The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge
Kiwis Lead the Way in the Prologue
Rob Howard / 12.12.2008
By the time everything was organised and the race was on the road the sun was rising and it was a fine day, with none of the fog the race experienced last year.
After transferring to the downtown seafront there was time to prepare the race the kayaks, which were lined up on the beach in number order with their sails up. The bikes were racked up nearby but the start line couldn’t be set up until the Corniche Road was closed off. This is the main 4 lane highway along the city seafront and a fleet of police cars were waiting to close it off for the race start.
As soon as this was done the start banner was raised across the road and the teams called forward for the ride which was the first stage of the 40km ‘urban triathlon’ prologue. Behind a cordon of flashing lights and between the sea and the dynamic Abu Dhabi cityscape the race was off in a flash – it must have been the fastest start to an adventure race ever.
The route was all on the main road, heading down past the Emirates Palace and then taking a U-turn to swing back around along the other carriageway and past the start. By this point there was a large leading peleton comprising the majority of teams, then came a lonely Team Speleo Salomon ... then the second group. It was an incredibly fast stage, and not without its risks. “I touched wheels a couple of times,� said Andy Wilson of SleepMonsters/FJS “and then tried to keep out of trouble and found I was at the front! I thought – what am I doing here! – and dropped back a bit.�
Fortunately there were no crashes and by the time the riders had turned again to return to the beach it was Team Desert Islands who were first onto the water – and first is where they stayed. The paddling route circled the man-made Lulu Island and Desert Islands established a strong lead, ahead of ADCO AROC. There was an early stop for a shore based checkpoint on the seaward side, then it was time to turn back towards to the city skyline and land on the island almost opposite the start/finish point.
By now the field was very spread out and surprisingly Team Nike were not in the leading few teams. Chris Forne had a problem when his rudder peg broke and they lost time and places, which will be hard to win back in such a competitive race. “I was going round in circles for a while�, Forne said.
SleepMonsters
