This might be the last blog for a while. Race starts tomorrow. We have a compulsory briefing at 0930 then I think we sit around and read the roadbook till 1430 when the first bike starts. I’ll need to remember to take tape and a marker pen. I’m currently sitting with the team before our final meeting at 10. Not much left to do today hopefully. One of the Canadian riders is hosting a bit of a party tonight so may go along for a bit. I’m surprised I’m not more nervous at this point but maybe it will come. I’m just very keen to get started now. Yesterday was a bit manic with all the attention you get as a rider. I suspect the real proof will come out on the piste and in the dunes. Have fun. PC

Well that’s it. Scrutineering was very intense and exhausting but a couple of hours ago after an unexpected interview on a podium I put the bike into Parc Ferme. We’re done. Nothing more I can do. Just got final preps before Friday. Tony’s done a great job on the bike and she sailed through the technical checks. Have Fun. PC.

Been in Buenos Aires for 24 hours now. Nice to chill out but keen to get on and make progress. Think it could be a long day of preparation. Hopefully all will come together quickly. Have Fun. Paul.

Thanks Allan for the headline.I’m now sitting on a flight to Argentina. Duncan and I have already met a group running a truck and the assistance driver for David Fretigne.It begins…

Have Fun Paul

(seem to have format problems again – probably because doing this on my iPhone – I’ll see if I can get someone back at base to tidy these up).

Mrs Justice Cox just became my favourite lady for today.  I don’t know if she’s entered the Dakar and maybe decided the strike was illegal so she could get there.

Nevertheless, strike banned – flights presumably going back to normal.

If I get beaten by a lady in a wig I’ll be depressed.

Have Fun

Paul

In a startling return to the 1970’s we’ve got a broke economy, hideous music industry (the X-factory product Joe is surely a new low) and vicious industrial relations disputes. Thierry Sabine ran away to the desert in 1976 and invented the Dakar Rallye – good plan.

Until BA’s (poverty stricken on 56k a year) cabin staff decide to go on a 12 day strike. On the 27th December I was planning to fly from Edinburgh to Heathrow, then Heathrow to Buenos Aires – all on BA! Duncan Tweedy has been a star and lined up some alternative flights but they’ll cost £1300 and while the Unions and BA battle things out in court and boardroom we have no idea whether our flights will happen or not. At some point we’ll just have to take a deep breath and decide which flights to go for (and I’ll need to find a new way to get to London).

Five years of building up to this race and all the stress, training and cash expended  – there’s simply no option. If we have to swim to BA (that’s the capital of Argentina – not the soon to be insolvent airline), at least it will be good training. Fly the Flag…..

Strangely I’m not worried about the Rally now. I’m completely freaked about all the logistical nightmares that can intervene before the start. Do I have all the right paperwork? Have I got/can I get all the safety kit? My FIM race licence has still to come through but at least I now have the required Yellow Fever vaccination certificate. Will my funds hold out?

Scrutineering and administration time for me is 9 am on 30 December. I kind of hope I can get that all done in one day and have the 31 December to chill out – we shall see.

Once the race starts on the afternoon of 1 January, assuming I make it to the start, the riding bit will seem easy by comparison….

….always going to be another mountain……

aaaarrrrrghh!!!

Have fun

Paul

Some photos taken by Graeme Warren while mountain biking at Innerleithen on a glorious day last Saturday – sometimes the training is fun too – he takes great photos see www.pixelmixphotography.com

and some more photos from Le Harve showing bikes all crated up for the boat trip – and the thing I don’t want to see – the sweeper truck…!

A busy week or two. Last Sunday was my last organised event, the Glentress Duathlon. There are three of these over the winter and I might try the other two when I get back from the Dakar.

Sunday was a nightmare. A mountain bike race of steep climbs and descents (nothing flat) through the forest for 12k followed by a 7.5k run (again steeply up and down). I lost a contact lens about half way through the cycle which meant I couldn’t judge distances that well. I was terrified that I’d trip over a root or something and pick up an injury. All of this was in horizontal snow and freezing temperatures. Finished 99th having picked up a few places on the run towards the end  – 1hr 47 mins or something like that.

It didn’t feel like a good event to end the formal training on but it still counts as a finish in horrible conditions I suppose.

Back to boring old training on my own now, trying to make sure I’ve got all the relevant kit and trying not to panic too much.

Have Fun