Adventure Racing World Championship Portugal 2009
The View from the Van
Adventure Sport Magazine Support Crew / 11.11.2009
The last days have been testing on all of us.
On day 1, the team managed to complete all their challenges in good spirits, and without having to tackle the surf or, more importantly, get wet and cold. They finished upbeat and positive.
We (the support crew) met them just after they finished with warm dry clothes and some food... Then we set off for the transfer. The organization here leaves a huge amount to be desired. Maria, Gary and Kris were obliged to wait and take the race organization transport, while team captain Paul rode shotgun with Natalie and myself (I have become "White Van Man" for my sins and have assumed the mantle of team driver - we've covered almost 900 kms in that van so far).
The van only has 3 seats, else we'd have taken the others. The directions to the overnight stop were very, very poor. It took us 3.5 hours to find the sports hall set aside for overnighting in. We were hugely worried that the others had arrived and were cold, hungry and without bedding, extra clothing, or food. Paul set to route planning, Natalie set to food production, and I laid out their bedding and hung wet clothes to dry.
Maria and the others didn't arrive until after midnight as their driver had dropped them at the wrong sports centre. We had travelled into the mountains and it was very cold. As the weather was due to be very cold and wet over the next days, we, the support crew, were now allowed to leave extra clothing and food at even the transitions where this was not previously allowed.
We got them fed and stretched. Maria's back was sore where either her platypus or her climbing harness had been banging against it from inside her rucksack. After some tactics discussions and planning, we got our charges to bed by 1 am. Natalie and I are the parents, and the team are our children -- because we're always making their lunch, rubbing them better, picking up the stuff they've left in a mess and mending and cleaning their bikes! Nat and I prepared for the morning and turned in at 2am.
Nat & I rose just before 6am and started preparing kit, food, porridge etc. We woke the kids and fed them, made sure they had all the kit and clothing they needed for the day ahead. Format of the day was trek with abseiling, canyoning, followed by a long hard mountain bike and another arduous trek. I drove them to the start point (a ruined castle ), and abandoned my charges to head back and help Nat pack up, clean up, shop and prepare for the transitions ahead. The morning was cold and clear -- a beautiful autumnal morning - but this was the mountains, and the weather isn't reliable as we were soon to find out.
SleepMonsters
