I write from the camp in Ha’il, now back to civilization, after a long period in which it has been our turn … Everyone sleeps halfway through the marathon stage in the desert. Without sounding bad, I can say that I have sailed like crazy, it has been incredible. I’m super happy. The first part was hard, complicated, because I didn’t have the strength and it was difficult for me because the navigation was quite difficult, with rocks, canyons, but yesterday was the opposite, wonderful, amazing.
Contrary to the classic stages, in the camp there is no army of mechanics who work all night on the vehicles and who allow the pilots to leave the next day with almost new mounts. In the marathon stage, mechanical assistance is not authorized and we, the pilots, must carry out the repairs, with a bag of tools as the only help. The services are minimal. Nothing else. Not even sinks. We had to set up the tent after more than 400 kilometers of special.
The truth is that the organization took good care of us. He offered us a portion of freeze-dried food for dinner, in the purest military style, to which we simply had to add boiled water and I was able to rest well in the tent that each participant had, with a sleeping bag included. Given the possibility of not sleeping a wink all night because of the movement outside the stores, I decided to take a melatonin gummy. I slept through the night. I woke up very refreshed and was able to give the bike gas, luckily without any crashes during the stage. The only downside is that I had to swallow a lot of dust.
Objective: reach the goal without many setbacks
I can say that being almost halfway through the Dakar, I am feeling great. I am encouraged, I feel that I am enjoying every moment, and that no one will take this experience away from me. The goal is still to reach the goal if possible without many setbacks, something from which no one is safe.
Upon arriving at the camp I saw the images of the accident of Jesús Calleja and his co-driver Eduardo Blanco and that is when you realize what this rally entails. From what they say, they were driving along what was apparently a straight line, they came across an irregular stretch of terrain that, due to the speed at which they were traveling, caused the car to be thrown and spin at high speed.
Predictably, although the first information indicates that both he and his partner are in good health, everything indicates that this accident will lead the Leonese to abandon the competition due to the problems that the blow has caused to the vehicle. It is evident, as I wrote before, that this rally is extremely difficult and pushes us runners to the limit.
