Paris Dakar Stage 53 to ‘Nothing’

Stage 53 of 60, day 62 of 71: 174.2 km, 390m, 6:07, 89 shifts, ave speed 26.4, max speed 45.6

This post is courtesy of Daniel’s hotspot again as there was no chance to buy a SIM card today and Google Fi really doesn’t work in Mauritania.

Today we started with a deficit, 30 km we should’ve ridden yesterday but couldn’t due to the lengthy border crossing. This extra was into the wind. I didn’t make it easier by leading the pack the first 10 km either.

We finally did make it to where the road turned 90°, which should’ve really improved our day but didn’t somehow. We stopped there at the ‘town’ and Wow, that was a real ‘Welcome to Mauritania’ moment. There were some very dilapidated shacks, one of which had cold drinks – we bought lots. Then the kids discovered us and it was a difficult cultural exchange. They all begged, and one enterprising one even got into my bike bag and stole a bar. The only words they said that we understood besides “Give me…” were unprintable, thanks internet. I understand how amazing we look, and one glance at their homes will give you sympathy for them in spades.

As we left they threw rocks at us and my bike and I were hit again, as was Wytze. We hadn’t had that since one time in the beginning in Morocco.

We made it to lunch at 90 km somehow, I didn’t think I could still pull off another 80 given the extreme crappiness of the road, and the strong side wind. But after eating a bit and drinking a ton, I felt better. The road also curved in the right direction after 20 more km. Some people were bailing to the trucks and the ones who were planning to ride to camp from lunch bailed too. But pretty soon, it was back in the saddle and onto the ‘Pain Train’, as Kris calls riding with Wytze.

We made it 11 km more then stopped at a pretty decent restaurant with cold drinks next door. I inhaled 850 ml of mango drink, good to go!

Wilbert had agreed to stop at 140 km for water so we were counting on that. But at more like 120 we ran into him, stuck in the sand. We tried to push him out but in the end asked a kind driver in a 4×4 pickup to pull him out. We refilled with water and cruised off.

There was one more water stop and a drink shack stop that I didn’t make with the team but caught up and we all continued. At about 160 km, I felt like going slower so I went solo from there. The track ended with no sign of camp, but about 2 km ahead, there it was. Best camp ever! Not really but boy was I used up. I drank then lay on a bench waiting for the sweat to dry. Someone said 38°, maybe in the shade but it was way hotter in the sun.

I drank a huge amount, had soup and snacks, and finally around 5 set up my tent and took a one bidon shower. The water was from my bike and was almost too hot to stand. Yow!

That’s it for today’s post. Dinner will be soon, the sun is just setting and it’s hot as hell here. So far I can’t really recommend Mauritania as a travel destination, but I’m prepared to be delighted later.