DAY 31 <-> DAY 29
Today’s summary will include some great photos from this 30th day of adventure, as well as some reactions from participants on the road home.
Kilian & Jonas: status quo in the duel for 3rd place. Kilian & Jonas covered 200km yesterday to reach the Barcelona sector. Barring any major technical breakdowns, they should be 3rd in this Sun Trip 2024. They have 750 km to go to reach Chambéry, probably this Wednesday. “The roads are very good in Spain, but for me the best part of the Sun Trip 2024 was the scenery in Portugal on the outward journey,” says Kilian. “We’ll be stopping in Chambéry after all, so we won’t be cycling all the way to Germany. They will be followed at the end of the adventure by a videographer friend, to create image content.
Géry & Baudouin: the two friends seem to have had fewer problems today. They’re speeding towards a magnificent 4th place! “We’ve been looking at the weather forecast for the next few days and we’re worried that we’ll be slowed down at the end! I’d really like to be there to celebrate my daughter’s birthday on 19 May and my own on 18 May…” says Baudouin.
The Taroudant group: Bertrand has decided to go it alone on the road to Chefchaouen and at least as far as the Tangiers ferry, where he arrived last night. Vincent Gallego and Luciano Trumpler will arrive there this morning, 12 May. We can assume that the 3 men will be in Spain on 12 May. They will then have around 2000 km of adventure left. Vincent expects to arrive “between 19 and 20 May” in Chambéry.
Vivien Dettwiler: for the Swiss driver, the last two days have been marked by clouds, and he has lost time to Vincent and Luciano, his rivals for 5th place in the solar challenge (it should be noted that Bertrand will not be ranked here because he doesn’t just charge up using solar power), but he hasn’t said his last word: “The last two days I was just on the border to the clouds and I saw the blue sky in the north. I could catch some sun sometimes but wasnt that fast. So I think the catch up with the group ahead will be in spain if there is sun. I think Im faster when the sun is shining because I have 800Wp and it is possible to do 300 km per day then. If it is cloudy they are faster I think.”
Jean-Louis Mérelle: a relaxing break in Zagora for the dean, after his night in the desert. It’s a bit early for him to be thinking about the return journey, “but this evening I should be meeting up with my son in Boulmane Dades. On his day: “More and more camels, it’s not unusual now to come across herds of several dozen camels always guarded by one or two Tuaregs. I rode a lot on muscle power, then the sun slowly came back and I was happy to see the voltage in my batteries rise again“. More on Polarstep.
Vincent Lauga: he finally made it to Zagora today, after a desert crossing under cloud and sand, with a strong headwind. It’s also too early to think about the finish. Today’s reaction: “The weather this morning wasn’t optimistic: strong wind, clouds, no sun, and after a bad night, I wasn’t in great shape… but sometimes there are miracles… The sun came out for most of the afternoon, enough to give me the missing kW. But above all, 130km with nothing (it’s a desert… fortunately people stop when you’re resting on your bike to see if everything’s OK)… so no shop, no petrol station… (just a mosque!)… in short, no supplies, except… an abandoned watermelon patch“.
Herman Segers: “The last few days have been a constant tug-of-war. The sun is nowhere to be seen, but it’s hot and the wind is still against us. always dose yourself with an empty battery and get half of it with twice the effort… plan for the future: keep going until I get home, not hope that things will get easier in the meantime.”
Michael & Jiri: “In the end, we didn’t change the solar panels and took the direct route to Boulmane Dades from Taroudant. It’s very beautiful. We didn’t follow the whole Sun Trip route, sorry, but we had to adapt to keep to our schedule. It’s a superb experience“. Their beacons will be greyed out on the map because they didn’t follow the route, but we’re continuing to follow them.
Miguel Letor: he’s now in Morocco! We’ll be waiting to hear from him 🙂
Solar challenge positions after Day 30
- 1er : Jack Butler, in 23 days ad 2 hours
- 2ème : Jean-Marc Dubouloz, in 23 days ad 6hours
- 3. Kilian & Jonas
- 4. Géry & Baudouin
- 5. Vincent Gallego and Luciano Trumpler
Live Map : suntrip.sollow.live/maroc-2024
Fundraising campaign “I’m helping the Sun Trip”
The life of extraordinary adventures sometimes involves difficult moments. Such was the case this year for the Sun Trip, with the loss of several partners in quick succession last winter.
So, by relying on the structure of the Sun Trip Association (SIRET: 75025435100034), which every year helps to organise the projects, we are offering our community the chance to help us.
More info on : thesuntrip.com/en/im-helping-the-sun-trip
Other images of the day
A souvenir of Morocco in GoPro mode by Jean-Marc Dubouloz :
A video about Kilian & Jonas, made by their friend Max Panzer on the first part of the adventure:
