Dakar Rally is now in the last few stages.  Stage 11 yesterday – Santiago to San Juan, 434 kms passing through Paso Libertadores and across the hilltops of the Andes.  If the altitude sickness doesn’t get to you, the cold will. However, Philip coped well using a plastic bag for extra insulation!  Its pretty scary just how close some of the cars get to the bikes moving through all the dust thats been thrown up into the air while they drive.  Its an achievement in itself to even complete one stage never mind the whole Rally!  A bad start to the stage for eight other riders when a policeman blocked the wrong road sending 8 of them completely off course. I’m sure they were mad, mad, mad.  Read about Philip’s day on the Team Ireland Blog