Baja Travesia 2008
Spring break fiestas happening down here in Baja.
Jacqueline Windh / 22.03.2008
San Felipe is abuzz with activity, as American Spring Break and Mexican Semana Santa have coincided. This beachside resort, where ocean meets desert, is full of partiers, music, Baja buggies and more. Most of the teams have arrived and registered, down on the beach by the San Felipe Marina Hotel. We’re still waiting on team Slagdart! (hmmm, wonder where they got that name from...) who’ve made it clear that they want to beat the reigning champions. Slagdart are the USA/Sweden combo of Rick Barraff and Mikael and Helena Nordlind.
Paddleboards were available down on the beach for racers to try out. When team Bosi Colombia arrived, Jorge invited me to go paddling with them – I was keen to give it a try, so I headed out with them. Wow!, they sure have a high centre of gravity. They are extremely light, and about five or so inches thick, so you float very high on the water with them. You can paddle them lying down, like a surfer, or pop up on your knees and paddle with both arms at once. Transitioning from lying down to the knees can be tough (the Colombians spent a fair bit of time in the water!) but once you’re up and start paddling, the momentum helps to stabilize you and you can definitely get some good speed up.
Organizers had a lot of good swag to give out to the teams today, including SOLE socks, nuun electrolyte replacements, Hammer gels. Three Phases Renewable is sponsoring by making the race carbon-neutral – today teams had to provide their travel details so that sufficient renewable energy can be purchased to offset their travel emissions.
We’re all off to a welcome beach party now, to eat some tacos and drink some Tecates. Tomorrow will be busy with team meetings and equipment reviews and info, and then the competition starts Monday morning.
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