Enduro.ie has heard all about the Merzouga Rallye from Nick’s side.
Now for the riders side, we would like to thank Nick for getting us through to the end of the rally. A farmer from Fermanagh and a farmer from Cork, 2 clubman riders entered into expert class Merzouga desert rally. What was wrong with his head 
From getting paperwork sorted
Getting the bikes through scrutiny
Checking the bikes over every night
Getting things ready in the morning
You would not believe the amount of jobs you have to do every night which Nick took on as much as they would allow him.
When you asked him for something, he already had it in your hand or pocket.
-“Have you any duck tape for the road book Nick?”
-“It already on your tank cut the right size Brian.”
-“Scrutiny said I need more water on my bike Nick.”
-“It’s already on your bike Brian.”
“Scrutiny won’t accept the e track on the fork Nick”
-“I have it on the screen Brian.”
-” You have 2 minutes to get to your briefing lads,”ect,ect I could go on and on.
And now how he got us finished:
He raced from check point to check point on some days doing 400 km. When you come over that sand dune and see that cowboy hat waving you over, then stuffing buns and water and coke down your throat he was like a saint. While we did not know we were dehydrated Nick was well able to recognise it. One check he landed in following a local man on a wee motorbike through sand tracks. He ran over to us and gave us the coke and water and then went back to give his guide a few bob who he found selling fossils.
The desert is a great place to ride but within 25 mins of bogging and falling off your body and mind is the same way as it would be after 12 pints of Guinness. The road book navigation is worse than a doing a thousand piece jigsaw at race pace. For the first day all the desert looked the same. It took 2 days of riding and 2 nights of asking Nick what does this mean for it to fall into place. Especially for 2 Paddy’s who knew no French.
Nick is probably the best qualified manager in Ireland by all means:
14 desert rally’s under his belt
Speaks French
And is an organiser by personality
Why did he take on 2 Clubman Paddys in expert class ( there is no Clubman class) is beyond us ?
Nick Craigie – We salute you for getting us a Finnish!!!
Thanks from
Brian and Vincent