Patagonian Expedition Race
The Last Team to Make the Cut-off
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 21.02.2016
The first time cut-off in the race was today, February 21 at 12:00 local time. The race had started on February 16 and teams still in the race had already battled their way through a 34km trek, a madness-making 272km bike ride and now they needed to finish the 76km trek.
Teams hoping to remain in the competition had to reach CP8 located at the Gabriela Mistral school in Puerto Natales. Check point staff waited through the night for information on the remaining teams to be radioed in from CP7 in Rio Primero. Vaucluse Aventures Evasions, Kaweskar, Team Patagonia Germany, Spirit of Poland and Patagonia 4 Barth remained on the 76km trek that had started in Puesto Correa.
Two French teams were reported in at CP7. According to Danny Dumas, Patagonia 4 Barth was in at 23:54 and left at 05:12 on the 21st. Vaucluse Aventures Evasions arrived at 10:50 on the 21st. There was no news of the other three teams so it was clear that they would miss the time cut-off. Of the two French teams, it was uncertain if Patagonia 4 Barth would make the cut-off. Having arrived at CP7 at 10:50, Vaucluse Aventures Evasions wouldn’t have enough time to reach CP8; covering the 110kms on their bikes.
Patagonia 4 Barth just made it, reaching CP8 at 11:12. Three of the team members seemed dazed but Frederic was energetic. Briefly relaxing as the pressure of making the time cut-off receded, they ate hot meals and Frederic Decamps strapped Olivier Renard’s knees.
Claire’s knees have been causing her problems since the beginning of the race and as the team ate, they cast her anxious glances, trying to read her mental state as she was in tears from the pain. This is the team who stated in PC5 that their strategy to be one of simply “listening to Claire” and they appeared to be continuing to work well together as a team.
Wilfried Grossoeuvre has been doing the navigation throughout the race. Talking about the section he got that special twinkle. That twinkle that anyone who has ever spoken to a true navigator will recognize. Their eyes light up with childlike excitement as they describe their rapport with the maps and the terrain; the extremes that they have just put their body through becomes a minor detail.
Wilfried said, “This is the first time that I’ve oriented in a primary forest. The scenery was spectacular and it was also the first time I navigated using only azimuts. The distances were so long that sometimes in the middle of the night I wondered if I had it right and then we hit a gully and I knew that I was spot on. It was incredibly satisfying to leave the little blue race markings behind and get truly out in the wild. We rarely have a chance to do this, anyplace in the world. There are no paths out there, not a single one. I’ve been in Mongolia and I didn’t even have that experience there.”
At this point he glanced up, quickly scanning Claire’s face again and continued, “Even when we were trekking into CP7 and straight ahead it was flat terrain, we’d turn around and look where we’d just come from and the scenery was just ‘wow’! Strength wise Frederic and Olivier are light years ahead of us on the mountain bikes and without them we wouldn’t be at CP8.”
As they were leaving, Frederic called out in French, “Could you tell my wife Celine and my three children hello?” Olivier added, “Oh, me too, I’m thinking a lot about my wife Frederique.” Wilfried and Claire chimed in; “Hey, what about our two kids, Adrien and Theotim?”
Thinking about loved ones back home to give strength to the racers to continue has been a recurring theme throughout the Patagonian Expedition Race whenever I have spoken to them about what they are feeling during this incredibly challenging adventure. The race seems to strip them bare of all negative emotions and only love for those closest to them remains and sustains them.
As they mounted their bikes, Frederic made one last comment saying, “I’m surprised at how good I’m feeling, the longer the race goes on, the better I feel.” Olivier Renard continued to look dazed and as the rest of the team headed out to Estancia Perales, there was a moment when he appeared to be sleeping standing up before he too rallied and joined the rest of the team.
Patagonia 4 Barth left CP8 at 12:31as the last team still officially in the race. They may not be aware that according to the race director, the hardest part is yet to come.
SleepMonsters
