Eco Motion Brazil 2005
Ecomotion Goes Downhill
Susan McKenzie / 03.10.2005
The lead changed hands somewhere in the mountains last night, as Buff/ Nike ACG, led by Spaniard Emma Roca, moved into first place, with the American/Kiwi combo of Merrell Wigwam Adventure chasing them on the bikes.
Teams began leaving the bush early this morning, heading straight to TA4 in Aparados do Serrra National Park, where they would pick up their bikes for a monster downhill bike ride. Only a few support crews were on hand to meet their teams, however. That’s because, in a curious test of strategic thinking, teams were given an option here: support crews could drop their bikes here and then move on to the next TA, or support crews could stay and help the team. The twist was this: if your support crew left, you could bike the quick three kilometres up and back to the waterfall before heading out of the park. If they stayed, teams had to run the up and back. Not surprisingly, all of the top teams chose the former, so only a handful of support crews were there.
Said Neto wasn’t exaggerating when he called the biking section through the park and its rural environs� very downhill.� The hard packed, rutted road that winds through the area is very fast and very, very downhill. When our vehicle crossed Merrell Wigwam Adventure halfway down the run, it was obvious there was no way that we could get past them in time for the photographers to get any shots – they were going that fast. Our car is, well, not so big and not so powerful, and we would never have beaten them.
Behind Buff and Merrell, several teams battled it out for the top ten spots including Oskalunga and Athena from Brazil, the Canadian American combo of DART, who all call the west coat of north American home, Sweden’s Cross Sportswear, Kings Team from Calgary, Alberta and SOLE from the US.
“Last night was really cold� says DART’s Cyril Jay-Rayon, as he swaps muddy trekking shoes for dry sock and bike shoes. “We got lost so much last night. I’ve never made so many mistakes in one night. Right out of town, after the church, we made a mistake. It was really stupid. Vraiment con.� (Really dumb.)
DART arrived at the transition area in 5th place, having overtaken a number of teams during the night.
“Really?� asks Ben Nachtrieb. “What happened to SOLE?�
“We couldn’t find the trail last night,� Paul Romero says a few hours later as SOLE finally arrives into the TA, legs muddy and scratched, water bottles virtually empty. “We kept looking and looking and just had to plough through the brush. The shrubs were really gnarly.�
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