Dakar – lessons from the longest race on earth. Part 15 – The Finish

January 17th.  Last Stage.  Stage 13.

It was awesome, but I wanted it to be over.  Everyone did.

Funny how you sign up for such an event.  People say “Did you have fun in Saudi Arabia?”  The answer is “No!”  Fun is not the word.  It was not fun.  You don’t do this for fun.  You do it so you can know you can.  That you can endure.  You can plan well enough. That you were tough enough physically and mentally, and that you were smart enough.  That you had the right combination that it takes.

Ted and I packed most of our bags before we started the stage.  We would be staying in a hotel tonight.  No more nasty trailer showers with no hot water.  A soft bed.  

Today was warm.  Hot even.  The first hot day.  We were back in Yanbu.  We made a full giant circle of Saudi Arabia.  5500 miles.  When you are wearing long underwear, a turtle neck shirt, a “balaclava,” which is a stocking cap that covers your neck with a hole for your face, (all for fire precautions), and a warm “onezie” race overalls, on a hot day, it can drain you.  I was grateful I did not sweat much until this stage.  I thought everyone would cruise and chill.  Nope.  We’re still racing hard.  Very dusty.  Cars are pushing to pass.  Rocky canyons mix.  I passed seven cars today.  The last 45 km was along the Red Sea.  You had to pay attention.  One car broke the front wheels off 15 km from finish.  One went off the road and broke the front end.  

Ricky Brabec, the American who was leading the motorcycle class by 3 1/2 minutes, got lost 10km from the finish.  He lost the 5500-mile race by two seconds.  Two seconds.  Heartbreaker.

There it was.  The finish line.  The Dakar finish line.  

We crossed it and stopped.  Our South Racing crew was there to congratulate us and celebrate.  It was a moment to be remembered.  A moment hard-earned by many.

We had to wait 3 hours in line to get on the podium and get our finisher medal.  The coveted Dakar finisher medal. 

We did it.  Dennis Murphy, South Racing, Ted, and me.  We finished Dakar!

After qualifying in Morocco and all that involved…  After having a chest infection for two months before.  The vertigo.  The stomach sick.   

The overheating. The getting stuck in the sand.  Zero visibility.  The dust and rocks.  The sand.  Oh man, the sand.

People ask me if it is harder than the Baja 1000.  The answer is that it is different. You really cannot compare them.  The Baja 1000 you can do on two wheels or four, and share the driving or riding with a team or not.  That makes a huge difference.  It’s like a whole different race depending on those two factors.  The Baja 1000 solo on a motorcycle is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  No question.  And there are no sand dunes in Baja.  Not that we’ve raced on.  But Dakar riders have gone to Baja and hated how rough it was and said they would never return.

In Dakar, you are the only driver.  I was on four wheels.  It’s designed to wear you down day after day after long, hard day.  Make a small mistake, you’re out.  The navigation is far more difficult in Dakar.  No, follow the GPS line.  Road book.  Very different instructions.  

Dakar was the biggest adventure of my life.  The most epic.  

When you do something like this, you come back a little less restless; a little less feeling like you are playing small and missing out on something.  

You feel like you are living while you have the chance.  I believe that’s what we are supposed to do.

Three marbles I will remember forever.