Paris Dakar Stage 54 to ??

Stage 54 of 60, day 63 of 71: 133.2 km, 430m, 4:03, 109 shifts, ave speed 32.8, max speed 55.6

Given how used up I was from yesterday’s ride I was a little worried about how much rejuvenation I would get overnight. But it worked! I woke up early, around 5:30, feeling pretty good. Going to bed before 8pm can be great 👍 I went out to do my morning business before it got light and it was surreal. A giant truck and earthmover arrived and drove right through our camp. The guys made a ramp out of sand so the earthmover could drive onto the truck, but it was right by one of our tents, strange.

Breakfast was normal and we took off. Wytze, Daniel and I stopped at every possible drinks place, including the town at 5 km.

At 20 km we drank lots more, then at around 65 we stopped at the best one: a small hut with a freezer powered by a car battery, full of icy drinks! I had an icy milk melon drink. The guy made us tea and we took some group photos. Some riders had to hang there for an hour to make sure not to get ahead of lunch.

We continued and found lunch; it was getting really 🔥🔥🔥. We knew there was one more stop at 97 km and sure enough we found it. I drank another liter and Wytze poured lots all over me, soaking my jersey.

I can’t believe it lasted 10 full km. Camp was rumored to be at 127 km but after passing Suzanne broken down at 124, we had to continue until 133. It may not sound like much but trust me, those last few km were grueling. The temperature was about 40 in the shade but there was no hint of shade. Just brutal in the sun.

We pulled in and I was very relieved. I had something left in the tank thanks to all the drinks. We sat in the shade, then Jan arrived, completely used up like me yesterday. We got him to drink a ton, wet all his clothes, dumped water on him for a long time and made jokes at his expense. A few people set up their tents but it wasn’t even 3pm and there was no reason to set foot in the sun, except for brief water or soup runs to the kitchen, 10m away.

That’s it for today. We are very excited to have only about 125 km to go tomorrow to the capital, Nouakchott. We have a rest day there in a hotel and hopes are high for getting the sand out of all the places it has entered. After that, it’s hard to believe but there’s a block of three rides to St. Louis in Senegal and a final block of two rides to Dakar and that’s it! I don’t know anyone who will be disappointed to have this adventure end!