dakar stage 6: fiambala to copiapo

day 14 - 6th january 2012

liaison 394km

special 247km

total 641km

start time 04:15

(special cancelled but route approx 640km)

when we were on the truck with the locals i had called rory back in the uk to tell him what we were doing in case something went wrong and because it was such and adventure that i wanted to share it and with rory who'd been such a massive driver with the charity fund raising and general motivator - he sent some awesome texts through. in fact i received some wonderful texts through the rally, from my brother barney and my daily focus note from glenn, they were very touching and a real help during some of the darker moments of the rally. rory had then stayed in touch and most importantly he'd texted e to say the following day's special had been cancelled, so it was only a liaison, hang on in!

now in jago's film he says i had 2 hours in the bivouac before i had to start the 10 hour liaison, i had in fact only just over an hour to have a well deserved dump, a shower, something to eat - thanks to john who's brought a load of breakfast items over from the mess tent - before climbing into a sleeping bag on patsy's cushions next to the truck. 30 minutes later patsy woke me gently and said "tobe, you've got 10 minutes to leave the bivouac!". i had been in the wonderful deep sleep, away in some very peaceful, restful place, but the nightmare had started over again. with relatively clean gear to put on and not bothering with knee breaces or a neck brace, i wore my rab jacket under the race jacket, wore the neck scarfe over my face, fitted the wind proof liner to my lid and put on the thicker gloves i had found in mar del plata - not the goretex klim gloves i'd bought especially for this crossing. pockets stuffed with food, including bread sarnies mart had made for me - such a sweetie ; )) i was off and gone.

it was a strange feeling, as i was riding without jago for the first time and this is how it would be from now on.......we'd not had a chance to even talk about me continuing or jago having to stop, everything had happened so fast.

the scenery was stunning. we were high up on the 4000m altiplano, surrounded by 5000m+ mountains and exstinct snow-capped volcanoes. when i had travelled on the altiplano 16 years before it had been just track, not tarmac. the riding was easy. i was comfortably warm although the mesh motocross pants were a little breezy, could have done with leggings ; )) the hours and miles just rolled by and then i hit the wall again, i had to sleep. looking for a half-decent and safe spot to get my head down for a 5 minute catnap, i pulled up next to an aqua blue lake surrounded by glistening white sand. other riders and travellers were also there. as i stopped, the dakar motorcade trundled on, it was as if i'd stepped off a conveyor belt. lid off, i lay on the ground and went to sleep.

when we were on the truck with the locals i had called rory back in the uk to tell him what we were doing in case something went wrong and because it was such and adventure that i wanted to share it and with rory who'd been such a massive driver with the charity fund raising and general motivator - he sent some awesome texts through. in fact i received some wonderful texts through the rally, from my brother barney and my daily focus note from glenn, they were very touching and a real help during some of the darker moments of the rally. rory had then stayed in touch and most importantly he'd texted e to say the following day's special had been cancelled, so it was only a liaison, hang on in!


now in jago's film he says i had 2 hours in the bivouac before i had to start the 10 hour liaison, i had in fact only just over an hour to have a well deserved dump, a shower, something to eat - thanks to john who's brought a load of breakfast items over from the mess tent - before climbing into a sleeping bag on patsy's cushions next to the truck. 30 minutes later patsy woke me gently and said "tobe, you've got 10 minutes to leave the bivouac!". i had been in the wonderful deep sleep, away in some very peaceful, restful place, but the nightmare had started over again. with relatively clean gear to put on and not bothering with knee breaces or a neck brace, i wore my rab jacket under the race jacket, wore the neck scarfe over my face, fitted the wind proof liner to my lid and put on the thicker gloves i had found in mar del plata - not the goretex klim gloves i'd bought especially for this crossing. pockets stuffed with food, including bread sarnies mart had made for me - such a sweetie ; )) i was off and gone.


it was a strange feeling, as i was riding without jago for the first time and this is how it would be until i finished at whatever point in time that would be.


the scenery was stunning. we were high up on the 4000m altiplano, surrounded by 5000m+ mountains and exstinct snow-capped volcanoes. when i had travelled on the altiplano 16 years before it had been just track, not tarmac. the riding was easy. i was comfortably warm although the mesh motocross pants were a little breezy, could have done with leggings ; )) the hours and miles just rolled by and then i hit the wall again, i had to sleep. looking for a half-decent and safe spot to get my head down for a 5 minute catnap, i pulled up next to an aqua blue lake surrounded by glistening white sand. other riders and travellers were also there. as i stopped, the dakar motorcade trundled on, it was as if i'd stepped off a conveyor belt. lid off, i lay on the ground and went to sleep.


i woke with a start and thought, right, push on. i stood up slowly, stretched and took stock of where i was and what i was doing. i felt really groggy, a combination of lack of sleep, general fatigue and the altitude. then a voice broke my stupor, a traveller asked if i was ok, i explained i was just getting a few mintues rest, he said "you've been there for half an hour!" guess i needed it and it was the only rest i had until i arrived at the bivouac.

the altiplano

i was ahead of the desert rose truck so dumped my bike and gear with rob, ned, tim and ted (!) of rally pan am and headed over to the mess tents for a gig bowl of pasta, drowned in olive oil and parmeasan, from the pasta bar; my daily staple on the days i got in on time! before working on my road book back with the bike and then going back to the mess tent later for a proper supper....if there was time you could eat and eat and eat.....sadly for me there wasn't!


rob was awesome; in my slightly delirious  state, he put up a tent for me, with a huge inflatable mattress and thick duffle sleeping bag.....so comfortable! i was in bed by 9pm and could revel in the fact i did not have to be until 7am the next day - although the first bike was away by 07:10, i was about an hour behind. but it was a fitful sleep, never quite sure when i was meant to be getting up. and what seemed like the middle of the night, i heard patsy, jago and the desert race crew arriving and working on bikes. Still, i was resting. my main concern though was my left knee, it had swollen right up since being hit by the car and my leg looked like a tree trunk from thigh to ankle! i could neither straighten it nor stand on my left leg. i was more than concerned.

with so much going on i had not realised my knee was not in good shape, but neither was my right wrist which i had sprained after my big off a couple of days ago. somehow, with the whole body aching and being beyond tired, these ailments were just niggles until you stopped to check......best to ignore. in fact, i remember going for a shower one evening and seeing a guy with a bruise that ran across his entire back all the way down to the back of his knees.....to think i thought i had problems!!