Aren’t we good there ?
On the beach sunbathing in warm sand ?
Welcome to the 13th leg of the Paris-Dakar
An exceptional marathon stage
from Touquet Paris-Plage to Touquet Paris-Plage
welcome to the northern hell
Darkar ? where is that actually ?
there !?
Nope, this was before
Then it’s there right ?
Yes….but no
The ultimate leg is in the dunes right
but a little bit north from there
a bit more
yes yes go on…
Stop ! Yes right there !
The Touquet is kind of the poor man’s Dakar
A rather insane race where you rush by the thousand
side by side on the beach
3 hours in hell
where you’ll regret Club Med and sandcastles
A specialists race for those only fed with silica
In the middle of this are the boozers making the show
more or less purposely
Just like the Dakar, the Enduropale du Touquet
needs some preparations
You’re here because you failed getting to the Dakar ?
Well it’s just that it’s next to my home
and the Dakar is too far from here I’d say
And as it’s no longer the Dakar it's not appealing anymore ?
No it is appealing, there’s a lot to see in Argentina
Even if I don't know what exactly...
I heard about pretty girls
Yeah yeah quite a lot to see for sure
but I’d rather be here at the Touquet
and try to win in this year
Are you scared about the linking leg ?
Not even slightly
Why would I ? what does fear helps ?
Just need to ride
Do you manage to watch the GPS and ride meanwhile ?
Nope no need for GPS I did recon first
so the GPS is my head now
How did you do for the road-book ?
Everything is right there !
with modern watches everything is connected
GPS and all
A the end of the straight line is it left or right ?
left !
Ok you seem well prepared good luck then
This is for the pros
for the other it looks more like a Russian retreat
or a Syrian refugee camp
With the assistance at the other end of the track
Shuttle bus to the rider’s area
And finally the starting grid
for a three hours inferno
In front there’s a battle for the hole-shot
and the honors of the “first corner first place”
behind is just a mere fight for the show
The Touquet is the kind of race where you don’t get
anything past the first lap
past the first lap
with some rare missiles stacking laps like bricks
surfing the ruts and going through traffic
just like delivery-boys in the Paris beltway at 7PM
And the others digging…digging…and digging again
The Enduropale is a team race too
because without assistance you’re not going far
An ungrateful job for the refugees
at the other side of the camp
exposed to the wind, rain and sandstorms
The Touquet inferno is also for them
If the mood is often in de depths of the soul
here it’s more in the depths of a pair of dry gloves
and clean glasses
Well this is for those who can find them
You’ll get me the windshield cleaned and oil filled too
got it !
Some others just need some warmth
and cheer-ups to get back at war
It is hell…hell from the north
Is it hell ?
Yes it’s hell !
Verdun is nothing compared to this !?
Yeah truly nothing
The first lap is hard, really hard
The sand is not carrying and it is hard to move forward
with the wind and rain added it’s starting to be a lot
Did you expect this from the Dakar ?
Not really but next year I’ll call Alain Duclos
and don’t worry there will be speed
Yeah well Dakar is still far from here
In the middle of these frozen sand statues
We still find some nutjobs crazy enough to be pleased
Is the music good?
Yeah perfect nothing is better than this
This DJ is the best
Yes engine sounds I like that
Not even cold right ?
No in fact it is warming
How is your day at the strand ?
What a beautiful day ! I’d wish a bit brighter sun though
That’s his birthday today he’s 20 !
Happy birthday then
How are you holidays on the beach ?
I eat a lot of sand
It’s hard but it’s good
I’m going to sleep well
He’ll remember his 20th birthday
For some it’s already meltdown
just like Stalingrad
For others it’s just a game
Like this team from Kuwait
used to the sand sure
but not really from the storms in the North Sea
Their secret ?
Propelled with raw petroleum
Our garage has really been damaged
A flood has come on the beach
you need to be careful it's dangerous
But we asked for this in a sense
at the front the ground is not so amusing
And even if we do not understand much
in this fair with amateurs
there is a fight within seconds
made of refueling stratedy
between Adrien Van Beveren on Yamaha
and Antoine Meo on KTM
Everybody has it’s Touquet
but this one, the 39th is Van Beveren’s one
and for the others the memory will live on
An anthology edition