Coast to Coast Adventure Race
All the teams are in!!
Jacqueline Windh / 06.03.2006
It has been a busy day, as teams come in here to the finish point. We are at Junquillal Beach, on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, in an open-air bar-restaurant looking down on the beach and the crashing surf. It is hot hot hot – but not quite as humid as on the jungly east side of the country. A ferocious wind has been blowing for more than 24 hours – blowing straight offshore, and although it assisted many of them on this final 170 km bike ride to the coast (some clocked as much as 80 km/hr on their speedometers, and others claim that they were getting blown up steep hills, going 20+ km/hr without even pedalling!) it has actually blown a few of them right off their bikes. Tom Smith (ROCK N’ ROAD CYCLES) saw team-mate Luther Papenfus and his bike get picked right up off the road.
The atmosphere here is just great – that wonderful blend of competition and comradeship. It was great to just sit and listen to people relive moments of the race. I overheard Captains Franklin (Chava) Chavarria (1st place POZO AZUL – MUNDO AVENTURA) and Alexander (Pongo) Baker (2nd place AVENTURAS DE SARAPIQUI) talking after the race. These two teams battled for the lead throughout the race, and took turns overtaking one another – but after the race they were enthusiastically discussing all of their moves, strategies and rest stops.
Seven of the eight teams are in, and we are expecting the final team in a few minutes. The finish line is down at the shoreline, and most racers have been enthusiastically braving the stairs, in spite of blisters and swollen knees and ankles, to go down and welcome each team as they arrive. We are waiting upon TEAM TOW now, and some of the competitors have even stayed up this late to welcome them in, although some were just too exhausted and had to finally get some sleep. Daniel Arguedas (BATTERY) wanted to welcome them in, but was battling to stay awake, and I heard him wondering out loud “I wonder who really is the best team – the one that comes in first, or the one that comes in last. Definitely, for the last team in, it is a much tougher race�.
Two teams are out of the official ranking: THE GOPPERS (UK) and TEAM TOW (USA) did not arrive into TA4 with enough time to be able to finish STAGE 3, the long jungle hike, before the cut-off. Instead of withdrawing, they were given the option of cycling that segment (then moving straight into STAGE 4 cycling, for a total of something like 220 km on the bikes) – to at least finish the race, although unranked. About half-way through that ride, Zoe Haines of THE GOPPERS had to withdraw, due to a very swollen knee. She said that it was a really tough decision, whether to continue or not, but that to continue would threaten her ability to do any other sports in the future.
Final times and rankings are:
TEAM
1st. POZO AZUL – MUNDO AVENTURA (CR)
arr. Mar. 4, 17:21 104:21 hrs
2nd. AVENTURAS DE SARAPIQUI (CR)
arr. Mar. 4, 19:56 106:56 hrs
3rd. BATTERY (CR)
arr. Mar. 4, 23:53 110:53 hrs
4th. WHICKED NEARA/NEMO (USA)
arr. Mar. 5, 08:00 119:00 hrs
5th. ROCK N’ROAD CYCLES (USA)
arr. Mar. 5, 14:50 125:50 hrs
6th. CARIBE – SYNGENTA (CR)
arr. Mar. 5, 20:19 131:19 hrs
7th TEAM TOW (USA)*
arr. Mar. 6, 00:26 135:26 hrs
8th THE GOPPERS (UK)*#
arr. Mar. 5, 20:46 131:46 hrs
*modified course, substituted Stage 5 hike for mountain bike
#three of four team members finished
SleepMonsters
