Ecomotion/Pro
Getting to the Start Line is Half the Race - But what a Start It Is
Louise Foulkes (ARWS) / 10.08.2013
Teams have travelled from all four corners of the globe to Ecomotion / Pro 2013 which is being held in Bahia, a state on the coast of Brazil.
The rush of teams arrived to the race yesterday (Thursday) exhausted after up to 2 days of travelling from places such as Europe, New Zealand and China. After days of eating re-heated sandwiches, squirming in uncomfortable airline seats and playing complicated stacking games with bike boxes, it was a welcome relief to finally arrive at the Race Head Quarters.
Race HQ is located in the Transamérica Ilha de Comandatuba hotel, a 5 star resort located on a small island on the coast of Southern Bahia. It is recognised as one of the best hotels Latin America and has hosted a lot of Brazilian celebrities as well as celebrities, such as actor Harrison Ford.
The final step of the long journey to the hotel involved teams catching a small ferry to the island. On disembarkation, teams were greeting by swaying ladies in distinct white dresses who draped necklaces made from local natural materials over all arrivals heads.
The dresses and necklaces are a part of Bahia’s cultural identification adopted from the Candomble religion. Candomble was developed in Bahia with the knowledge of African Priests who were enslaved and brought to Brazil, together with their mythology, their culture and language, between 1549 and 1888.
After a quick welcome champagne (or coconut water), jet lagged teams were escorted along palm lined walkways to reach the hotel entrance and find their rooms. Dinner was next, and it was an adventure racers dream. A sumptuous all you can eat buffet of exotic local foods. It was a real sight for sore eyes for the travel weary and for those trying to gain a few extra pounds before the race start.
This morning after a leisurely start, teams emerged looking more refreshed and began getting organized for the race in earnest. Clean wide hotel corridors soon became cluttered with unpacked bike boxes and equipment. Bikes were assembled and checked that they were still in working order after the long trip.
Registration opened at 12 noon and stays open until 9 pm tonight. In addition to receiving race packs, teams have to complete various checks including demonstrating their proficiency at ascending. Teams have been informed that during the race they will need to be able to ascend 100 metres up a rope within a 40 minute time frame. There were some nervous looking teams who had obviously not mastered the technique. Roping staff spent time patiently explaining and adjusting set-ups to increase each team’s chance of success.
Tension was also high as teams huddled around the turquoise fountain for the PFD buoyancy test. Speculation was rife as individual PFDs were attached to a 6kg weight and thrown in. The PFDs had to float in order to pass.
Yellow brick trackers and radios were also issued.
From here there is an Official Welcome brief at 21.30 local time. Here teams will receive their route books but not their maps. Maps will be handed out at the finish line of the prologue tomorrow.
Tomorrow teams will need to pack and hand in their logistic boxes in the morning. After this there will be a short prologue in the afternoon. The prologue results will give those who do well 2 advantages. Firstly, the top 20 teams will be given a 2hr sleep bonus. The rules state teams must sleep for a total of 8 hours at one or more of the mandatory rest stops on the course. Those gaining the bonus will have this reduced to 6hrs.
The second advantage is that the finish order will determine the order that teams can choose which kayaks to paddle in the first stage of the race. First place gets first choice, second place gets second choice, and so on.
The race live web site will be released after the maps are handed out tomorrow afternoon.
You can find out more on the race website at http://blog.ecomotion.com.br/ and on their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/EcomotionBrasil
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