Behind the Scenes

Rob Howard and Anne-Marie Dunhill / 18.09.2012

If one of the trademarks of Raid in France is its' mountain bike portage sessions, another one is its’ dedicated staff of volunteers. Observing the race from a distance from different locations worldwide, it is probably hard to imagine the sheer logistics of a race such as this. It is truly a moveable feast, going from the Alps to the sea. More then just a catchy phrase, this entails a massive logistical effort to move the entire organization along the race route.

There are over 150 volunteers on this race. The group in charge of the racers’ equipment has been working non-stop to ferry the gear to the different transition areas, carefully weighing each box to fairly ensure that the racers stay within the allocated weight. Some of the dirt tracks the media has been up these past four days to reach check points have been nerve wracking and yet the volunteers have nipped up and down the tracks tirelessly to make sure that each piece of equipment is in the right place at the right time.

The food team has served up delicious home made meals for all of the race staff, always with a smile and a kind word to the hungry hoards. Check point staff  have taken a week off work to participate in the adventure. With a race as spread out as this one they are often manning their CP for forty-eight hours, building bonfires as they brave the cold nights, immobile, waiting for teams.

Fabienne Desigaud and Florence with the bright red truck are one such team of volunteers who have been at several CPs throughout the race. Fabienne’s husband, Philippe-Fabien Desigaud, was support crew for the race director in several Raid Gauloise. These two charming ladies have invented amusing games to pass the time as they wait for teams, such as betting with pebbles to see which time the next team will arrive. At the kayak transition today they built an ephemeral CP with cleverly arranged rocks and an appealing table decorated with drift wood and weeds. No matter how far into the zombie zone racers are when they reach these CPs, it is hard to imagine them not setting off refreshed from the authentic niceness of each volunteer.

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