The Paragon Hub ISSUE 9

PUBLISHER’S FEATURE
Dakar journey 2024
with Ashley Thixton
What was your day to day life like in terms of
training and preperation for the Dakar?
Training all changed for me when the Dakar journey
began. I started training really early in the mornings.
Wake up each day is 4;15 to be at the gym 4:45 to
start training. Dakar is know for its really really early
morning starts so I firstly had to start training my
body to be awake in those early morning situations.
It started with a lot of Strength training to get the
body strong. A lot of band work out with a lot of low
intensity long sessions of Zone 2/3 training. Then it
progressed into a lot of cardio with a requirement
of a minimum of 1 hour additional a day on top of
your everyday workouts. That was all (off the bike
training). I’d normally train 14 days solid then 2 days
off. The (on the bike training) was super long hours,
simulating stages of 10 to 11 hours of riding at a
time. Although I wish I had done more time on the
bike, day to day duties and work commitment sadly
got in the way of more bike rides. But I rode at every
opportunity I got.
What was the highlight of the trip and what was
something that surprised you the most about it all?
The highlight of the trip would defiantly be riding up
that finish line and being handed that Dakar medal,
the feeling I got as I went on the stage was like
nothing I have ever felt in my life. I honestly struggle
to put the feeling into words. But there were some
small moments daily that I really enjoyed, things
like hitting the correct notes in good time, and also
seeing others getting lost and sticking to your guns,
passing riders going in circles. That’s one part that
felt really good. There are more, like coming into the
Bivouac (Pits) daily, knowing you have one less day
ahead and you are one more step closer to achieving
your dream.
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How would you describe the food, and what did
you eat?
Food was great if I am honest. There was a really
wide variety of food every meal. From chicken,
fish and beef every meall, a starch of potatoes or
croissants and obviously the veg was really good
each day. There was an unlimited amount of water
you could take, and all the cokes and fizzie drinks
available. I didn’t really have too many of these at
meals, only as soon as I got off the bike each day.
With you burning so many calories each day I pilled
my food on my plate.
There was a 24hr pasta station which I made use of
often and it was always fresh and hot.
I also had a lot of snacks Back at the HT rally Rig,
there was unlimited amount of pringles which I
realized that I really like. The team was great and
as I would come off the bike each day, I would have
noodles and anything in front of me would go down
the hatch. I ate a lot, lets put it that way.
How many calories did you burn during the day?
I wear a Whoop strap all the time and I believe that it
is accurate with the calorie count. I did not take it off
for the whole trip. I burnt a total of 121540 Calories
over the 15 Days of riding. That’s an average of 8105
per day. I lost a total of 10kgs over the 20 days I was
in the Dakar Scene.