Paris Dakar Stage 37

Stage 37 of 60, day 44 of 71: 116.8 km, 1686m, 5:50, 238 shifts, ave speed 20, max speed 66.7

Wow, I’m still glowing from the ride today. It will probably end up being the highlight ride of the tour. We asked for a 7am breakfast to get an early start on the 72 km climb to the top of Tizi n’Test. That didn’t happen but all seven of us did share a great and filling breakfast outside by the pool. Breads of various types with eggs and jam and coffee, tea and peach juice.

We left at 8:30 and our hostess gave us such a warm goodbye it was amazing. They really loved having us stay. We headed up the hill past the refugee camps in Ouirgane, then onto the unpaved part of the road. It was rolling, mostly dirt for over 10 km but I’m not sure that was due to the earthquake. It looked more like they were just improving the road. Over the first 40 km the road condition kept improving and parts were very smooth. I went ahead and caught the earlier crew, Joan, then Kris and finally Andre. We leapfrogged each other as we were all stopping often for photos.

After 45 km the real climb started, 800m in 16 km. It felt easy and was more and more scenic as we climbed. After some large final switchbacks we were on top! Just over 2100m high.

From that summit it was still 10 km with one last climb to the final summit where Bike Dreams had planned to stay, also where we had reservations for lunch. We knocked that out and pulled in to the Hotel Bellevue. Lunch was setup for us outside – the inside looked mostly destroyed. Supposedly they will reopen as a hotel in January. A big group of motorcyclists had the other outdoor table, across the road a ways. We had drinks, then lunch was served just after Bart, Wytze and Daniel arrived; they had stopped in the one town below for pre-lunch.

We had ordered Berber Omelet and Moroccan Salad for seven and that’s what we got. Not omelets with berbers in it, but Berber style, that is, cooked with veggies underneath, in the ubiquitous conical tajine earthenware cookers we see everywhere. With bread and more drinks this was awesome after over four hours of climbing. We had to move the tables under an overhang due to rain, and all of us had all of our clothes on. Joan and Kris shared a blanket they found. Yes it was cold, numb fingers.

We finished eating and realized it was almost 3 pm and we still had 50 km to go and the road looked gnarly and slow, gravel, very switchbacky. We started down in light rain and it turned out the road surface was ok, at least for my wide tires. The gravel sections were fine. As we descended, the rain picked up and pretty soon it was hard to see. I realized at the time it was so epic that it was going to be one of the best rides of my life. The weather just pushed it over the top! Andre and I traded the lead, stopping for photos both of us beaming ear to ear the whole time. It was cold and wet and so perfect.

We felt a couple of blasts of hot air, still with cold rain and then suddenly we were out of the rain, and it was warm and normal. The road straightened out though so we could go much faster. Also we had a tailwind! We finally stopped where it was starting to level out and waited for the rest of the crew. We put away our extra clothes and turned on Wytze mode. This is where he goes ahead fast and we draft. The last 16 km passed in a couple of minutes it seemed. We overshot our turn by 100m and u-turned right into a little café. Daniel bought us pastries and Bart bought coffee and drinks.

From there it was a few minutes ride to our hotel, the Palace Riad Hida, a giant, sprawling place with luxurious rooms, a pool, trees, gardens, massages for under €25, etc. With only one set of riding clothes, we had to do laundry but the sun was out for drying.

The others booked massages and dinner was delayed until around 8. We ate in a very ornate tall-ceilinged room. A round of many types of salad, then tajine chicken without the usual veggies. So I ate the rice and veggie plate, or maybe that’s what they brought just for me. Fruit for dessert then to bed with a great plan for the morning: late breakfast! What a day!!