“All people must be clear that dreams can come true”. That’s how clear it is to him carcaixentí Dani Albero who remains the only diabetic person on the planet to compete in the toughest rally in the world, the Dakar. Tree has achieved complete the Arabian route for the fourth consecutive year and on this occasion, in 7th position in the H3 category of Classic in Regularity mode.
«In this category we have to travel two points at a certain average speed. On the H3 it is 95 km/h. with cars – or a replica – that have raced in the Dakar before December 31, 1999,” explained the man from the river. Such a great feat has had a riverside seal since the carcaixentí He had Corberan Luis Serra as co-pilot. «He came from training at lower speeds, 25-30 km/h. but after the first stages he adapted to giving many instructions at high speed.
Completing the Dakar is a triumph in itself and doing it in 7th position even more so “when we have a budget of around €70,000 against structures of half or a million euros,” Albero pointed out.
«The greatest triumph is the many expressions of gratitude for giving visibility to this disease»
“But the greatest triumph is the many expressions of gratitude received from people who suffer from diabetes or associations for the effort I make to make this disease visible.” And in 1982, when it was detected, “the teachers would not let me do gymnastics when over time it has been shown that with exercise and a good diet, the disease can be controlled and even reduced, such as type 2 diabetes,” he added. «You need to move to metabolize insulin. The tennis player Zverev or the Real Madrid footballer Nacho are other examples of elite athletes who suffer from diabetes.
In progression
Its relationship with the Dakar is now six years old. “I had to prove to the organization more than other drivers that I could compete.” To qualify he had to compete in two Spanish championships, in Greece or Pan Africa. In 2019 he competed in the last Dakar that was held in South America, in Peru specifically. He completed three stages “but he gave us information about the most correct use of insulin pumps, the guidelines for putting them in,…”. In 2020, already in Arabia, applying the information, he traveled nine stages by motorcycle. At last, In 2021 it completed its first edition. “It was an unparalleled feeling”. In addition, she has already used telemedicine with the help of Dr. Teresa Martínez who viewed the sensor data to regulate the insulin pump.
Having achieved his particular challenge, the family urged him to do another test, aware of the danger of accidents that exist on motorcycles. «I sold it to buy the Toyota Land Cruiser car and be able to do the Dakar on four wheels in the Classic category “which has a budget similar to the motorcycle.” The car was assembled with YouTube videos. “Now I have the help of Alberto García Palací,” he says.
«The experience with Luis has been fantastic. We have combined the strength of his thirty years with the experience of my 51′. Each stage is an adventure. They get up at 3:30 in the morning to go running at 4:30. «This year we suffered the first breakdown in three editions. At 5:30 we finished changing the gearbox and we left at 6:30. While other runners have structures behind them, when we finish a stage I have to get on the underside of the car to fix it,” Dani commented.
Country to discover
Few people can imagine what Arabia is like. We know the spectacular cities that emerged from desert areas “but it is much more. When it rains, the color changes you see are wonderful, the volcanic stones,… », she explains passionately. “The best thing is to run in virgin places.” When it seemed that they would change countries, he is going to run for five more years in the Arabian Peninsula. “Every year I say that it will be the last when I leave there, but when I return, I just want to go through its dunes and deserts again,” she concluded. Of course, the only wish that both pilots had when returning to La Ribera was “the diumenge, paella!!”.
Among his next goals is to make the second part of the book in which he narrates his experiences in the Dakar starting in 2021 and “also publish it in Valencian.” He also wants to continue the Carbon Footprint Offsetting project by planting trees.
2024-01-25 17:35:07
#year #Dakar #dunes #desert
