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Finally after all the blood,
sweat and tears Patsy has achieved her goal of being ‘the First British
Woman to finish the Dakar Rally.’
There were emotional scenes as friends and family greeted Patsy on her
arrival in the grounds of the Meriden Hotel in Dakar at the end of the penultimate
stage on Saturday evening. Although covered in dust and tired she felt
very relieved to have made it so far but said that although the final
stage is mainly a formality and should not be a problem, she couldn’t
completely relax until she was on the finishing podium.
Then finally on
Sunday morning after a short blast down the beach then around the famous
Lac Rose, Patsy together with a trusty riding companion Clive ‘Zippy’ Town rode their bikes up the ramp to the podium
to receive their finishers medals. Joining them there were Team Desert Rose
mechanics Clive Dredge ( Patsy’s Husband ) and Martin Wittering.
The
2006 Dakar had its fair share of dramas for Patsy but this time the luck
was there
.
Among the first to congratulate Patsy was her sister Angie and actor Ewan
McGregor, who had also flown out to the finish to support fellow ‘Long
Way Round’ companion Charley Boorman who had also took part in the
2006 event.
19 January 2006.