{"id":1173,"date":"2014-02-06T19:13:27","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T19:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=1173"},"modified":"2014-04-16T14:58:05","modified_gmt":"2014-04-16T14:58:05","slug":"notes-from-the-road-mar-21","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=1173","title":{"rendered":"Notes from the Road – MAR 21"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\n
\n

NOTES FROM THE ROAD<\/h2>\n
\n

< more recent<\/a> | 21 MAR 2014 | older ><\/a> <\/p>\n

\n
LEG 2: NEJAKH NORTH LOOP<\/h5>\n


\"\"<\/p>\n


The teams head north today, looping around the area of Errachida and Boudenib before returning to the bivouac<\/strong><\/h6>\n


<\/p>\n

21 MARCH 2014:<\/strong> Gusts of wind up to 80 km\/h rocked the bivouac throughout the night, and some teams’ tents were blown away. It had been a difficult night! Today’s briefing began 10 minutes behind schedule.

\n“Watch where you drive, or the cauliflowers will make you suffer,” explained sporting director Ludovic Tach\u00e9. He was warning the teams about a unique feature of today’s terrain — the “cauliflowers” are strange clumps of vegetation that are as hard as rock. Today’s leg will be longer than yesterday’s, with a minimum distance of 192 km and estimated time of 10:40. It will also be more difficult. Though it starts with two easy checkpoints along the road leading to Errachidia, there are a total of eight CPs.

\nThe region is characterized by a wide flat plain with clear features, straightforward to navigate when visibility is good, however today there are 25 – 30 km\/h winds lifting dust into the air and obscuring the horizon. Tach\u00e9 reminds the teams, “Mark everything you do on your map; for example, a heading of 105\u00b0 for 2 km, then 125\u00b0 for 800 m… That’s the only way to know where you are on the map, especially when visibility is poor!”

\nAs teams prepared to load up, Tach\u00e9 gave them a few final words of caution: “Drive slowly, be careful, look after your vehicle. You are a team of 3, make sure all 3 of you make it to the end!”

\nThe Gazelles headed off as the sun began to rise, advancing easily through the first two checkpoints. After reaching CP3, things got more difficult, as the terrain got rougher with deep oueds and “cauliflowers”, in the region of Rh\u00e2 Rouch\u00e2ne. The 4th checkpoint is on the other side of a notorious pass through a 1100-m high rocky cliff blocking their route. To find this magic door, teams could chose to cross a dry oued bordered by sand, which would be a source of problems for some, but would reward them with a magnificent “Grand Canyonesque” landscape. Visibility had improved and a cloudless blue sky with seasonally warm temperatures made for ideal conditions.

\nBy 2:30pm, 30 teams had past CP 5 but the majority of the Gazelles were still working their way from CP3 to CP4. Half of them seemed to be having problems getting through a strip of dunes. Some of the others chose a route to reach the 4th checkpoint by the road from the north. This option would add about 20 extra kilometres but will save in time, improving their chances to get the last checkpoints before closing time. Once they made it to CP4 in the north-east, they would have to go back down to the southern edge of the plateau to reach CP5. Between the two: rocks, more rocks, steep oueds, rocks, steep oueds\u2026

\nCP5 is hidden by an acacia in the heart of some small dunes. The Gazelles who arrive in the early afternoon pause to enjoy the scenery, but not for too long because they still have a long way to go. There are still three more checkpoints to find before nightfall. A few more kilometres of rocky terrain, some dromedaries wander past in the distance, a few donkeys appear from nowhere, and there it is: the 6th red flag. Thirty teams had reached CP6 by 4:15.

\nThe first Gazelles to return to the bivouac started arriving around 5pm. For most of them, the day proved less productive than they had hoped, because they did not manage to reach all of their checkpoints. Still, with an early return to base, they can be well rested to do better tomorrow. The rest of the teams continued to trickle in through the evening, though ten teams decided to camp in place and return to the bivouac in the morning.<\/p>\n


\"\"

\nFor more live coverage of Today’s event from the official Rally site: English<\/a> | Fran\u00e7ais<\/a><\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\n
VIDEO: LEG 2 – NORTH OF ERFOUD<\/h5>\n


Gazelles TV presents the second leg of the competition — The Nejakh North Loop. [Sorry for the obligatory advertisement at the start of this clip, it comes as part of the embedded resource, not our site.<\/em>]<\/p>\n