From antiques to desert peaks

by James Clarke BBC News Online, South East

Patsy says people in the shop ask how 'the mad woman' is getting on

Antiques shop owner Patsy Quick has the kind of hobby which would instill fear into even the bravest of hearts.

Every winter she swaps her shop in the quiet East Sussex town of Heathfield for the barren wastes of North Africa's desert.

The 38-year-old has for the past two years competed in the infamous Paris-Dakar rally riding her motorbike.

Patsy has run her shop with husband Clive Dredge for seven years but combines it with a career as one of the world's top female rally motorcyclists.

"I've always been a bit of a tomboy and always had an interest in motorbikes," admits Patsy, a former motorcycle courier.

We stopped and syphoned water out of our bikes, we were so thirsty. I never thought we would have to do that Patsy Quick

In 1990 she rode through the Sahara with her husband and in 1998 became the first British woman to finish a North African rally.

In January 2003 she became the first British woman to take part in what she saw as the ultimate goal - the famous Paris-Dakar rally.

But it nearly proved to be the last thing she ever did when she ruptured her spleen in a crash.

Driving through Libya, Patsy encountered what are known as cathedral dunes - sand dunes which can be 300m high.

"The bike and I basically cartwheeled down and I thought I'd broken my ribs," Patsy said.

Patsy was one of only two women riders in the 2004 Dakar Rally

"Vehicles were still coming and the biggest fear is of being run over, so I scrambled up to the top of the dunes and sat there for about 10 minutes.

"A helicopter flew over and decided to land, it was a French medical team that runs alongside the rally.

"All I was interested in was carrying on but then I passed out."

Patsy spent seven days in a Cairo hospital and said there were times when she considered not going back the following year.

But by March Patsy had decided to try again, forming her own team.

Team Desert Rose comprises husband Clive and Andrew Neri as mechanics and Clive Town as support driver, offering navigational and technical help and much-needed moral support.

Months of training and a successful drive to raise £90,000 in sponsorship left them in a position to try the rally again.

Sleeping in hole

But it ended in a second disappointment - although Patsy at least stayed out of hospital.

Riding from Morocco to Mauritania, she and support driver Clive fell behind the tough schedule and two nights running had to dig a hole in the dunes in which to sleep.

Both days they ran out of food and water and finished the stage the next morning.

"We stopped and syphoned water out of our bikes, we were so thirsty. I never thought we would have to do that," Patsy said.

Patsy estimates she will need to raise £90,000 before the 2005 rally

When they reached the checkpoint after the second night in the sand they were told they had missed the start time for the next stage and their race was over.

"You're in a daze, the gutted feeling doesn't sink in then, probably because we were so dehydrated and hungry," Patsy said.

Patsy plans to be back in 2005 and has already started the training and fundraising.

"I've gone through my grieving and my mourning, I can only relate it to a strange sort of grieving.

"We've learned a lot this year and my goal is still to be on the beach in Dakar.

"The whole of Heathfield keeps a check on the mad woman who is off on that bike again, they think I'm barking mad.

"You do sometimes think 'I'm a 38-year-old woman, what the hell am I doing out here?' when you've dug a hole in the dunes to sleep in in the middle of nowhere.

"But I believe you've got to pack what you can into this life."