              “How do you feel? Are you nervous?� asked a reporter at the starting line of the race.
               “Nervous? Nah. I would say it is more a feeling of resignation,� JJ replied as he looked at the road ahead.
               The thought of trekking, biking, and paddling across 318 kilometers of some of the most extreme countryside in the world leaves you overwhelmed. We had been exploring the country, self –supported on bikes for the last month and were well aware how difficult this was going to be. Â
               I looked around at the other teams; most were polished up in matching lycra outfits and looked like this was not their first race. They looked serious. Then I checked out our, rather eclectic team: we had affixed the American flag with duct tape to our jerseys, Sean´s Surly Big Dummy long bike looked far too substantial to be in a race, our clothes were all dirty and tattered from the months of bike touring. We did not look very serious or intimidating.
 After Goat had to bail on the race a week before from a foot infection he incurred after crashing in a tunnel on the way to Baños, we had sought out a replacement. On the race website we found a local Ecuadorian named Pedro looking to join up with a team, claiming to be a professional climber, semi-professional cyclist, and have completed three other HuairaSinchi competitions; we were optimistic. Yet, when I looked over at him on the starting line, the expression on his face exposed a healthy blend of fear and nervousness. We had met him for the first time just a day before the competition.  Â
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               The race began with a 20 kilometer stretch of cycling, climbing out of the town of Patate along a cobblestone road that soon turned to dirt. Locals sat outside their houses cheering the crowds on as we passed through their neighborhoods.  After spending the last couple years cycling with the same guys, the feeling of cycling with 160 other cyclists was incredible. Being also the first time in many months cycling without all my worldly possessions attached to my bike was also exhilarating; JJ and I pushed ahead relishing our relatively lightweight bikes.
               About 10 kilometers into the ride a photographer asked us, “So where´s the rest of your team?â€� Â
               JJ and I looked at each other, and thought to ourselves, “Hmm, where is the rest of our team?� During the course of our travels, we almost never ride together, since everybody has a different pace and some days are stronger than others, but it´s something we just don´t think about much.  With Sean´s long bike, we knew he would be a little ways back, but not far.  However, for the first time we wondered about Pedro. We decided to wait and sure enough, Sean was just a few minute´s back, but the new guy was nowhere to be seen. A few more teams passed us, then a bunch more teams passed us, and Pedro was still nowhere to be seen.  We asked some other reporters if they´d seen him, and they said he was way behind, going real slow.
               So I turned my bike around and sped down the steep hill past some more of the teams until I reached him.  I had seen some of the teams towing other teammates with a strap, so I took off my belt and attached it to my seatpost, and connected his bike to mine.  For the next 10 kilometers I pulled him up the steep hill, amazed that it was even harder than carrying all my gear for a cross-continent bike tour.
               At the top of the hill, I got to unstrap him and blast down the hill towards the first Control Point. Fortunately, Pedro was able to keep up on the downhill. At various junctures, teams would pile up, with maps and compasses out, trying to figure out which way to go. It was all very exciting.
               We passed through the first Control Point like a whirlwind; I only managed to take off one bike glove and forgot to change out of my biking shorts (which chafe terribly when used for hiking). We had about a 20 kilometer trek ahead of us before we´d meet back up with our support crew.
               Through cornfields and up the mountain along an abandoned road, we made our way towards the control point. We hiked with Team Mountain Hardwear for a bit until we noticed Pedro was falling way behind. “Are you okay?� I asked him.
               “Fine. Just finding a rhythm to keep up for three days,� he replied.
               Further up the trail, we saw teams running back towards us. “Uh, oh.� I thought, “This doesn´t look good.�
               Further up, the path ended abruptly, and a few teams were considering a serious bushwack over the mountain. Apparently, a team from the Ecuadorian military took a compass bearing and began their push through the impossibly thick Ecuadorian forest. Other teams were thinking about following them. I was impressed and thought they were crazy.
               We chose to continue our traverse around the mountain, until we found a trail that took us down to the road we missed earlier. The terrain was open and we could see teams winding across the countryside, all with their own idea of how to reach the checkpoint.Â
               Then we found the saddle below the control point we were looking for and began hiking up to it.   Again we found that Pedro was having a difficult time with the climb, and being so early in the adventure, we were beginning to worry.  We could hike about 15 minutes, and would have to wait another 5-10 for him to catch up. It hurt team morale, especially when my teammates started to tally the amount of time we had to wait for him to catch up.
