|
Written by Adam Craig
|
|
Sunday, 03 July 2005 |
 Amazing place, no switchbacks though. They aren’t afraid of a little riding up the steepest climbs you’ve ever seen, and immediately being thrown into some of the steepest descents to boot. I don’t know what the story is with the so called “winter” thing they have going south of the equator right now either, but it was almost as hot here as in Quebec last weekend, 85 and humid with a lovely following wind off the coast up every climb. HOT. I drank a 24 ounce bottle every lap an! d it still took me almost two hours to produce a “sample” for anti-doping control due to massive levels of dehydration.
I was happy to even have the opportunity to ride up the heinous climbs and get really dehydrated after my flight down here on Wednesday was cancelled and I was told I wouldn’t be able to get here until Saturday. Fortunately I was nice to everyone at the airport and somehow landed a flight on Thursday, arriving Friday, in First Class, yeah, it’s pretty cool up there in the front of the plane with the recliners and fine china and all… Arrived with my bags too, sweet. Our Hotel was a block from the beach, which works out well, because if you ride on the road you’re bound to get killed sometime soon. So Roel decided that riding on the 6 kilomet! er long beach instead was the call, pretty creative, and the kind of experience it’s always good to have when in faraway lands. Good scenery too.
On to the action, if you want to call a bunch of sweat soaked guys riding really (relatively) slow up really steep hills “action”. I’m sure Jose Antiono Hermida, who won by over five minutes, fit the description, he must have to make that kind of time. I, and everyone else I talked to, put it in “hard tempo” (read: survival) mode after the dust settled on the first lap. There was a lot of dust because of all the crazy local Brazillians who were CHARGING at the start, this charging ended about ten minutes into the race as reality set in and the elbows stopped flying, but it was terrifying for a little while. I ended the first lap in 6th position I think, where I stayed for the firs! t three laps and focused on learning the easiest lines up all the climbs (often walking…) and on all the very complex downhills. The descents were about half really steep twisty singletrack, with lots of trees that they decided to leave in the freshly cut trails, always right where your terminal momentum was taking you. The other half was fairly steep clay and granite doubletrack, which was very hardpacked, rutted, and actually very slippery from the high humidity keeping everything moist. I sorted things out by the fourth of five laps and caught the two rapidly slowing spainiards in front of me to move into fourth position. All the drinking and eating I had been doing had me thinking I could bridge the 1:30 gap to Ralph Naef in third, but reality quickly set in on that one and I soldiered in fourth, happ! y with my riding for the second half of the race, and not too worried about the huge gap to the win, some days are for you, and some are for others.
Now it’s time to head back to the states and rest up for the Angel Fire, NM world cup next weekend, but I think I’ll go for one more ride on the beach in the morning before we pack up and hit the airport… I hear Carl bought another round of truck sized innertubes for floating down the Deschutes river through Bend, so I’ll be doing a bit of that this week as well, it’s finally summer, gotta take advantage!
Thanks for reading, and to all those who make it happen. I appreciate it.
Adam Craig, Team Giant |
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 27 February 2006 )
|
