Patagonia Expedition Race

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Wrong Turns at the Start

Jacqueline Windh / 13.02.2005

Day 1: February 12, 10:00 a.m. Through the first half of this first day, competition has been tough between the leaders, with the Salomon Russia and France’s La Clusaz Raid Aventure pushing for the lead.

Patagonia Expedition Race started at 4:30 a.m., under a pitch black moonless sky cut by the southern Milky Way. The start point was a remote hostel, “The Lodge� at Cerro Guido, in the windswept hills just northeast of the Torres del Paine.

Sprinting 700 m to get to their bikes, the Canadians King’s Own Calgary Regiment were first on the saddle, followed closely by the Russians and La Clusaz. Near the start line, one member of the American team Fukawi suffered some delays because of gear, and the team ended up near the end of the pack on the road.

Four teams remained up front over the 40 km ride, all in darkness, to PC1: Salomon Russia, the La Clusaz (France), the The King’s Own Calgary Regiment (Canada), and Globalstar (mixed Spain/Argentina).

The Russians and French have been strong picks, and it is no surprise that they were leading the pack. The Canadians are a little-known team, and were surprisingly strong – but for them, cycling is the strong point for all of the team members.

Bad luck for them, though – approaching PC1 they made a wrong turn and lost more than an hour doubling back to find the PC. The American team Fukawi, and the Jean Mermoz Argentina later made the same mistake.

The first teams arriving at PC1 were:

Salomon Russia, 6:18 a.m.
La Clusaz 6:19 a.m.
Le Groupe Iberoamerica 6:34 a.m.
Globalstar 6:42 a.m.See All Event Posts