Paris Dakar Stage 24 to Algeciras

Stage 24 of 60, day 29 of 71: 106.5 km, 1285m, 4:08, 378 shifts, ave speed 25.8, max speed 60.5

Well, we’ve accomplished a major milestone in the Paris to Dakar tour: made it to the bottom of Spain. The 24 stages we’ve ridden so far from Paris total 2,890 km with over 38,000m of climbing. We’re averaging 120 km per day with nearly 1600m climbing. The day started out like any other: wake up in the tent in darkness, pack up, eat breakfast and start riding at 9. It was a hot night and the tents were bone dry. We had a net loss of around 800m today, but with 1200m of climbing it means we descended 2000m. It was windy from the start again, sometimes helpful, sometimes hurtful and sometimes from the side.

Our little riding group had a different plan for today. Instead of stopping with everyone for lunch, we blew through at high speed and proceeded all the way to the hotel in the port town of Algeciras. We arrived around 2pm and after showers and a little water, headed out by taxi to meet a friend who Daniel had contacted. She set up the most amazing lunch ever. It was at a seafood restaurant right at the beach. We could see across to Gibraltar and ferries from Morocco passing as we ate.

We had been working on this plan to have a real Spanish paella meal before we left the country and it did not disappoint. First came several rounds of appetizers. The most interesting was fried anemone, a local delicacy. I had always wondered if anyone ate these and finally found out. Also tiny squids and others. Then the main courses: two types of paella: one with black rice and seafood (squid ink colored) and the other more traditional with giant shrimps. Both were off scale in taste. All of this was washed down with three or four bottles of delicious white wine. And luckily Jan started with a couple of rounds of beer so the rest of us got more of the wine. Dessert was of course cheesecake, plus a couple of other delicacies. This cheesecake was either the second or third best of the trip, simply excellent. Then coffee with brandy to top it off. Wow, I guess this is our farewell to Europe meal, for a while. Incredible. I will never forget it.

Tomorrow we have a very early start to make our 8am ferry. We’ll land in Africa in Ceuta, still part of Spain, and after a few km of riding will cross the border into Morocco. Everyone’s excited about this new phase of the trip. We’re not even half way to Dakar yet!