The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge
13-12-2008: Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge Oz Diaries – Day 2
Mark Watson / 13.12.2008
However we get ahead of ourselves:
Today began with the sun rising over a beachside bivouac where teams spent the night under the stars. Preparations were hastily made for the 7:00am departure into the 45.5km mountain bike stage through the sand dunes and hills of Sir Bani Yas Island.
Beginning the day in fourth place overall ADCO/AROC (AUS) were going to need to pull something out of their hat to retain their standing against such a strong international field. The course would wind its way throughout the sandy island dotted with gazelle and Onyx before finishing back at campsite where kayaks sat waiting.
It was quickly evident that Nike (USA) were on a mission to recover from their slip down the ranks yesterday and they took off with Desert Island (NZL) accompanying them in the lead, however Sole (USA) were surprise performers, driving the field hard and is was only the never say die attitude of the Aussies that kept them in touch with the lead teams at all. “It was fast and furious to start but with quite a lot of the mountain bike on hard-pack we were able to create a good formation and draft so we could go quite fast. However that contrasted with the deep sandy stretches where our wheels just got buried and we had to jump off our bikes. There was elbowing between teams for the best lines as we hit the deeper patches.� Emily Miazga of ADCO/AROC (AUS) told Sleepmonsters.
With a strong performance in the MTB stage, ADCO/AROC (AUS) were however unable to retain their ranking and slipped to 9th position overall and by the end of the bike but Miazga philosophised; “We’re not worried, we had a great time and rode well. I was just trying to hang onto my team most the time and making sure my lungs held up. We were battling out with some other teams and we came out on top so we’re pretty happy with that. We also saw some of the Gazelles with their big horns and I nearly hit one but was lucky I was able to outmanoeuvre it at the last minute. We’re not too worried because there’s a lot of really fast teams that are quite quick on this kind of a stage so we’re looking forward to the paddle and making up a few more places there. I’m hoping we’ll be in the top three by the end of tomorrow.�
Australian Jarad Kohlar competing with team Desert Island (NZL) was also happy with his team’s results (currently in first place overall) but was wary of the Aussie team nipping at his heels. “I was surprised at how fast today was… we must have averaged 25km/h. We were expected to take two and a half hours and we did it in under two hours… it was fast. For the whole road section at the end I didn’t even get on the front… I just hung on. We have the kayak ahead of us and we should do well, but team NZ and AROC should also do well so we’ll have to work hard. I am just not sure whether AROC will have the legs in the desert trek… we’ll see!�
At the end of the MTB section ADCO/AROC (AUS) stand in 9th position behind Desert Island (NZL), Nike (USA), Sole (USA) Team NZ (NZL), Wilsa Helly Hansen (FRA) Sport 2000 Vibram LaFuma (FRA), Lundhags Adventure (SWE) and Sport 2000 Vibram Outdry (FRA)
However this intermediate ranking lasted only as long as the short transition to the kayak and as this report is being file ADCO/AROC (AUS) are battling it out in the open water kayak. This is the strength of the team from down under and we expect to see a move up the leaders board before tonight’s island bivouac.
SleepMonsters
