By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be dealing with culture shock in one of the most over-populated cities on earth – New Delhi, India. What the hell am I doing here?

I’ll get to that shortly. Right now though, the geographic centre of Australia – Alice Springs – is where it’s at! Why? One word – Finke.

Like a monumental moto-magnet, the The Finke Desert Race is pulling-in hardcore riders from all over Australia, causing a mass migration of MXers, enduro nuts, punters, swappers and anyone with an addiction to speed.

Otherwise known as ‘Finke Fever’, they are drawn to this race like moths to the flame. No measure of money, time or domestic commitments can deter them from travelling thousands of kilometres, only to endure the blood, sweat and tears of the most brutal two-day race Australia has to offer.

There’s also about 100 off-road buggies racing this event too, but they’re only there as dedicated track pulverisers – just to ensure the 240km track is prepped into a square-edge, whooped-out, bike-smashing nightmare!

If you’re up to speed on who’s who in the *150 club (the riders who are frequently hitting *150km/h down the track), you’ll no doubt have your money on 2010 Finke Champion, KTM’s Toby Price.

If you know Toby, you’ll know there’s two things in life he loves most: riding crazy-fast and winning! But, nothing is certain in the desert, which he knows better than anyone after his experience in last year’s race, where he had to spend three hours in the cold desert air, sitting next to a bike with an expired engine.

Cross over to the Honda Team and you’ve got more podium potential in the brothers Todd and Jacob Smith. These boys are synonymous with desert racing in Australia, having each won the infamous Australasian Safari, as well as being regulars at the pointy end of Finke, with Todd finishing second to Price in 2010.

As for local Alice Springs talent, last year’s third place getter Ryan Branford is the Finke enigma who continues to put it on the box and keep town’s pride alive.

Among a field of professional calibre desert racers, he’s not the fittest athlete in the game, nor does he operate under the same regime of a full factory sponsored rider, but come Finke time, Branford grips those bars, holds the throttle wide open and simply smokes the majority. Credit where credit’s due, the boy is a weapon on a dirt bike.

Experience counts for a lot in this race too, and it’s pretty safe to say KTM’s team manager, Brad Williscroft has more than anyone. Going into his 10th Finke, he’s got thousands of kilometres of high-speed Finke data stored in his brain.

At 42-years of age though, you’d be forgiven for thinking his podium chances are over, but the fact he trains with, rides with and manages the two fastest Finke riders to date – Toby Price and Ben Grabham – means the old dog is up to speed with new tricks.

He’s also tough. Mentally tough. And, is notorious for hunting down riders like a dog on a bit of meat. “Wonka” the “Black Piston”… call him what you like, but if Williscroft is poised for podium on the run home from Finke to Alice, good luck to anyone trying to get in his way.

He gallops across the whoops like a jockey riding an iron horse and can take square-edge hits like a UFC fighter who can’t be knocked out. Go get get em, Bradley.

Now before I sign-off on the Finke spiel, there’s one rider who warrant’s some serious attention, despite the fact he’s been happily lurking under the radar. That rider is also without a doubt the 2012 Finke dark horse – Yamaha’s Jarrod Bewley.

Last year, Bewley was basically engineered into a Finke-racing weapon by the Motorex KTM Desert Racing team. He spent weeks learning the track and was shown the ways of the whoops by the Desert King himself, 4 x Finke Champion Ben Grabham.

Had Price’s engine not exploded, it could have played out to be a KTM podium domination at Finke, given Bewley finished less than a minute behind Grabham, who took his 4th win last year.

If you look a little deeper into it, KTM engineered their biggest threat at Finke the second they chose not to sign Bewley up for 2012. Now flying a new flag, Bewley is the best hope for a Finke podium that Yamaha has had in years.

He knows the track, he knows what it takes to put it on the box, and, the desert-spec YZ 450F he’ll be swinging off is ridiculously fast!

With Grabham out of the picture with injury, you’d have to put your money on Bewley as Price’s closest rival. They’re former team mates, they’re still good mates, but if it plays out that Bewley gets a sniff of Price’s dust on the run to the finish, Finke fans could be in for one hell of a finale.

That said, I’m kinda spewin I won’t be at Finke to capture the action. Why? Cause I’m currently sweating it out in 45 degree heat in India – preparing to embark on what is no doubt going to be a perilous but monumental adventure.

Long story short, a few years ago my dad and I decided it was time to recover a bit of lost ground as father and son, so we came up with the idea to travel to a foreign country together. Given my present way of life, that idea has since evolved into a motorcycle adventure up into the Himalayas.

Now I’ve done a lot of extreme stuff on motorbikes, but I can honestly say I’m a little more nervous about this one and it’s not even a race!

In typical Riemann fashion, we booked flights first, researched India later. We’ve since been advised not to travel on motorcycles as India is notorious for having the most dangerous roads in Asia. It’s also bang-on monsoon season, which means daily dumps of torrential rain followed by body-stewing humidity.

Then there’s the humanitarian issue of the widespread sickness and disease that flourishes in this climate. Interesting.

A few other things: my old man is 60-odd, and the only time we’ve ever ridden together was when he used to sit me on the tank of his road bike – over 30-years ago! He hasn’t owned a bike since. In fact, I can’t actually recall ever seeing him ride a bike.

Oh, and did I mention we’re doing this on dirt bikes manufactured in India? With a lot of luck, I’ll have somehow checked in next week with an update on our ordeal.

Regardless, Toby Price will fill in for me next week with a first hand take on the Finke Desert Race. That’ll be a must-read Off-Road Observer for sure.

Over ‘n’ out.