Words By: John Basson
What’s more appropriate than this issue of OutdoorUAE to say farewell to a great mentor, guide and friend. It is hard to believe that it was almost seven years ago that I did my first ride on a bike in the UAE desert. It was on my CRF 250X that accompanied me from South Africa with myself, Patrice and Olivier as the riders. They were already competent desert riders and they were on quads. You can only imagine how far I was out of my league on that ride. I think I dropped (no accident, just dropped it a little) my bike about eight times on that ride. What I do however clearly remember was Olivier constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure that I was okay. Every time I dropped the bike, got stuck or hesitated crossing the dunes he would turn around and assist me.
Let me give you all a short history on Olivier Almairac’s riding career and then try to reflect in words what a great inspiration he has been to me over the last seven years.
Olivier started riding at a very young age and raced his first race at the age of only 15. He won that race. His MX riding/racing progressed to the level of being 125cc pilot for Honda in France. Olivier’s passion for riding was certainly not limited to MX, but also included go-karts, trials bikes, quads and more. Not only does he ride, but he also services and maintains his bikes/quads to a level that can only be admired. It was this passion for not just the riding, but the machine that I think “connected” us. We both prefer doing the work ourselves and would not even let others wash our bikes/quads, never mind servicing them!
Our initial routine used to be Thursday afternoon rides from Al Ain, for about two to three hours. As my riding skills and experience increased, Olivier and I started doing more, longer trips together, and also riding not only on Thursdays, but Friday and Saturdays. The weekend rides generally being over 100km and three or more hours. By this time I had bought Olivier’s Suzuki LTR 450 quad when he upgraded to a KTM. The Suzuki obviously resembled a new rather than second-hand machine. It was the occasional riding of my CRF 250 that got Olivier to again buy a two-wheeler (CRF 450X). This naturally triggered me to also get a CRF 450X just to maintain a fair level of competition between us. These bikes we collected from Honda in their boxes and assembled by ourselves.
Suddenly our new bikes opened opportunities that were not previously possible on our quads. These included trips from Al Ain to Liwa, Al Ain to Kalba (where we nearly got arrested), Dubai to Dibba, Dubai to Fujairah and many more. Each ride being a learning curve as I learnt from Olivier’s vast experience. His knowledge on bikes, adjustments and their performance regularly caused me to lose a friendly bet. Not only did our passion for riding and machines complement each other but our wives, Mari (my love) and Claudia (Olivier’s love), are both one of the reasons we had so much fun. They both allowed us to ride as much as we wanted, as long as we were together. They were regularly invited to join us at the resorts we rode to. I am sure they knew the invitation had something to do with them having to take our pickups with trailers there to collect us, but they never declined. I supposed they thought we were safe in each other’s company. If only they knew how often we were racing each other, they probably would never have allowed us to ride together. Nevertheless, thank you to both ladies, you were (are) great!
About three years ago Olivier decided to upgrade his KTM 450 quad to new KTM 525. He did however still want to have a second quad just in case a friend or his son came to visit. He subsequently made me a deal that was at first difficult to comprehend: “You can have my 450 if you are willing to maintain it like your other bikes, and if I could use it maybe once a year.”
I thought he wanted me to maintain it so that his friends could ride it? No, he gave me a virtually brand new KTM 450 quad as a present. By far the most impressive gift I ever received from anybody!
Now seven great years later, it is time to say good bye. Surely it is not a permanent one as I will still join him in France for trials riding and he will come to SA for some adventure riding within the next few years. However, there will no longer be early Friday morning rides from my villa. Something we will both miss.
Olivier, thank you for the seven amazing years and thousands of desert miles you rode with me. It was awesome riding with you!
Ride safe, appreciate what and who you have, and go for gold!
Regards,
JB
