After a long night not being able to sleep much, lying on the floor on a beach mattress, even if you are very tired, sleeping is difficult, ha, ha, ha! At 6 AM, we wake up to the everyday wake-up song. Here we go! We get dressed and have breakfast! We are preparing for another typical long stage of the Titan Desert where we will navigate through pure desert, crossing a mountain of dunes. Luckily, today’s stage has been changed due to the strong heat and the difference in altitude, so we go from 125 km with 1400+ that was planned to 106 km with 900 m.
We are in the second exit drawer, thanks to our third position. We leave quite quickly on a track with a lot of stone and at kilometre 15 we see a majestic dune that we have to cross, as the first control has been placed on top of the crest. When I see it, I am amazed. Here we go!! We start on the bike, but we have to get off quickly because it is very steep. As we are crossing it, we see that everyone is cycling along the crest of the dune like a row of ants! We choose to go lower, and luckily we do well, and we pass a lot of people, being in a second position for a while. We pass the control and “go”! We descend on the bike! Amazing! What a cool feeling. I cannot stop smiling! Once we have left the mountain behind, we take all the sand we have inside our shoes out and start pedalling.
From here we start cycling along a track where we only can see infinite plans, and we ride 20 km against the wind. Such a torture! Until we get to the first refreshment station, and then luckily the wind is in our favour for another 20 km. We already have cycled 55!
We suddenly arrive at a dry lake where we only see a vast desert, an immensity of sand that reach as far as the eye can see. Amazing! We cross it where we think is most suitable, and it takes us more than an hour. Now it’s our turn to return to the track and continue 25 km to the end. These last km are always the ones that take longer. We see the camp In the distance, and although we only have 10 km left, it seems that we never reach the finish line. Finally, 3rd stage finished, and we continue on third position!