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Jan 9, 2005 - Day 10 Rest Day (Photos by T. Flechsig and G. Soldano)

Surviving the next 3 days that will be the key to making it all the way to Dakar. We've got big dunes to deal with and more camel grass, but all systems are go. Making it this far, in relatively good shape is a definite plus.

Here is a photo of Kellon Walch and Chris Blais contemplating the days ahead and what it'd be like to have a shower, a shave and no sand in their cous-cous!

The good news now is that it's first time in days that it hasn't been blowing sideways. It's a nice change and I can actually see more than a few feet. We've arranged to sleep in a 2-story villa during our stay here in Atar. The place is no palace but it's out of the wind. Like so many structures here, it's nice on the outside but pretty Spartan inside. I'm not complaining -- it's great, particularly with the wind and blowing sand that we've had to live with. Plus it's very cold here in Atar right now. Since we arrived, a number of tourists have flown in for the Atar rest days. They're wandering around through the bivouac, snapping photos of the "circus". Of course, we are star performers!

Having a place to rest during our layover day is important to me. I'm nursing a pulled groin that I suffered yesterday while ripping through a section. and it was all I could do to make it to the finish and climb off my bike. I was in pain throughout the day yesterday and into the night but I'm feeling a little better today. There are still three days of hard riding ahead and I'm prepared to gut it out!

The bikes are great, the team is doing fantastic and in my opinion we could not have assembled a better, more compatible group of individiuals. As for Chris and Kellon, these kids have done very, very well and I am very proud of their efforts.

Here's a shot of Kellon negotiating a heavy dune section into Atar yesterday.

Our mechanics are wonderful. Right now they are outside changing the motors in our bikes (don't worry, it was planned swap -- our KTM's have run FLAWLESSLY!). Here's my mechanic Elmer Symons performing his magic on my KTM.

Rumor mill: Some of the Dakar competitors are planning to stage a protest tonight. I'm not sure what that actually means so we'll find out if and when it happens. Many of them are upset about the troubles they suffered during Stage 7 and the chaos that resulted from no fuel, no food, no fun!

I'm very happy to hear that Nathan Ramsey #25 of our Red Bull KTM Supercross team won the opening round of the Supercross season at Anaheim. That's three in a row for Nate Dawg and the new KTM 250 SFX.

Sad to learn this morning that my beloved San Diego Chargers lost their first playoff round in overtime to the New York Jets. We'll get 'em next year, Boltz!

That's all for now, friends. Thank you for riding along with the Red Bull KTM U.S. Dakar Team. Hopefully I'll check in with favorable results during our final week of the Dakar Rally. - Scot Harden

Rankings of KTM team riders as of Stage 9 finish, Jan 9th:
#4 Andy Caldecott (Team KTM Motorex Australia) + 8´10
#5 Alfie Cox (Team KTM Gauloises) + 9´45
#6 Giovanni Sala (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull) + 11´32
#7 Cyril Despres (Team KTM Gauloises) + 11´40
#9 Chris Blais (Team KTM Red Bull USA) + 13´12
#12 Marc Coma (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull) + 13´52
#13 Jean Brucy (Team KTM Gauloises) + 14´03
#14 Kellon Walch (Team KTM Red Bull USA) + 15´02
#27 Scot Harden (Team KTM Red Bull USA) + 56´44
#44 David Schwarz (Team KTM Motorex Australia) + 1´28´52
In the bivouac in Atar the competitors will stay until Tuesday morning.