Raid Gauloises
EMA Emanates Enjoyment
Pino/Raid Gauloises / 05.05.2002
Giuseppe Minetti catches up with Silvia Guimaraes, one of the “samba set� from EMA Brazil, currently ranked 8th as they get ready to leave Assistance Point 3 for the final stage of the Raid Gauloises 2002.
I have walked into assistance point 3 having just finshed another complete stage in this years Raid Gauloises (the first being CP’s 7-8 and the caves). The mountain bike leg from CP34 to here (CP36) is 84.5 km long, along the world’s bumpiest roads, and has taken teams anything from 12 to 18 hours to finish. I, on the other hand, blitzed it in a rather comfortable 3 hours, including a break to allow an ex-Russian freight train converted for civilian use, trundle past at a level crossing (are pigs and chickens allowed in 2nd class?).
The fact that I was on the back of a 20 year-old Soviet, held-together-by-string-and-bamboo, “Minsk� motorcycle may disqualify me from any records but my fearless chauffeur made it a memorable experience to say the least. At sunrise I sat with Silvia Guimaraes (“Shubi� to her friends) from EMA Brazil as she prepared for the next 20 hours. She is sitting on the floor of what is probably the biggest ever team camp constructed at an assistance point, and with her country’s flag hanging on a makeshift mast, it looks sublime. The breeze is gentle enough to make the flag shimmer, and a corner of it is close enough to reflect on Shubi\'s designer wrap-a-rounds. How can someone look so fine after 800kms of the Raid Gauloises?
You and your team are looking fresh and happy, what is your secret? \"Our feet are in excellent condition and we feel good after 6 hours rest here. We slept and ate now we go off for the next 2 days.
Memorable moments from the last 7 days, good or bad? \"The course has been really great, it has been the best and most beautiful race I have ever done, with the people making it very special. The trekking sections have been so difficult and the whole race feels very, very long. We are not looking forward to the very steep trek later but the sea kayak section is making us excited. It is the last stage and we think it will be beautiful. We are travelling through the dark and last night I fell asleep on my bike and fell off into a field. But all the stages have made us stop and look around.\"
Everywhere Brazilians go they bring an air of excitement with them, and your team are no exception, do you use this to your advantage? “Yes, . We love to meet people and when we are tired we rest with the farmers and workers along the way. They are very warm, the Vietnamese, and they like to party with us!\"
We look forward to seeing team EMA Brazil samba past the finish line hopefully in 8th place. “Thank you, I hope to see you there, Giuseppe, for a dance\".
Alright, I admit. I invented the last one!�
SleepMonsters
