Ecomotion/Pro 2008 Adventure Racing World Championship
The Journey to Jeri
Rob Howard / 31.10.2008
Getting to the start of the 2008 ARWC is a long, long journey for most, and although all are now gathered in windsurfing haven of Jericoacoara on the North-East coast of Brazil for the race administration and opening ceremonies, the journey is not yet over. It is a long trip even for many of the 30 Brazilian teams here - this a country the size of Europe spanning many climatic zones and the majority of home nation teams will have had to fly into the city of Fortaleza, as did the visiting teams.
Some international teams had to take 4 or 5 flights to arrive in this city of 2 million, including a 3 hour internal flight from Sao Paulo for some, but the Kiwi team Powered by Velvet, who arrived yesterday said they managed to arrive in Brazil before they left New Zealand (after crossing the international date line).
Yesterday afternoon at Fortaleza packs of lean looking racers with vast amounts of baggage filled the concourse, waiting for a bus to turn up begin the transfer to Jeri. (You quickly learn here that there is little point in asking when something will happen, you just wait and see if it will.) One team glad to be leaving Fortaleza were the Norwegian team Multitude Salomon who were arrested for drug smuggling on arrival!
One of their sports mixes was a white powder - which a quick customs test indicated was cocaine! One of the team was arrested, in handcuffs and at gun point, and all were held for 6 hours until a more detailed test cleared them of any wrong doing. (Tip to teams going to the Abu Dhabi race in December – learn this lesson!) By this time the Norwegians had missed the bus and had to get all their gear into town and find a place to stay, to wait for the bus the next day. It was not the greatest start to the trip for them, but they seemed relaxed and happy when I spoke to them.
The transfer to Jeri was 6 hours with only one stop for twenty minutes to let the comatose passengers stretch their legs. The roadside stall was full of exotic fruit and coconut milk, drunk through straws , was popular. (There is going to be no shortage of fruit to eat on this race and coconut milk may be a help to keeping the teams hydrated.) See All Event Posts
