Thirty years ago, a young Frenchman working for the small beach resort city of Le Touquet in northern France had a great idea. A passionate motorcycle rider, he wanted to race his friends on the city's sandy beaches. He gathered 286 like-minded bikers and started a race that would become one of the legendary motorcycle races, the Beach Enduro of Le Touquet.
The young man's name was Thierry Sabine, and he later went on to found the famous Paris-Dakar rally. Unfortunately, Sabine died on January 14, 1986, in a helicopter crash while organizing that year's Dakar rally.
Over time, the Le Touquet enduro grew to immense proportions. One thousand motorcycles take part in this mad event, with some 500,000 spectators from all over Europe coming to see the free show.
Until last year, the race started on the beach, with a 6- to 8-kilometer long stretch, followed by a run into the sand dunes. The entry point in the dunes was always spectacular; seeing 1000 motorcycles trying to get through a small opening is a rare thrill.
Due to massive protests from environmentalists over the last few years, with the race on again, off again, the organizers finally bowed to the pressure and permanently removed the dunes portion.
In '06, a new formula for the Le Touquet race emerged. Called the Enduropale (a contraction of the word Enduro and the region's name, Cte d'Opale), the race is now only on the soft, sandy beach, with artificially constructed dunes in the form of large hills, jumps, bumps and chicanes.
Totaling 15.5 kilometers (9.6 miles), the long stretch used for the start is about 8 kilometers (5 miles) long. At the far end is the pit lane, used to refuel and repair the motorcycles. The race lasts approximately three hours, so all bikes need to be refueled at least once.
The event runs over one weekend in a near-carnival atmosphere. It doesn't attract just bikers-many "normal" people come to see this spectacular event. Tens of thousands of motorcycles gather there, while the spectators camp out in the city. Many bring tents; others just sleep in the streets, on benches or on the beach. Mind you, the weather is freezing in February. Hotels are booked up a year in advance, while most restaurants operate in overcapacity. Everywhere you go there are people and motorcycles.