Coast to Coast Adventure Race
Tico teams are leading on Day 3
Jacqueline Windh / 03.03.2006
I am writing from the edge of Lake Arenal, with the whine of crickets all around me and insects as large as small birds batting against the light and buzzing all around me.
The teams have really spread out, into more or less three groups: three Costa Rican teams in various parts of Stage 5, two American teams keeping a steady pace near the middle of the pack (I assume that they have finished the Stage 4 cycle now, but I have not heard any news), and three teams further behind.
In front, there are the three Costa Rican teams that have held the lead throughout the race, and they are battling for first place. They all completed the 130 km bike ride (all on paved road) earlier today, and all are in Stage 4, which is the one complicated stage of this race: a 5 km hike to Lake Arenal (carrying paddling gear but not kayaks), then a 25 km paddle along the lake, followed by a 48 km trek. These three sections are all considered to be one stage because the teams don’t have access to their gear boxes at the kayak transitions. Last I heard, earlier today, two American teams were biking on Stage 3, but I imagine that both have arrived at the next TA by now. The remaining three teams started hiking yesterday late afternoon, and I have not had any news of them since then. It would have been a long night for them in the jungle... if they are still going, I expect that they either would be well into the bike stage now, or resting in preparation for cycling.
I made it to the Transition to the trek/kayak stage around lunch-time today. POZO AZUL had already been and gone, and SARAPIQUI was in the transition area. I took the opportunity to hike with them the 5 km to Lake Arenal – a pretty gravel road through tropical rainforest. Along the way we saw all sorts of birds – hummingbirds, parrots, and lots of small brightly coloured things, as well as a coati – a long-nosed brown animal the size of a small dog, and related to a raccoon. It was my first exotic mammal siting of the trip, but SARAPIQUI tell me that, on the previous day’s hike, they saw three of Costa Rica’s monkey species, as well as the world’s second-most poisonoous snake, that apparently has 2� long fangs that it unfolds from its mouth when it strikes.
On our walk, I had a chance to ask Pongo, the team captain, how POZO AZUL had managed to pass them. At the previous transition point, POZO AZUL stopped for a sleep, while SARAPIQUI just kept moving – their lack of rest stops had race organizers a bit worried. “No, we stopped to rest�, Pongo replied. “We just didn’t want them to know. We slept in a bus stop, further along. But we wanted them to be worried about us, knowing we were ahead, not get a good sleep because they were thinking about us.� Later, he tells me, POZO AZUL passed them, but then were caught at a road turn-off. “They waited for us there, to see which way to go. But once they knew, they are better bikers than is, and they went ahead. But we are strong at everything, we will catch them�.
On the way to the lake, we passed a vendor selling “pipa�, unripe coconuts. The team bought about a dozen of them, and offered me one too. The vendor whacked the end off with a machete, and we drank the cool, mildly sweet, coconut-flavoured liquid inside. “Better than Gatorade� said Maria Jose.
I walked back to the transition alone, and when I got there, just upon dark, team BATTERY had just arrived. Their feet were in pretty rough shape, and they were spending time with the first aid attendant getting blisters attended to, and getting hands taped ready for paddling, when I left for the next TA, here on the shores of Lake Arenal.
When I got here, POZO AZUL had already been through and gone, arriving here at 5:26 pm. Apparently their female member Marcela, has extremely bad blisters, so this next 48 km trek might slow them down. I caught up with SARAPIQUI again here – they arrived at 8:45 pm, which means that they did the entire 25 km kayak stage, which includes two PC boxes to find, in well under four hours. They did the whole segment attached together, and their “towing for strategy, not out of neccessity� seems to be working really well for them. Their feet, although blistered, don’t seem to be in as bad shape as most of the other teams, so they are doing something right there too – and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them come out of this trek in front of POZO AZUL.
There is a bit of a wind blowing out on the lake, and it is very black out there. The thumbnail crescent moon set a while ago. One of the PC boxes is set out on a pole on a submerged island (this is a man-made lake), and will be extremely hard for teams to find at night, unless they have a very good light (which SARAPIQUI tells me is how they found it).
We expect to see BATTERY in here some time over night, and perhaps the American teams will come on shortly after. We caught up with NEMO earlier today, in the little town of Angeles, where got off their bikes for a quick lunch stop. Mary from ROCK N’ROAD has a wrist injury from the first paddle, and was not sure if she would be able to paddle this segment. Her team-mates seem quite willing to tow her, so I expect that we will see them here tomorrow morning. I should have more concrete information on all of the teams that have not made it to this TA yet by tomorrow.
I am being attacked by giant bugs here, so until then, good night!
SleepMonsters
