The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge
Riding the Storm Out
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 08.12.2009
They raced off at 07:00 and several encountered technical difficulties early on. Checkpoint Zero lost a pedal and several chains derailed. Eric Archambault from Vibram Lafuma Sport 2000 blocked his chain and his fingers were a mess of blood and grease as he desperately tried to unblock it. He sat with his head in his hands on a curb at the finish of the first section and spoke of his frustration at the turn of events as his team was hungry coming in to today’s section, eager to eat away at the minutes separating them from the top five.
The head winds were strong as the teams battled their way up and down the sandy roads; at one point the leaders were going downhill at over 55km/hr with the sand blinding them. Top teams spoke of how difficult the section was and faces were strained when they arrived after 33,7 km at Qasr Al Sarab Resort where they rested and ate until the race started again at 10:30. The racers gathered in the courtyard of this beautiful new resort in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the start that had them charging out of the gates of this medieval style place.
Bikes were on the ground waiting to be called into action when the unthinkable happened; a truck from the hotel ran over a bike. There was a collective groan as the South African team scrambled to get the peddles onto a replacement bike. After the adreneline of such a hard push in the morning following down time, it was stress they would have gladly done without.
The next section of this stage took them from the resort to Umm Zamul, along the border to Oman on a wind swept track.. A highly strategic zone due to borders and oil fields, it also re-defined the term no-mans land. It was a miserable section; the winds that had started early in the morning picked up in intensity, creating a full blown sand storm that had racers leaping off bikes to push in long stretches were the road became a recent sandbar. Racers used a lot of their water to rinse their eyes and at the end of the stage most were out of water. A racer from an American team was heard offering a reporter 500 US dollars for a bottle.
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