelles is that these are the “hardest” days. The driving can be extremely difficult, as the soft sand is a “trap” for any vehicle that hesitates. But the navigation is even harder, as the dunes all look alike, and when we are in the middle of them we cannot see distant reference points in the landscape.

\nWe are hoping to figure out a “process” for navigating this segment of the race, which is why we were doing this extra land navigation exercise at Glamis. With our fellow Gazelles, we set a series of “checkpoints” and each team plotted the coordinates independently before comparing notes to make sure we were all headed in roughly the right direction. Then each navigator guided her driver, as she would do in Morocco. Emme and Sabs are experienced, having done the Rally last year, and we were reassured when our results were not too different from theirs.

\n“Reality check” with the GPS told us we would be within range to see a big red flag. Though the distances in the Rally will be longer than what we did in the exercise, leaving more room for error if we get off heading.

\nStill, the important thing for us was to get a feel for how we are going to communicate, when Niki will often be outside of the Jeep, a dune or two away from me, and I will have to keep the Jeep moving over soft sand until I find a “good” place to pause.

\nThis visit to Glamis gave us a taste of what we have to look forward to. (And we did take a few moments at the end to just play in the sand, FUN!)
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Surfer dans les dunes<\/h5>\n


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Comment naviguer dans les dunes…<\/strong><\/h6>\n


10 FEB 2014:<\/strong> Peut-\u00eatre parce que tout le monde en parle avec une telle anxi\u00e9t\u00e9, les dunes sont pour moi aussi la partie la plus difficile. Comment naviguer dans les dunes, en effet, quand on ne voit rien au del\u00e0 de trois m\u00e8tres devant soi ? Prendre un point avec son oeil ? mais o\u00f9 dans le sable ?

\nC\u2019est l\u00e0, plus qu\u2019\u00e0 n\u2019importe quel autre moment de la course, qu\u2019il faut \u00eatre le plus pr\u00e8s possible de sa boussole. Accepter d\u2019avancer de trois m\u00e8tres en trois m\u00e8tres. Certaines gazelles se mettent par groupe de deux. Une sur une cr\u00eate, une autre sur la suivante, de fa\u00e7on que les pilotes puissent les voir et avoir une id\u00e9e de la direction \u00e0 suivre, alors que pour elles, il s\u2019agit de se d\u00e9battre dans une autre gal\u00e8re : surfer dans les dunes.

\nBon, il faut bien le dire, d\u2019avoir passer une journ\u00e9e dans le sable de Californie, avec deux autres gazelles exp\u00e9riment\u00e9es, j\u2019ai pu observer qu\u2019elles savaient ce qu\u2019elles faisaient et qu\u2019elles y allaient avec une certaine assurance alors que j\u2019avais, comme du mal \u00e0 \u201ccroire\u201d \u00e0 ma boussole !

\nPar contre Josie, elle, je l\u2019ai trouv\u00e9e vraiment \u00e0 l\u2019aise dans les dunes ! Aucune peur de la pente !
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A Navigation Workout in Johnson Valley<\/h5>\n


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Testing our skills with a land nav sim in Johnson Valley<\/strong><\/h6>\n


9 FEB 2014:<\/strong> Exciting to be out doing a land nav sim on some of the same terrain covered by “King of the Hammers” competitors! Of course we were not doing any extreme driving, just focusing on precision navigation in real “off-road” conditions.

\nThis was an excellent opportunity to work through some of the more difficult concepts, like “off-setting” around a mountain and getting back online with an exact heading. We were almost amazed at ourselves when it worked!

\nNiki did a great job of keeping the objective in sight, and her headings were right on target! Today was harder for her than for me, as she had to concentrate intensely, while I had the “luxury” of driving on relatively easy terrain — my toughest challenge was driving as carefully as possible between the bushes so as not to get any deep scratches in the paint or puncture a tire on the rental Jeep…
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Johnson Valley<\/h5>\n


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Je suis \u00e0 l’ouest ?<\/strong><\/h6>\n


9 FEB 2014:<\/strong> Nous voil\u00e0 parties dans le vide du d\u00e9sert avec nos coordonn\u00e9es plac\u00e9es sur la carte, la d\u00e9esse boussole et la Jeep. Mais est-il si vide, justement ce d\u00e9sert ?

\nA premi\u00e8re vue tout se ressemble, une \u00e9tendue infinie de sable, de buissons piquants (pas bons pour les pneux) des montagnes au loin.

\nC’est l\u00e0-dedans qu’il faut se retrouver ! D’abord le nord, toujours le nord ! Et puis peu \u00e0 peu j’arrive \u00e0 distinguer les diff\u00e9rents contours. Ca y est je tiens ma ligne, il faut la suivre maintenant. Pendant que Josie conduit et \u00e9vite ces dangeureux buissons, moi, je garde l’oeil braqu\u00e9 sur ma ligne. 9 miles. C’est l\u00e0, ou du moins \u00e7a devrait \u00eatre l\u00e0.

\nV\u00e9rification sur GPS, et YES ! \u00e7a correspond assez bien, du moins suffisamment pour se dire qu’\u00e0 cette distance on aurait vu une balise ! OUF !
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“King of the Hammers”<\/h5>\n


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Les rois du Off Road…<\/strong><\/h6>\n


8 FEB 2014:<\/strong> On est arriv\u00e9es \u00e0 Johnson Valley plus tard que pr\u00e9vu. Il faisait d\u00e9j\u00e0 nuit. Mais au milieu du d\u00e9sert, alors que nous nous dirigeons vers notre destination, une file d’\u00e9normes voitures avec d’\u00e9normes caravanes, ou d’\u00e9normes campings cars arrivent en sens inverse, les phares allum\u00e9s.

