Paris Dakar Stage 12 to Spain

Stage 12 of 60, Day 14 of 71: 102.8 km, 1848m, 4:46, 243 shifts, ave speed 21.6, max speed 70.1

It seemed like it didn’t rain after about 10pm, but sure enough, about 6:30am it started up again. Luckily it stopped for good right before I had to get up at 7:30. Everything stayed dry in my tent so that was a success. Breakfast was good, with banana smoothies as the “extra”.

We left exactly at 9 and I got out in front with Garth and Bart. We cruised down the valley, the pavement wet but drying. It was fast and smooth and I kept waiting for something to screw it up, like more traffic or potholes or something. Bart told me later he was thinking the same. We had averaged about 35 kph by the time we got to the Spanish border.

A little later we turned off and started up the first hill of the day. 18 km long and climbing a lot. This might’ve been our steepest climb yet and it was really humid from the rainfall. I was sweating up a storm but just cranked it out. I had a couple of stops for food (including blackberries), then was on top. After a short level section, the second climb started – I did it with Daniel who was sick, and Wytze. We topped out at over 1700m and Ype was right there with lunch.

From lunch it was a really nice descent, fast and smooth. We hit 70 kph and the dry air was so nice after being wet and sweaty.

After descending 1000m, the temp was quite a bit warmer. We regrouped and headed down the valley, but then there was a classic “Rob-style” turnoff. Instead of cruising down the valley on a main road, he had us climb over 600m on a tiny one-lane deserted road. It was quite nice really and once we made it to that summit, it was all downhill to camp. We couldn’t resist though, there was a little village below and Wytze said it must have a bar and they must have beer. Sure enough, he was right and it was great. I loved being able to order and talk with the owner.

A few more easy kilometers and we rolled into camp. I put up my tent to dry first thing, then ate lots. Major snacks and two bowls of soup. Then shower, laundry and writing. Some of us hung out in the afternoon reading the Bike Dreams Paris Dakar “Wiki Guide” which has a surprising amount of information on the many areas we’re cycling through on this trip. Then it was dinner time.