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A morbid fascination sets in when a rider is yet again forced to pick his bike from the red , dusty earth that forms one of the World ’ s most formidable landscapes . It must surely be his one hundredth such action , he assures us it was many more .
The rider , a Canadian named Mark , had struggled since the first few days of the latest iteration of the Frontline Safari , a charity event aimed at crossing Australia ’ s Simpson Desert , that vast wilderness which sees riders , and this year four wheelers , forced to traverse more than eleven hundred sand dunes that run parallel , north to south .
Mark is military , like so many before and current on the Frontline Safari , this year has also seen a handful of police officers , both former and currently serving , for this is what the annual event is all about . Unlike others on this year ’ s ride , Mark had little sand riding experience making a daunting task even more so , yet a determined tenacity prevented him from giving in . It ’ s this tenacity that drives riders to cross such
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