Guadarun Raid Adventure

Stage 1, 27k: “Tough... but beautiful!�

Jacqueline Windh / 01.04.2013

Well, we have completed Stage 1, island of Désirade, of the six stages we will race. Today is our one rest/logistics day of the race, so I have an hour to sort through my pix and get a report up before we catch the ferry to the next island, Marie-Galante.

Yesterday was a tough stage for several reasons: first, most of the racers had only arrived to Guadeloupe 24 hours before, so were jet-lagged and not well acclimatized. Second, because the stage started at 3pm, so it was very hot and sunny. And of course there was the climb of 300 vertical metres over a kilometre of route about 12 k in, too...

We started in Désirade’s one village, Beauséjour, with the townspeople all out cheering us on and honking their horns. It’s now only Easter weekend - it’s also Désirade’s famous “Goat Festival” - they dress the goats up in costumes and award prizes for the best ones. So it’s one big party!

The island is shaped like a long rectangle. Our route took us eastward along the south shore. There was a strong but warm sea breeze in our faces, and at one point we saw humpback whales spouting below us! At the eastern tip of the island, the vegetation disappeared and the landscape was windswept and rocky, with little groups of goats grazing between the rocks. We looped around the lighthouse, and headed north overland, looking carefully for the race organization’s green splotches of paint on the rocks to mark our route.

We turned around, then hit our second water station around the 12k mark before heading up the big hill - we would now cover the island’s whole length up on the top, in the full sun, and with the breeze behind us. Up til now, we had been passing people’s homes, and many of them were out spraying us with hoses as we passed by (VERY appreciated!) and cheering - but now we would be out of civilization.