Tecnu Teamwork Takes 2nd Place in Ecuador

Bob Miller / 07.03.2012

Huairasinchi Expedition Adventure Race, ARWS Qualifier

4 Day Non-Stop event

Maximum elevation: 4771m (15652ft)

Minimum elevation: 135m (442ft)

Team Members: Kyle Peter, Liza Pye, Marco Rossini, Bob Miller

Support Crew: Earring Doug Judson, Bernardo Rampon, Belan

Three days before leaving for Ecuador I'm feeling the effects of what would become the worst flu I've had in years.  Upon arrival in Quito I'm still hurting and my team sequesters me to my own hotel room.  Thankfully we have 5 days to acclimatize before racing begins and I'm feeling decent within a few more days.  We've been told to take it very easy and let our bodies adapt to the thin air.  Quito is situated in a high-plateau like valley at 9,350ft, a beautiful and sprawling city surrounded by mountains and volcanoes.  We'll make a few forays to higher elevations in the days before the race, but we struggle to remain inactive as we see most other teams riding, or hiking to acclimatize. 

We stick to our plan and do practically nothing, eating, resting with our feet up, sleeping, relaxing, hoping it's the best strategy.  Two days before the race Kyle feels a tickle in his throat, by race morning he's showing symptoms of the flu I'd recently left behind, fever, chills, weakness and congestion...

Race Starts: Let the suffering begin …

Day 1: 27k MTB, 20k Trek, 90k MTB

Shortly after 6am we're off, and immediately Team Ecuador-Nissan is setting a solid pace off the front as the rest of us gasp for air.  We'll ride from 10,000ft to 13,000ft on this first ride.  We emerge to the first TA in 2^nd place at the head of a large chase pack, but we've already conceded over 20 minutes to Team Ecuador in only 2 hours of racing.  This seems ominous, perhaps they've gone out too hard is all we can surmise.  Nevertheless we push hard up the biggest climb of the race to a saddle at 15,652ft in the Ilinizas Mountains.  Teams are either forging ahead, or dropping behind as team-mates begin suffering in earnest from the elevation. 

We continuously re-arrange gear as one team-member or another feels the effects and we try to maintain some semblance of a solid pace.  The weather has socked-in and we're trudging through cloud, rain and snow.  Through the pass we sidle to a further CP before we can drop any serious elevation.  We ascend off a pronounced ridge into a myriad of ridges and valleys all running in the same direction where it's critical to select the proper ridgeline leading to the next CP.  Still shrouded in fog and relying primarily on a compass bearing we end up one ridge and only 150m west of our intended route descending into an impassibly steep valley. 

See All Stories On This Race