Paris Dakar Stage 7

Stage 7 of 60, Day 8 of 71: 128.4 km, 1324m, 5:05, 271 shifts, ave speed 25.3, max speed 60.2

It was another civilized breakfast at 7am, already light. I skipped the muesli again for French toast with jam and bread with cheese. We took off at 8 and had a bit of a steep climb out of the campsite to the main road. Then a glorious descent in the crisp, cool morning air. My record of not wearing any clothes with long sleeves or non-shorts since the tour started remains intact. We had mostly downhill for the first 20 km, then the climb of the day. It was starting to get a bit hot and it was a 650m climb over 13 km. At the col, Ype was there dropping off some riders who didn’t want to do the climb.

We cruised down the other side, quite fast and it was shady and cool enough to dry all the sweat. We had a wonderful stop in a scenic little village for drinks, apple pastries and bananas. Then the mostly downhill continued to lunch at 70 km.

There was little shade at lunch, but enough. After the usual delicacies, we said thanks and took off. We were now heading down the Gorges du Tarn, a beautiful and famous valley. There were more nice villages, old stone bridges and we rode through some tunnels and alongside vertical limestone cliffs. It’s a center for hiking, climbing, kayaking and canoeing – quite popular although we’re here after the high season.

We were getting pretty hot so stopped at a fancy restaurant for drinks. We ordered the usual (4 Perriers, 4 Oranginas with lots of ice) and the guy was momentarily confused, “But you are only four, oh I see, you will drink a lot.” From there it was only 22 km and we blazed that last, hot section fast. We pulled into the Municipal Campground of Le Rozier about 3 pm. I still had power in me, but was very glad to stop. Due to the net loss of elevation it was our fastest stage yet, averaging over 25 kph. We’ve now covered 875 km on this crazy adventure.

Camp has lots of trees for shade and we unloaded the trucks, then put up tents. Many snacks were had then it was time to swim. The pool looked ok but the sign frowns on our style of bathing suit. Just a little further is the river and we found Daniel down there. It looked perfect but was surprisingly cold. The kind of cold where you’re not sure if you really want to go in. But if you just dive in and float underwater for a while, you realize that whatever temperature it is, it’s absolutely perfect! I had goosebumps and my body was thoroughly cooled off. Next up was a round of soup, bread and water in camp, then a shower and laundry session, then writing this blog entry, followed by a nap until dinner.

We had another really nice dinner, instead of the Indonesian Beef I had shrimps with the peanut sauce. Quite tasty with mango milkshakes for dessert. It was only 8:30 after dinner but the heat hammered me today so I’m going to bed early.