Steven Le Hyaric crosses the Gobi Desert on the GIRS Nomade.

Stéven the Hyaric crossed the Gobi Desert on a GIRS bike. Last November, Stéven added yet another feat to his already well-stocked list of achievements: crossing the Gobi Desert in Mongolia by bike. It was the 2nd chapter of his 666 project: crossing the 6 most hostile deserts in the world, on 6 continents in 6 months. For this 2nd stage, Stéven was equipped with the prototype of a brand new GIRS bike, tailor-made for this type of extreme adventure: the Nomade. We come back with Stéven on this crossing.

Steven Le Hyaric, can you (re)introduce yourself and your journey?

My name is Steven Le Hyaric, I am 36 years old, I am a professional adventurer and explorer, ultra endurance athlete. I have had several lives, notably that of an athlete and then that of a communicator.

In 2016, after the Rio Olympic Games where I was a communicator for the French triathlon team, I decided to follow my adventure dreams. I started with a retreat in a monastery in Nepal, then I crossed the Himalayas and cycled from Paris to Dakar. Since then, I have had around twenty adventures, ten of which are quite significant.

I try to share as much as possible, whether it's my community through social media or via documentaries.

“I always try to surpass myself and put meaning into everything I do, through worlds that make me dream.”

Difficult to summarize such an adventure, but what if you had to give us 3 words to describe this experience?

I didn't really understand what happened during the crossing of the Gobi Desert. It was quite complicated. All adventures are difficult, but this was special. It was the end of a big season for me and the 2nd desert of this 666 project. It was extremely hard, even if I had days where I took off the jackets, on average, I was between 5°C and -25°C, so overall it was very, very cold.
If I had to give three adjectives to describe this adventure, they would be: surprising, hard, cold.

How did you manage and especially experience the conditions on this expedition in the Gobie Desert in Mongolia?

We left from the Russian border, not very far from Lake Baikal which I have already crossed. It was already quite cold. I had decided to start off on a good basis, as always, to get started correctly and try to do things right from the start.

I chose to be part with Perrine (his partner, editor's note), it was really difficult. These adventures are very trying and very involved. Today, I think I still have a good level in my practice, but I realized there that I needed to do all this alone. This will not prevent me from having other adventures with Perrine, in other disciplines.

To manage the weather conditions, I obviously had suitable Castelli clothing and equipment. What was difficult in the Gobi Desert was driving in a space that does not necessarily provide physical, physiological or geographical landmarks. By definition, a desert is an area that does not have many points of reference.

At the beginning, it was not extremely cold: between 5°C and -5°C. Then, it gradually dropped to -20°C/-25°C. I left around 6 or 7 a.m. and arrived in the evening between 8 p.m. and midnight. I didn't drive much at night because I didn't have the lighting and it wasn't very recommended. Finally, I would also say that it is important to cover up well but not too much either, because as soon as it starts to get cold it's harder to manage if you don't have an extra layer.

One more step for this 666 project, what’s next? How far will you go?

Yes, one more step for the 666! Next will be the Atacama, one of the driest deserts in the world. It's the driest, where there is the least water. Sometimes 0% precipitation per year. There are villages there that haven't had water for over 20 years!

Departure will normally be in March or May. We have to fit that into a schedule that is already quite busy for me. I will try to do what I have to do, follow through with my ideas and my convictions on this project. There I am drawing the map which will start either from the Altiplano or from La Paz. The idea is to leave Bolivia and go to Santiago, around 3000km, going down the entire Atacama Desert. It is a desert which has the particularity of being close to the sea, like the Namib in Namibia.

It was a first for the GIRS Nomade bike, what did you think of it?

These were the first laps of Girs' new bike, the Nomade. Already, I'm very happy because it's a bike I've been dreaming of for several years. I asked Guillaume (the creator of Girs, editor's note) to work on a bike like that. Firstly, because I needed it, then because there is a target for these products, very close to mountain bikes or adventure bikes.

"The bike is magnificent, it's undoubtedly one of the most beautiful bikes I've ever ridden. Even if I really like road bikes and gravel bikes, on the Nomade everything has been done to ensure that I like it and it touched me"

It's a very good bike, very stiff. Le Nomade is a bit of the culmination of this collaboration with Girs. I am certain that by making truly accomplished bikes, like the RNR, people will want to use them and have adventures with them.

To sum up, it's a very nice experience with a very nice bike on which I feel really good.

What is your plan for the coming months?

I don't know exactly what my program is yet, but I know that the Atlas Mountain Race is coming soon. I have an adventure almost every month this year. The first will be in February then April, May and June where it will be tough. A beautiful trip will certainly take place in August as well.

Find the details of Steven's 666 project on his website .

While waiting to discover more about the Nomade, discover our other bike models for sale as well as our creative process .