Matt and Darcy, from this point forward to be known as "the Dune Pilots", decided to set themselves a challenge for January 2023 - a road trip heading from Fulham down the A3 to Portsmouth in a clapped-out 20 yr old Toyota RAV4.  After being told that this was 'not challenging in the slightest', which we concede is a fair observation, we have decided to continue the journey beyond Portsmouth for a further 4,000 miles, crossing the Bay of Biscay, Spain, the straits of Gibraltar, northern Morocco and the high Atlas Mountains, before stocking up on fuel, water and supplies to take on the vast emptiness that is the Sahara Desert.  Assuming we make it across without dying of thirst (apparently you can survive on radiator water for a few days), or sunstroke, we will emerge from the desert on the southern Mauritanian border before continuing through the jungles of Senegal and the Gambia, arriving in Banjul for tea and medals some three weeks after leaving Fulham. 

The trip is unsupported which is not an insubstantial point given Matt and Darcy's limited sense of direction (Waze doesn't work in the Sahara, disappointingly) or mechanical skills (Matt fixed a puncture on his BMX in 1983, and Darcy has travelled in many different types of car so "definitely knows a thing or two about cars").  The trip is being organised under the banner of www.dakarchallenge.co.uk, a charitable event that organises for our trusty RAV to be donated to local charities in the Gambia at the end of the trip.

Facing almost certain death in the jaws of a man-eating camel is not all fun and games however, and our main aim for this adventure is to raise funds charity, namely the 'My Name'5 Doddie' Foundation. I'm sure many of you will be aware of Doddie Weir's incredible rugby career and subsequent hard-fought battle with Motor Neurone Disease.  Doddie raised (and the Foundation continues to do so) an enormous amount of awareness of, and £millions for research into, this horrible disease. 

As one-time rugby players and passionate Scotland, England, and British & Irish Lions fans, Matt and Darcy felt this trip was a way we could contribute something to Doddie's work. We will be raising a glass to him under a Saharan sky in the not too distant future, inshallah.

The trip is entirely self-funded and all donations will go directly to the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.  None of Matt, Darcy, Blacklight Capital Partners, nor Hekkta Property Marketing will receive any donated funds.

Huge thanks go to the Wimbledon Brewery who will be making available certain refreshments to the thirsty Dune Pilots, whose first addition to the RAV was a plug-in beer fridge......