Willem Avenant has a sense of adventure that goes beyond Concord.

Growing up in Murraysburg, a small town in the Karoo region of South Africa, he dreamed of the sandy dunes of Saudi Arabia racing a motorbike in the Dakar Rally.

This January, he will fulfill this lifelong dream after years of preparation, the investment of his life savings and the support of his family and friends. Six years ago he began documenting his journey to Dakar, and now just a few months away, he can almost taste the sands of Bisha, Saudi Arabia, where the rally will begin.

What is the Dakar Rally?

Originally from Paris to Dakar, Senegal, the race is one of the toughest, if not the most difficult, endurance rally raids — a type of off-road motorsport for automobiles and motorcycles — in the world.

The rally has changed tremendously since its inception in 1979, but at its core, it continues to represent the cutting edge of motorsport thrill-seeking. With new rules, vehicle types, and terrains each year, it always presents a challenge for those brave enough to compete.

The organizing body, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), moved from Dakar to Saudi Arabia in 2020 after a decade in South America. ASO organizes large events, notably the Tour de France, among other cycling events, golf tournaments and other off-road motorsport events.

Starting in Bisha, competitors will gather in a huge camp — commonly called a bivouac — where they will spend two days making last-minute tweaks to their vehicles and equipment, and the prologue stage which will determine starting positions. The 2025 Dakar Rally will officially begin on Jan. 3 during the coldest time of the year, although not nearly as cold as a typical winter in New Hampshire.

“In Saudi in December, in the mornings, it is below freezing. And in Dakar, it’s very common to start at three or 4 a.m. in the morning, so your morning ride of a few hundred miles is normally extremely cold,” said Avenant.

First, competitors will enter a “48-hour chrono” stage, where they will cover 590 miles of the southwestern sands of Saudi and “have to spend the night in one of several bare-bones bivouacs scattered across the desert,” according to Dakar.com.

They’ll then come upon a fork in the road for different vehicle types divided into five stages. After, drivers begin a marathon stage of 500 miles without access to mechanical crews — only overnight bivouacs — and will depend on their maps and road books to guide them through. Last, the race will end in the “empty quarter,” where competitors will traverse 250 miles of dunes to the finish.

“The Dakar would be crossing the U.S. from the East Coast to the West Coast, turning around, and then doing it all again in the space of less than two weeks, full-on, flat-out racing every single day. … You’re on very, very gnarly terrain,” said Avenant.

Who is Willem Avenant?

Avenant knew he would one day race in the Dakar Rally when the 1992 event set its ending point in South Africa. As a young boy, he rode his motorbike everywhere, even showing up to prom and taking his senior portraits with it.

In his 20s, he worked as an arborist for many years to travel the world and ride his bike. Eventually, he got a gig in Alaska, and that’s where he met his wife. He spoke of his dream, and they traveled through Africa together and settled in South Africa.

When their daughter was born around 12 years ago, he felt the pressure to pursue his dream as he got older and seemingly further from it with family life and financial responsibilities.

His wife’s family moved to Maine, and during his visits, he fell in love with New Hampshire after spending time in the White Mountains. The Avenants decided to move closer to family in 2021 and settled in Concord.

“We just started talking. It’s like, ‘Well, if I ever — if we ever moved — to the States, New Hampshire would probably be a cool place to live,” said Avenant. “Like if I go down to the Merrimack River, or if I go hiking or whatever, it feels close to Alaska.”

He’s an outdoorsman through and through, and for the past year he has thrown himself into his mission wholeheartedly. This year he’s traveling between Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Colorado, South Africa and New Hampshire.

He created a blog where he documents his roadbook creation and rally management business, how to train for rallies, his adventures around the world at rallies and demystifying Dakar and the process of how to become a motorbike rally competitor.

“I realized that if I want to be serious about it, I have to take off a year. So for me, the year of 2024 I took off to focus on training, mentally and physically, but also to fund raise,” he said.

His mission to Dakar

Avenant has worked diligently for the past year to make this dream a reality and poured his life savings into it – becoming a Dakar competitor is not cheap. Only the best riders in the world are sponsored by a factory manufacturer — such as KTM, Mitsubishi or Red Bull Can-Am — but Avenant has a team that he booked two years ago that can compete with the best.

“My team is HT Rally Raid, and they are the satellite Husqvarna team. Basically, it’s the step under the factory team. So you’re, you’re not a factory rider, but you’re also not a complete amateur,” he said. “Listen, I’m going to have one shot at Dakar, so I might as well go with the best team.”

Another benefit of the team is that it will cover damages to the bike and some gear, which greatly decreases Avenant’s financial risk. The entry fee for the rally is around $18,000, and now Avenant is one of only 130 people who are accepted each year. The team and bike cost around $65,000, and the rest of his expenses range between $10,000 to $20,000.

The total cost of this dream is a lifetime of work and around $100,000, all for two weeks of nonstop competition.

In the past few years, Avenant has made a name for himself at some top rallies after placing well. In February, he finished second overall in Mexico in a coast-to-coast rally. Unfortunately, the race had a fatality.

“Everything in life is fleeting. You can save a bunch of money, but your house can burn down or you can get cancer or whatever. So I was like, ‘OK, you have to live in the moment,’ ” he said.

Now that he’s raced everywhere around the world, taught courses in the Namibian desert, raced in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, hired a team and built a devout following on social media, there’s only one goal ahead.

“Mentally and physically, I’m working very, very hard to get to basically, the fittest I’ve been in my life,” Avenant said. “My goal for Dakar is to enjoy it. And in order to enjoy it, you have to be fit and to finish it.

“It’s not egotistical. You can’t put a price on dreams. Dreams aren’t rational, same as marriage or having kids,” he added.

Follow along and find more information on Avenant’s journey on his website (https://wravenant.wixsite.com/rallyracing) or on his Instagram page @willemavenantracing,  where he posts videos, high lights and live updates.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.