\nUn instant je me demande o\u00f9 je suis arriv\u00e9e !

\nPuis on prend la piste et l\u00e0, ce n’est plus qu’un brouillard de poussi\u00e8re illumin\u00e9 par d’immenses phares.

\n“King of the Hammers”

\nLes rois du Off Road. La folie du Off Roading. Des 4X4 qui font du hors piste, grimpent les rochers. Une partie du d\u00e9sert de Johnson Valley leur a \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9di\u00e9e pour la semaine.

\nNous ne sommes pas venues comme spectatrices. Nous devions juste retrouver quelqu’un qui devait nous fournir des Maxtrax et une pelle au cas o\u00f9 nous devions nous ensabler. On a fini par les trouver dans cette ville artificielle faite de tentes, de camions et de voitures de course. Impressionnant !

\nOn a quand m\u00eame r\u00e9ussi, en s’\u00e9loignant d’un bon kilom\u00e8tre, \u00e0 d\u00e9nicher un endroit tranquille pour passer la nuit autour d’un feu et sous une tente.

\nLe lendemain l’\u00e9v\u00e9nement \u00e9tait fini. Dans le silence et le respect du d\u00e9sert, tout le monde \u00e9tait occup\u00e9 \u00e0 ranger, nettoyer. Les camions repartaient en file indienne vers une destination inconnue.

\nPour nous c’\u00e9tait notre point de d\u00e9part : \u00e0 nous l’aventure maintenant !
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PREVIOUS NOTES FROM THE ROAD<\/a> ><\/a> <\/h6>\n<\/div>\n
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WHERE WE ARE<\/strong><\/p>\n

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ON THE AGENDA THIS WEEK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Team training in Southern California, then return to New York to organize equipment and tackle some logistical details for travel onward to the event. Isabelle heads back to Paris with the first shipment of gear, while JoMarie continues preparations on the U.S. side.\u2028\u2028\u2028\u2028
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TRACKING THE TEAM<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nOnce the Rally starts, you will be able to track the team here each day to see how well we did compared to the “ideal” route. The team’s track will appear as a white line compared to the “straight line” course, as in this sample. Live tracking in realtime will be available on the official Gazelle Rally site, and we will link to it directly from this space.
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TEAM 171 PRESENTATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nUSnomads, c’est l’histoire d’une amiti\u00e9 de plus de 20 ans, qui s’est construite \u00e0 travers le temps, les cultures, les exp\u00e9riences de la vie et des voyages. Seule l’union de deux caract\u00e8res forts et respectueux l’un de l’autre explique que nous soyons arriv\u00e9es \u00e0 nos fins dans chacun de nos d\u00e9fis.

\nCeci est notre premi\u00e8re participation au Rallye des gazelles et nous ne sommes pas des professionels, mais JoMarie a une certaine exp\u00e9rience de l’Afrique et des situations d’urgence. D’autre part, elle s’est totalement investie dans la pr\u00e9paration de cette course et Isabelle s’est r\u00e9cemment mise \u00e0 la navigation.

\nLe Rallye des gazelles dans le d\u00e9sert marocain sera le th\u00e9\u00e2tre d’une nouvelle \u00e9preuve pour nous : une Jeep, une boussole, une carte et tout le pouvoir de notre volont\u00e9 d’y parvenir fera le reste.

\nCe d\u00e9fi sportif s’inscrit dans un projet humain plus large, celui de traverser le d\u00e9sert du Sahara d’Ouest en Est dans l’espoir d’accompagner les \u00e9quipes d’ONG dans leurs micro-projets d’aide aux peuplades nomades locales. JoMarie en produira un film documentaire qui donnera \u00e0 mieux connaitre les hommes de cette partie du monde.

\nL’\u00e9quipe 171 prendra fi\u00e8rement son envol le 15 mars 2014 avec toutes les autres participantes ! Et que les meilleures gagnent !

\nMais quelle valeur et quelle port\u00e9e aurait cette le\u00e7on de vie, si nous n’\u00e9tions pas soutenues par l’amour de nos proches, de nos amis et de tous ceux qui nous entourent. Merci !<\/p>\n

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\nTeam US Nomads is working to connect people across borders and cultures in a true exchange. This includes a series of humanitarian efforts to assist communities in the region undertaken with the rally organization and other NGO partners. Discover how we are doing good as we go…<\/a>
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SUPPORTING MOTHERS TO MOTHERS<\/strong>
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\nTeam USnomads is proud to support the work of MothersToMothers. Mothers have an instant bond with mothers regardless of geography, religion or economic circumstance. MothersToMothers, a 501\u00a93 non-profit organization, recognizes the ability of mothers to change their destiny. Founded by Pamela Parlapiano, who has more than 20 years experience working with international NGOs, the organization partners with local women to create community supported day care and learning centers that change lives. Their model project in Amacho Wato Kebele, Ethiopia, has shown how with just a little help, the mothers in the community can improve the lives of a whole village. MothersToMothers is taking this successful model to other communities and needs our help. Please join us in supporting their efforts–even a small donation can help. (Note that all donations go 100% directly to MothersToMothers) Donate to MothersToMothers here…<\/a>
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ABOUT THE RACE<\/strong><\/p>\n



\nThe Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, a grueling nine-day off-road race across the Moroccan sahara, is one of the toughest motorsport events in the world. Using only a map and compass to navigate (GPS or electronic navigational aids are NOT\u2008allowed), the two-women teams must reach a series of checkpoints spread over the harshest desert terrain. The competition is a challenge of endurance and strategy, as teams must decide whether to go over obstacles or around them in an effort to complete the course with the least possible mileage. The winners are the team that reaches all the checkpoints via the shortest total distance. Learn more about the race…<\/a>
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RALLY PRESENTED AT UNESCO<\/strong>
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