Bimbache Extrem 2007 - Spain, Andalucia

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A Race of Two Halves

Robyn Ferrar / 22.03.2007

Day three saw the demise of yet another team - SMS decided to retire early in the morning or sometime during the night. Still leading the first half of the race, Buff Coolmax spent another night on their bikes, and reached T6 early this morning for the first inline skating leg.

This was a comparatively short leg of about 10kms. The lead teams spent the day in the beautiful preservation area of the endangered Lince Ibérico. It is largely thanks to this striking species of Lynx that the area has escaped the hands that have braided the entire Andalucian landscape into row upon row of olive groves.

The Lynx Effect
The winding road brought the skaters to the highest point in the area, home to the nationally renowned Sanctuary of Santa Maria de la Cabeza and T7. Here they could ditch their skates and take an off-road route back down through the lush, green hills. With days one and two leaving the teams with a severe case of repetitivo olivio, today was just the tonic they needed.

To make the most of the area, the stages here were kept short and sweet. So after about 90mins of trekking, Buff Coolmax took to the waters of Embalse de Encinajero for a there-and-back-again 3 hour paddle. This was apparently much tougher than it looked courtesy of a very cold and gusty head wind on the northward leg.See All Event Posts