Paris Dakar Stage 41

Stage 41 of 60, day 48 of 71: 103.4 km, 1497m, 4:57, 285 shifts, ave speed 20.8, max speed 63.7

Sure enough, as all the apps predicted, the rain started in the middle of the night. It was still raining at breakfast time so we all squeezed into a little lounge room in the hotel and ate our normal Bike Dreams breakfast.

The rain was lessening by 9 when we took off and pretty much stopped as we really got riding. Daniel, Wytze and I executed another rogue plan, turning right, off the route, after one km. We headed down a beautiful valley and the smooth super wet pavement turned to rough quickly so our wheels no longer kicked up any water.

We started the first and biggest climb of the day and were surprised to be passed by Wijnand in the firetruck. I guess he was going rogue too. Rob later told him, “You know you’re on the wrong route if you see Wytze.” The climb was great, up to 17%, maybe the steepest yet. At the top we had a view to either side, with an almost continuous rainbow on the left. It drizzled and was windy and we were very alive and happy.

We twisted around, through some little villages, and eventually made a sharp turn to drop down. 600m lower it was warmer and the sun came out. We had a food break then continued, up and down, to the town of Anezi at 60 km. We looked for a restaurant but didn’t really find anything. Daniel did find one eventually but said it was a real dive – his English is excellent 👌. By then Wytze and I were buying lunch at the Super Marche, very fresh baguette, Moroccan bread, cheese, chocolate, yogurt and drinks. Where to eat? There was a café next door and the owner welcomed us. We ordered coffee and tea and got down to it. Then he made us an omelet with more bread so we really had a big lunch.

After lunch we had about 40 km to go, with a few small climbs. The wind picked up so we got into Wytze mode. We rejoined the official route about 20 km from the end and immediately saw some of our buddies. Richard and Simo rode with us until Wytze put the hammer down. From then on it was just “hang on” as we blazed away into the wind. The hardest part was every time we spied another rider ahead, Wytze would set it up so we passed them going really really fast, to inflict maximum pain. I almost felt guilty, but not!

We pulled into the campground, just short of the town of Tiznit. It looked deserted and several others came up saying they had already looked and saw nothing. But a campground guy pointed on, so we went on, turned a corner and there were the trucks and a few tents. It turned out there was a giant wedding hall where we could indoor camp. So we moved in, had snacks and soup, then a hot shower and a relaxing rest of the afternoon. When nothing goes wrong and you don’t need any support, picking your own rogue route is excellent fun.

Later, Bart and I called Andrew who may be about to fly home to Australia, details not 100% clear yet. He has a keen eye and says that he can tell we’re all losing weight by seeing our photos.

I was on dinner duty so set the tables, served and cleaned up after and washed a million dishes. Dinner was great, polenta with meat (nice veggie stuff for me). After dish washing we had a cheesecake tasting session courtesy of Wytze. Fine living!