STAGE 8 - a total of 830Km (!!!!) - of which 395 km special stage at racespeed!
I'm slowly starting to "experience" the Dakar as my mentor had "threatened" me before, but I was of the opinion that old men always tend to exaggerate. Even if they had already experienced something similar themselves for several times!
Even if you had pushed yourself to extrem limits before - the Dakar is still twice as bad as its stories!
If you told me beforehand:
You can only get through a two weeks DAKAR with extreme menthal strength ... FALSE! ... one week is already too much for any standard "extreme biker"!
Sleep, no matter how long, will never be enough for you ... FALSE! ... I hardly can get any sleep, and if so, only in massive pain!
The pain in the hands, back or buttocks is indescribable .... FALSE! ... never ever had to suffer like this - pain is completely redefined at a Dakar!
Friends say I'm a training animal! I also thought so ...? But obviously that's only good enough for a 2 day DAKAR :(
The further back you start, the more tracks are there! Tracks are always softer and more difficult to ride
And another day comes to an end. Leafing the Team in the dark this morning and returning this afternoon just before sunset. A very, very long day! 5km after the start, my team-mate Wiljan Van Wiksellaar # 95 had a mighty crash and he had to fight all day long to somehow make it. He didn't really know what had happened - it only needs a small stone in the sand!
But considering the crash he had he was doing well. Compliments that he still made it through the day!đ
Together with my team colleague from the BAS DAKAR TEAM - Wiljan Van Wiksellaar # 95
The first 100km I was stuck behind the leader of the quad class and apart from tonns of dust, I couldn't see anything from the landscape I was riding in đ . After some 100km I was finally able to pass him in the dunes!
I rode the remaining 300km mostly on my own and concentrated 100% on navigation. Two other riders, which were much faster than me, passed me later on and I didn't even try to stick to them and carried on my own speed. Several times today the speed was 130 - 160Km/h continously for 15 minutes and more !
You need a lot of mental strength - on the one hand to overcome yourself and on the other hand to really endure it! I tried not to even lift a little on the throttle, in order not to lose time đ and I often thought to myself ... only a small wrong movement or a tiny stone can stop my rallye here in a blink of an eye.
For the last 50 km I felt extreme pain in my wrists and could barely hold the handlebars. Tomorrow we will probably have to double the doses of pills I assume â
Sebastian Loeb (cars) overtook me in a long curve at the last 10 km. Me on the outside - on my limit - and Loeb passed inside.
Is this just wonderful or already madness? ... figure it out yourself! đ
The 5-10 minutes I had spent with a falled rider yesterday, doesn't seem to be refunded / credited to me again :(
Tomorrow we will carry on exactly as today ... hopefully without errors and, if possible, never riding without considering the outcome and using my brain hopefully đ
A great result for me and compared to the competition ... at least that's what my mentor says :)