Motorcycle Explorer February 2015 Issue 4 | Page 178

Our days at the Dakar, Bolivia
The seventh stage of the Dakar Rally at La Chita saw us watch an afternoon of cars bomb through
the sand, braking momentarily only to register at the checkpoint. The sun, a white hot penny in
the morning turned to lightning-charged skies by the afternoon. Lashing rain down on the racers
and spectators dampened not a single person’s spirit. Witnessing history being made, right in the
thick of it left me tingling from the inside out.
The big start for rookie Llewelyn Pavey, Buenos Aires
The big start for veteran Simon Pavey, numbered 76 (Buenos Aires)
Newly but well-acquainted with the Bolivian blokes, the show for them had come to an end. Alas,
they packed up their seven-tonne lorry to return home. Despite the inclement weather of iron-
grey clouds and a sand storm in full swing, there was no way we’d be following suit. The biking
warriors were due to race through La Chita the following day. But with the passing of time, and
the departure of its main characters, the resultant mixture felt denuded and flavourless, like
meat with the goodness boiled out of it. Overly inquisitive wide-eyed faces on legs started
swarming towards the bikes. Without the protection of our makeshift compound in which we’d
been ensconced, it was a tad intimidating to witness inebriated men succumbing to a strong urge
of clambering all over our bikes like a climbing frame in a child’s playground.
The big start for veteran Simon Pavey,
numbered 76 (Buenos Aires)