Out of Europe

01 JANUARY 2005 – OUT OF EUROPE

Barcelona – Granada (920 kms)

Liaison 920 kms

Note – Click here for the CMG Dakar Glossary (just in case you don’t understand some of the terminology used).

Heading out to the Rally start (note clean gear).Photo: Sharon McCrindle

There was no special today, just a very long ride on the highway. In preparation, I had a set of road tires mounted on the bike just for today.

Once again we started at the Parc Fermé, but this time we rode up on to a podium and were met by Patrick Zaniroli and introduced to the gathered fans. But before we hit the highway we had to ride through town to a checkpoint in the middle of the city, just so the people in town could have one last look at the equipment and riders.

I hooked up with Kevin Heath and we hit the highway together. At 60 kms we pulled into a fuel station where we met up with my family, who would be accompanying us by car down to Granada.

After 250 kms we had to stop in at a CP in the town of Castellon. A food tent had been set up to serve us lunch – offering up a well-balanced meal of coffee and pastries. As we milled around, happy to be off the bikes, I noticed seasoned rallyist, David Frétigne, wearing a full-on snowmobile suit, despite it being a nice sunny day.

Hmhh, what did he wear when he went snowmobiling?

I hadn’t been doing any riding before I had left home and as a result it didn’t take long before my back and my butt were crying in pain. I began to invent new riding positions but as soon as I would get relief on one area, something else would start to ache.

Leaving the podium in Barcelona (road tires fitted).Photo: Sharon McCrindle

Then I discovered what was going to become my favourite position! The extremely high seating position of the 660 meant I could take my feet off the pegs and hang both legs straight down without touching the ground. The beauty of this was that it would not only straighten my back, but also free up my left hand to wave at the fans lining the bridges.

Being January, it wasn’t long before it became dark, and as we approached Granada we left the coast behind and headed into the mountains. The temperature plummeted!

We stopped to put on our warmest gear but since we were at over 3000 ft, their effect was minimal at best. As I shivered away, it all became clear to me – David Frétigne was no doubt smugly zipping along, tucked up in his snowmobile suit.

Still shivering, we hit the streets of Granada, which were packed with people; making Barcelona look like a ghost town. There was just space wide enough between the crowds for a bike to get through – like you see in footage from the Tour de France.

We didn’t get to Parc Service ‘til 10:30 pm.

I quickly pulled the road tires off the KTM’s rims and chucked them into the nearest ditch (their job was done). I then mounted a fresh set of Michelin Deserts, repacked my trunk with the stuff from the car and took my bike to the Parc Fermé.

By the time we found our hotel and had something to eat (one of those sandwiches encased in plastic that I got at a gas station) it was 1:00 am!

I had to get up in 4 hours.