Paris-Dunkirk experienced from the inside in a Suzuki DL 650 V-Strom
On the handlebars of his faithful Suzuki DL 650 V-Strom, our collaborator Marcos Poidebard tells us about his Paris-Dunkirk: three days of mud, paths, landscapes and encounters that will remain etched in his memory forever…. Story, photos and video.
2nd day, Saturday 23 May: Venette – Bertangles
The next day awaits us 280 kilometers including 70% of impractical paths. The briefing is set for 8:30 a.m. When we wake up at 7am, the bivouac is full of zombies, no one is really awake … We have a quick breakfast and it’s back to the road !
I feel in good shape. I can’t wait to apply the advice of my fellow travelers. I have lived in France for 14 years and its landscapes continue to fascinate me. I did not expect as much from the roads, departmental, villages. I say to myself and I repeat myself, what is beautiful the hinterland !
Jean-Louis with an Africa Twin joins us. I have always liked TA. It’s a classic. Just seeing her, I’m already traveling. I ask him how many kilometers she has done and he replies that she has already done one lap! "But not with me, I bought it secondhand". I add that I love the AT and advise him not to leave the keys in the ignition tonight…
That day, luck will not be with him: 30 km later, puncture of the rear wheel … Fortunately it happened 100 meters from a car garage (Carrosserie Petit Patrice in Ansauvillers) where he was very well received and where he was able to repair it (for free!). Real bikers, these mechanics !
We set off again, more roads, more departmental roads, and another puncture. Jean-Louis decides to wait for the organization’s van and the three of us hit the road again. But how do they manage to find these paths? I feel so privileged to cross this landscape, the children greet us as we pass, some families too.
At each crossing, my companions are waiting for me and Romain checks that I am well. “Are you okay?” He asks me constantly. Yes yes everything is fine !
In fact I would like to stop because everything is so beautiful that I do not want to lose a crumb. These will be the only times when I would have liked to be alone, go at my own pace and pose to take a photo or simply admire the scenery.
In the afternoon, more confident, I really start to have fun. I skid the rear, I open the throttle in the turn to lose the grip of the rear tire a little, I finally ride upright without fear, in short I start to drive for good. In front of us is an almost fluorescent green path, very beautiful … and as we approach we put the tires in the mud !
The crevasses are very deep, so we have to ride in the middle of the muddy grass. No place to put your feet. I see Cyril pass with his suitcases at the far edge of the path. I’m afraid of hanging up with a branch, but it moves forward without wavering.
I keep riding, I take a deep breath, I look straight ahead. If I slip and fall into the crevasse, it’s over. If that was the case, we would need a good hour to get the bike out of this quagmire. I go through a kind of undergrowth, a bend in the mud and I find Cyril and Romain at the foot of the tar … with the banana (well, I guess it). They’re laughing, I’m sweating !
In the evening, I receive congratulations from my companions. "Hey, your driving has nothing to do with that of the first day!" And it’s true, I feel that thanks to their support and advice, I really made progress !
That said to be honest I develop an aversion which risks becoming a phobia for the ruts and the big stones! I have often raised my visor to insult the beautiful French roads ignored by roadmenders…
The second night, we were greeted by the Club des Motards qui Roulent en Jaune (CMRJ) in a farm in Bertangles (80). A very nice setting, but we could stay on a vacant lot that I didn’t care. It’s the good atmosphere that prevails over everything and it is still there.
Anecdotes, more anecdotes, and a lot of laughs. Some repairs are necessary before a still sumptuous dinner.
Marcos POIDEBARD
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