The AR World Championships - Costa Rica
Coast to Coast Triathlon
Rob Howard / 05.12.2013
When teams left TA4 they were beginning a non-stop Coast to Coast triathlon from the Pacific to the Caribbean – but unlike most triathlons they were a bit tired to begin with!
From Sierpe they began a cross country ride to reach the mid camp at TA5 at San Gerado, a small village on the edge of the Talamanca Mountain Reserve and at the foot of the highest peak in Costa Rica, Chirripo.
The ride began on the flat coastal plains and included a short ferry ride near the start – on a ferry that seemed to carry mostly bicycles, it’s just been a bit busier of late. Next it was time to head to the Superman zipline, and this was when the climbing began, following dirt roads up into the hills which were brutally steep in places. The manager at the zip line had said he’d like to see someone ride up it, but he didn’t and he won’t – it was long push to the top!
Here teams left their bikes and were harnessed ready for the world’s fastest zip line. It was a harness unlike any other with a padded, orange sling down the front, and the racers lay on a flat table below the line to be clipped on. Their feet were resting on a bar at the back of the harness, and when they were pushed off they flew downhill through to the forest at speeds up to 140km/hour! Once they were at the bottom and had their breath back they had to trek 2km back up to their bikes to continue.
The leaders went down in the hours of darkness and this included the Silva Haglofs team who subsequently withdrew at this point due to an injury to Josefina Wikberg. It wasn’t the only injury of the day as later on in the morning Roman Urbina of the La Ruta Landrover team clipped a branch with his foot and had to be taken to hospital to be checked over. His 3 team mates subsequently carried on.
The accident caused the line to be closed for a few hours while it was rechecked and trees were pruned before it was subsequently reopened.
From then on there were plenty more hills to come as the route wound its way across country into the mountains that run down the centre of Costa Rica. Some of the navigation was tricky as not all the roads were on the maps and in places there was a maze of rough tracks to find a way through. In the night we came across the Japanese team East Wind asking directions from some bemused locals. There were plenty of people around to ask as there were many homes and villages, most of them now decked out in Christmas lights.
The final part of the ride was uphill to the transition and as the Mountain Hardwear UK team rode in Alex Pilkington just said, “There are a lot of hills in this country!” His team mate Sally Ozanne simply said she wanted a cup of tea!
The mid-camp has some good facilities with a large indoor room to spread out all the gear boxes, and this was where teams chose to sleep, rather than set up tents on the adjoining football field. They had a 4 hour mandatory break here, and there was a canteen, showers and medical help available if they needed it. Most just wanted to get off their feet and rest for a while, and Merrell Adventure Addicts decided they needed a bit more sleep and stopped beyond their 4 hours.
When they do leave the teams have the big trekking stage of the race ahead of them, up and over the central mountains, including Chirripo, which is at the start of the trek. When they leave the summit they will then follow the Ruta los Indios through the native tribal lands in an area Race Director Pongo Baker describes as like ‘visiting a lost world’.
The teams will take a minimum of 35hours on the trek and how they cope with the length of trek, the altitude and the cold, will be a determining factor in the race. So will the time they finish the trek at TA7 as this is where the rafting starts and the dark zone applies.
This will be where the water stage of their triathlon begins, as they raft then kayak to the Caribbean coast, but that won’t be happening for a day or two yet.
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