Day 6 // Look Sharp for White Water

Words by Stuart Downie

Photos by Liz Seabrook, Jordi Rulló and Tomás Montes

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Early in the night, Omar di Felice (010) crashed at high speed on the Final Parcours, hitting a wild boar. Fortunately, Marin de Saint-Exupéry is close behind and quickly calls for help. After emergency services pick up Omar, Marin finally finishes at 2am in fifth place. Later, Race Director Andrew Phillips visits Omar in hospital with Marin. Despite his serious but stable condition, Omar’s main concern is whether Marin remembered to stop his Garmin.

An hour and a half later, Alex McCormack rouses his friends at an unsociable hour for his return. As a card-carrying All Terrain Racer, Alex has been compelled to take the shortcut at the end of the Raid Parcours, descending in the dark and leapfrogging Anna Richter (004) to take sixth place.

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Since we last saw Anna on the slopes of the final climb, rain trousers on, they have turned around and come the long way to the finish parcours and finished at 05:48, in seventh overall and winning the FLINTA category. Tomas and I are still in Puigcerdà (all will be revealed), so we’re not able to congratulate Anna in person – there’ll be time for that yet, I hope. A consistent ride on a bike with carbon wheels and rim brakes. Not just speed and skill, but also nerves of steel.

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Through the day, Charlie Bratt (149) manages to break the duck of his TPRNo5 scratch, finishing in 8th at 10:03. Jana Kesenheimer (002) finishes in 9th at 14:17, followed by Robert Mueller (003) at 15:43 to complete the top ten. They’re followed by Franck Gabarrou (140), Sylvain Arhancet (012), Shane Benzakin (021), Daniel Nash (096) and Robin Reinsch (030) just after midnight. A good result for a Wednesday.

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Ahab Has His Humanities

A reduced Control Team 2 (Race Director Andrew Phillips is holding down the fort at the finish, so photographer Tomás and I have headed back out on course, Ahab-less) rose early to find Jana on the final climb of the Raid. It feels more autumnal here, dew permeating the pines, collecting on the fine hairs of succulents pushing their way through the hardpack, looking almost like ice. Driving here feels blasphemous – we find our spot, kill the engine, and all that can be heard are blackbirds, goldcrests and coal tits singing away.

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As we climb above the mist, a cloud inversion is revealed in the valley below: a stormy sea from which we await our white whale. The scene reminds me of Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by German Romanticist artist Caspar David Friedrich – the wanderer’s back is turned, allowing us to imagine ourselves stood on that precipice above the uncertain and unknowable sea below. But today, Jana our wanderer – she can tell us how sublime the experience is later, but if the picture is anything to go by it’s pretty awe-inspiring. She mentions the horses on the ride up – she’s been carrying a point and shoot camera with her on this trip, which she cheerfully admits will mostly be photos of horse backsides.

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Our wanderer carries on with the wandering, followed by Frenchman Franck Gabbarou – he’s told me before, and later will tell me again, that this is his favourite race. He’s been chasing a top ten, and finishing at 15:56 he clinches 11th against a strong field. He’ll have to come back to crack that elusive top ten – TPR wouldn’t be the same without him.

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On the topic of German Romanticists, Robert Mueller is also climbing his way up. Jana is worried that he’s gone into turbo mode on his borrowed bike, and she hopes not to see him until Girona. I take the chance to run alongside him – he always has something to say – and during this story session (listen to the pod!) he tells me that you can tell you’ve stopped for too long when you find a spider has slung a web between your handlebars.

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What Ails Ye Man?

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Meanwhile, Nicholas Runstch (141) is climbing the Pailheres. We saw him last four days ago at CP2. He chose his own page of the book, drawn to a line in particular – what ails ye, man? Presumably this has been something he’s pondering. At the time, it was lack of sleep, but perhaps it’s broadened. We suggest putting the page on the wall when he gets home, and whenever anyone asks he can say: it’s a long story. Behind Nick, the wind has fanned the flames of the wildfire I mentioned yesterday – you can see the smoke in the picture, white against the ominous grey clouds of the early morning.

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That fierce wind stoking the flames is the same friendly tail wind for our riders, each heading east (but no funny handshakes). Cyril Thibault (148) stops to say hello and when he pushes off, a pair of motorcyclists, surprised to find me and Tomas up there with our computers, are even more surprised to learn just how far Cyril’s come.

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Katharina Wirth (027) follows Cyril, smiling as usual. Usually happy to chat, Katharina apologises as she passes – she can’t stop, there’s a podium place up for grabs in the FLINTA category, although we’re not so sure she’s even aware of it at this point. Her motivation is much purer – she’s here for the love of it. Watching Katharina carve her way down the Pailhères from the refuge at the top, through its many picturesque switchbacks, is a nice way to unwind after an early morning.

Liz and David (Control Team 2) find scratched riders Dan and Toby on the Col de Agnes, one of my favourites – the road between here and the Port de Lers is a lesser-known highlight of the Raid for me.

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Dan met Toby on day one, the two riders sheltering under a bus stop from the heat. They later find each other again on a gravel descent, still struggling with the heat. Pub? Dan asks. The answer is inevitable. They head to the pub in the next town, have a few beers, some food, and there commences a gastronomic tour of the Pyrenees. Highlights include a whole wheel of camembert, and a hotel that wouldn’t serve alcohol without food, so they paired whisky and frites. Odd, but as the resident Scotsman I’ll allow it.

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Let’s finish at the start, today, why not? This morning, Gaspar Rodriguez (050) is heading to the bakery. Liz’s review: absolutely delightful man. He’s been super cold before the sunrise, and has been using the race to train himself for the race. You might wonder, but Gaspar has a one-year-old at home, which means time to train is at a premium. Go on, Gaspar – we’ll see you in Girona soon.

Lost in the Infinite Series of the Sea

Lost, but not for long. Today’s scratches are: Omar Di Felice (010), Christopher Sommer (084), Alli Holland (029), Timothy Dearden (033), Tim Wenham (124) and Aleksandr Averianov (069)

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