Baise International Mountain Quest
Hard Racing in Baise
Team Thule Adventure / 28.04.2010
We had a short run to the days first adventure skill – where we had to pop a balloon with a slingshot from 10m and then moved onto a 27km mountain bike ride. We got lucky with the slingshot early and got a small jump on most of the other teams. Macpac chased hard and at a section where we were bike carrying for about 30 minutes we still had about a minute over them. A final climb to the transition and a 15 minute breather saw us stretch that to close to 2 inutes.
After the break we had a 13km run section which included 2 incredible caves. Macpac were slowly closing the gap and their lights behind us were a constant reminder to keep pushing. Once out of the second cave they came storming past us, but only managed to get a couple of minutes up the road before we were able to start pegging them back.
About 2km from the TA we got back on level terms and then got a tiny break to lead going into the final stair run and adventure skill.
Everyone was pretty knackered after what seemed like 1000’s of steep stairs both up and down and the AV was a welcome relief. Two members had to do a Tyrolean traverse before a short sprint to the finish line.
At the finish we had 1:40 minute lead on Macpac. Team Smartwool/Polar from NZ came home 3rd after a rough day but then lost 3rd to Kolumb from China after they were penalised 5 minutes for not popping the balloon within the mandatory time (or maybe it was because they broke 5 of the slingshots!)
The North Face were 5th and R&R Sport had an early setback with a puncture after only 3km and ended up enlisting the help of a local farmer and his pliers to get a tubeless valve out. They all seemed thoroughly stoked to be racing here though and enjoyed the day.
It was a great course today and pretty tough, especially when the racing was so close but it's an amazing area.
Tomorrow we have a leisurely start before a 4pm start with a short run and bike followed by what is sure to be the most mentally taxing portion of the race – a 6 hour kayak in inflatable boats on a reservoir which looks like it will be done mainly in the dark. A 6 hour mandatory camp comes next, before a 2.5 hour MTB to the final obstacle of the day in the form of an abseil.
<b>Results Day 1:</b>
1. Thule Adventure Team. 4.33.51
2. Team MacPac (fd. Lafuma) 4.35.31
3. Team Kolumb China 4.57.14
4. Smartwool(Orionhealth)/Polar NZ. 4.58.25
Find out more about the team on their website at http://www.thuleadventureteam.com/
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