Dutchblog

From BBC Scotland:

A lawyer has told how he successfully completed the world’s toughest endurance race, despite cracking his ribs in a crash.

Paul Carlyle, 38, who lives in Leith, quit his day job for a month to compete in the notorious Dakar Rally.

He said he was “over the moon” to become only the second Scot ever to complete the rally on a motorbike.

But Mr Carlyle revealed how a “stupid” crash 11 days into the race nearly brought a premature end to his dreams.

The lawyer, from South Lanarkshire and who now lives in Edinburgh, said: “I went out and found a nice fast bit of track which I was really enjoying riding.

“I started passing a lot of riders, just riding a little bit faster than I had been doing. I made a small mistake in the dust and next thing I know I’m flying through the air.

“I cracked a couple of ribs. I think I landed on my head and I’d given my neck a bit of a shake around, some soft tissue damage, but I was able to get back on the bike and continue riding.

“Once I got on the bike I was fine.”

The rally, which historically ended in Dakar, Senegal, took place in South America for the second year running this year.

Starting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the route headed north over the mountains to the Atacama desert in Chile then headed south to the Chilean capital, Santiago, and back to Buenos Aires.

Mr Carlyle, who could not ride a motorcycle 10 years ago, had to travel the equivalent of the distance between London and Edinburgh, off road, every day for more than a fortnight earlier this month.

The intellectual property lawyer, a partner at Shepherd and Wedderburn in Edinburgh, caught the Dakar bug when he got to know former winner Frenchman Cyril Despres at a charity event in the Moroccan desert.

On Thursday he spoke of his delight at finishing the 5,600-mile marathon after five years of planning for it.

He said: “My plan and ambition was to get to the rest day half-way through. I thought that was a realistic target, so I’m over the moon to get to the end.”

Mr Carlyle was helped during the race by mechanic Tony Woodham and Patsy Quick of Team Desert Rose Racing.