I'm taking part in the Raid moto de la Gibraltar race 2023! J12 & 13 (end)

Finally, the last two days of testing. Did you really think I'd make it this far? Personally, I've often doubted it. But here I am, on the starting line of this 11th day of racing. Will the end be like the rest of the raid? Perils, falls, emotional elevators, rocks and booby-trapped trails... the answer is of course, otherwise it wouldn't be the Gibraltar race! Let me tell you all about it:

How do you start the day? With a bike without wheels!

Yep, my fellow adventurers are off to an early-morning tire change. On principle, the operation is more than necessary, but I start the day in a few tens of minutes. The stress! I'm so worried about this last-minute job that I forget my phone. I don't realize it until the 1st stage, when I want to take a photo. Oops... In the same series of tiles, I miss an exit on the freeway. Finding a place to turn back wastes precious minutes. What makes me feel better? I'm not the only one to screw up. Phew, I'm not cross-eyed.

I'm doing pretty well today!

I start the 1st special stage a little under pressure. Surprisingly, I finish cleanly, passing all the checkpoints. Great! I complete the 2nd stage quickly, with all waypoints validated. The icing on the cake: I'm right on time! That's rare enough to mention.

What about the 3rd stage? A mess. My background map doesn't display and I don't have my phone to get me out of trouble. With only a few snatches of track, it's very difficult for me to know if I'm on the right track. My ultimate method: the Indian tracking technique. What's that? I follow the wheel tracks on the ground. It's a last-chance solution, but it works like a charm. It's worth noting that twenty or so bikers have well marked the way (that's the advantage of being last in line).

The 4th special stage is very long. Over 50km. Once again, I play it safe, keeping in mind my ultimate goal, which is to finish the Gibraltar Race in one piece. I've long since given up racing against the clock. So, at my own pace, I completed this special stage honourably.

Speaking of pace, don't forget that we're driving on an open road.

And while I'm cautious, not everyone is. How do I know? When I get yelled at like a rotten fish at the gas station! A local woman gives me a generous dressing-down, thinking I'm the biker who grazed her at full speed. It's a peculiar kind of race, isn't it? Throwing 40 bikers at full speed on roads used by everyone, with all the risks that implies. So far, there's only one incident to report, so we're touching wood.

What can you take away from this 11th day of racing?

I've really enjoyed the ride, and above all I've been able to appreciate the beauty of the landscapes I've crossed. The aridity of the los Monegros desert, the charm of villages like Sos Del Rey Catolico, not to mention the coolness of the Pyrenean mountains. An unbelievable temperature differential, but super pleasant. I was even cold!

What do you think my nickname is for this race? The black cat

A nickname richly deserved, as I'm such a jinx. Proof of this is at the start of the day, when I hit the only large rock on a ford. Inevitably, the T700 was wrecked. As luck would have it, I fell into the water on the exhaust side, whereas I usually fall on the left. The result? The muffler and line turn into an aqueduct, generously feeding the combustion chamber. As the air-water mixture doesn't explode very well, the bike doesn't start up again. You'll have to try starting the engine a dozen times before the Yamaha spits out everything it's been drinking, with a nice plume of smoke to boot. Incidentally, an engine warning light comes on. It joins the long list of things I have to fix on the bike.

I continue. Bruno, out of kindness or fatigue, accompanies me for the rest of the day. With only 76km of off-road and 300 km in total, this stage is very light. And yet? We mustn't slacken off, as fatigue is well and truly the order of the day on this 12th day of the race.

After passing cows, horses and sheep in the wild, we now have to pass a herd of hikers. The problem? The dense mountain fog limits my visibility to 2 meters. What an ordeal! What's more, the extremely slippery terrain makes things even more difficult.

A coffee and a sandwich give me the strength I need to set off again with peace of mind. Fresh as a daisy, I set off again for the mountains. Except? I die from the front. What a bummer! We try the puncture-proof spray. Bad idea. The leak is in the valve, so the product spreads everywhere. My hands are full of it, it's disgusting. Bruno and I set about changing an inner tube. 40 minutes later, we're off again. But this tile ruined our time for the day. Tiredness, the pouring rain, our delay and another navigation error on a link decided us to skip the last special stage.

And finally, we cross the long-awaited finish line!

The adventure is over. What a relief. The welcome is great. After a photo session, it's time to award the trophies by category (mono, 21-inch wheels, scratch, etc.). An emotionally-charged final meal followed, with nerves running high. A wonderful moment of sharing and conviviality.

Do you know the best one? I understand that all the competitors know my bike number, 34. And for good reason: I was the closer. So everyone kept an eye on my bike to see if the broom wagon had passed. How funny!

After 12 days of testing and a lot of soul-searching, I've finally reached the end of this adventure! I'm in one piece, I've validated most of the checkpoints and I've managed to enjoy myself: my objectives have been met! It's as a happy biker that I finish this race. What would I change if I had to do it all over again? Where could I improve? My overall assessment of the Gibraltar Race? I'll tell you all about it in a future article.

Here are the previous episodes reporting on my participation in this motorcycle raid:

----> I take up the challenge of the Gibraltar Race: episode 1 (Final preparations)

----> Taking up the challenge of the Gibraltar race: episode 2

----> I accept the challenge of the Gibraltar race: episode 3

----> I accept the challenge of the Gibraltar race: episode 4

----> I'm up for the Gibraltar race challenge: episode 5

----> I accept the Gibraltar race challenge: episode 6