Raid International Gaspesie
Estonian ACE Adventure Storm to the Win
Rob Howard / 11.09.2016
For the final day of Raid Gaspesie 2016 the two starts were separated by an hour with 300km racers leaving Pointe Taylor in the dark at 5am for the ocean paddle across the river mouth. The 150k racers followed at 06.00 so had less time on the water in the dark.
The weather conditions had changed again, there are no two days alike at this race, and the wind had risen, so there were some choppy conditions on the sea. When dawn did break it was overcast and later in the day the racers had to deal with hill fog, thunder and lightening, and heavy downpours.
It was easy enough to find the first CP in the dark as the organisers had lit a big bonfire to guide teams in. They checked into the PC inside a large barn, which is where all the race volunteers have been staying – though they’ve not been sleeping much. This was the only CP on the way across to the first transition of the day, where the canoes came ashore and teams picked up their bikes.
Team Greeen Things of South Africa lead the way on this stage and the overall leaders, Estonian ACE Adventure, were a little bit further back down the field.
The ride and subsequent stages, took the race up into the hills above Carlton Sur Mer, which were by now wreathed in heavy clouds. This first ride of the day included on checkpoint under a bridge, and many teams found the navigation tricky. There were lots of trails/tracks/roads and it was easy to become confused.
There was only one rope stage today, high up in the hills by some waterfalls, and then a combination of biking and trekking took teams down towards the finish, but with a couple of big climbs on the way. The first of these was on foot and by now the thunder peels had started and the clouds had settled more heavily on the forest. One of the more suprising CP’s on this stage was by a waterwheel outside a couple’s weekend cabin. They said it was originally for powering a generator, but has now been replaced by solar panels, and that the views out over the coast were stunning ... but not today!
The final ride took in Mt. St. Jospeh just above the town and was a steep bike climb, but was cut a little short due to the weather conditions. Then it was time for a fast descent back to town and the final checkpoint ... which was on a crab fishing boat just off shore!
This is the traditional end to the race, with a fire truck parked on the quay side, its ladder extended to make a higher jump platform. Only one of each team had to make the high jump, the others leapt off the quay side and all went out to get the final checkpoint, before swimming back and heading to the finish line.
The first teams to finish were the leaders in the 150km race, in which team PaysageNavigue had a huge lead, and there was a big crowd on the finsh line to greet them, despite the downpours. It wasn’t too long before the first 300km team arrived, and it was the mixed team of 4, Azimut/Espresso Sports who joined hands to cross the line.
Most of the team opted for chocolate milk rather than the free beers being given out and Lyne Bessette said, “We had a really strong finish, with good navigation, and I was pushing the team as hill climbing is my strength (she is a former XC Olympian). I know we passed the Estonian pair, but I wasn’t looking back, only forward! It’s been another great race and I really like what they do here. You don’t have to spend hours lost in the woods (though it still possible to get lost), and having the camps means there is a great atmosphere. This kind of multi-day adventure racing is perfect for me.”
Her team were second overall at the start of the day, some 16 minutes down on the Estonians and after almost 10 minutes with no sign of them the glances at watches were increasing in frequency. But then the pair came into sight, running strongly across the line, their only celebrations being to take a beer and hug their support crew.
The Estonian pair hadn’t quite managed to win every day, but the overall win was still theirs after a hard race. “We lost some time on the last ride,” said Timmo Tammemae, “but didn’t really think we’d lose 16 minutes. We were very close to one big lightening strike, which really made us jump, and I came off my bike, so things could have gone wrong – you never know until you cross the finish line.”
Teams are still finishing now to very emotional receptions from their families and the full results will be prepared to tonights prize giving. There are a lot of categories, with two races, each with pairs and 4’s classes, and with male, female and mixed in those! So most teams will probably have won something – however their true reward are the feelings on the finish line today.
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