               After the first checkpoint, we embarked on what I believe is probably the most beautiful trail I have ever seen in my life.  It had been worn down by rain and use so that it was about waist deep, and the jungle formed a tunnel with its mossy trees and vines, with oversized flowers hanging overhead. An adventurer´s paradise.
               We kept playing leapfrog with a team in the coed category and the woman in their team was holding onto a strap connected to another teammate´s backpack. As we were waiting for Pedro at one juncture I asked her if it helped. “Ohh very much,� she replied with exasperated enthusiasm. So I tried that with Pedro until my knees started hurting, and then JJ tugged him up the rest of the hill.
               At one stop JJ said to me, “Man, I don´t know if I´m prepared to carry somebody through this race. I know I can handle my scene, not quite mentally prepared to handle somebody else´s.â€�Â
               Apparently we took a wrong turn somewhere, because the trail opened up and wound over some highland grass hills and we saw a team sprinting through the fog further up the mountain on a major road. We were all surprised that teams would actually sprint down the hill, dropping about 3,000 feet. My knees started to hurt even more quickly down the descent and I wished that I had not towed Pedro around. I was convinced that the people on other teams towing their teammates were superhuman.
               From high on the hill we saw the encampment of support vehicles in the town of Cotalo, and clawed our way down a trail that a military apparently fought through (and had severely injured one of their members leg). We crossed a river and climbed up into the town where we were greeted by our support crew.   We got ready for the 61 kilometer bike stage, with two rope sections in between.   We had our doubts Pedro could make it, and our support crew kept hearing rumors from other teams that our teammate was injured, because he was going so slow, but he had a good attitude, so we were hopeful.
               Right off the back, we took a wrong turn and quickly dropped 7 kilometers off route, adding a bunch of extra climbing to an already sizeable 2,000 foot climb.  We spent a good 45 minutes getting back to the turn we missed, and spent almost another hour waiting for Pedro to arrive.  His morale took a big hit and he started unloading his gear on us, complaining about muscle cramps.
               We cycled up to a hacienda, stopping every 30 minutes or so to wait for Pedro to catch up, with the lag time increasing more and more at every stop.   Night set in and Sean realized he forgot his headlamp, but fortunately, Pedro had a light on his bike and a spare headlamp.  With 50 more kilometers of dark, foggy mountain biking ahead of us, there is no way we could have made it without the spare.
               Unfortunately, we also arrived for the 20 kilometer downhill at night, and the combination of slippery mud and thick fog forced a slower, more careful descent. After the next checkpoint we pedaled along the river before beginning a steady climb to the ropes course.Â
               We had hoped the 60 kilometer cycling stage would be an easier 3-4 hour stage, but we were nearing double digits and keeping team morale high was becoming more and more difficult as we realized that Pedro was in no shape to participate in a 300 kilometer adventure race.  If we could have deducted the amount of time we waited for him, we would have been tailing the leading teams.
               Things got really ugly for Pedro during the 6 kilometer climb to the ropes course; he vomited and started pushing his bike instead of riding. At around 2:30 AM we arrived at the ropes course and were informed that we missed the cutoff time for the next control point and were under the impression that we were disqualified. Morale was almost non-existent at this point.Â
               We had not prepared to be out so long (11 hours) for a mere 61 kilometers of cycling.  Our water/food had run out many hours ago and we were still a good 10 kilometers of climbing away from the control point with our support crew. JJ & and I still felt strong, but Sean was starting to feel the lack of sleep and Pedro was beyond ruined.
               The control point had been abandoned by all the other teams and support crews who had moved to points further along the course. Our crew was one of the last remaining and it felt demoralizing to arrive thinking the race was over. We were told that we could continue the race by driving to another checkpoint and getting a heavy penalization.  In the car ride, a brief wave of optimism swept over me and I thought, maybe we could finish the course, but in reality I knew it would be dangerous heading up to 4400 meters with somebody completely unprepared for the race.  Unfortunately, I had to call it, and we had to pull out from the race.
hey boys, that sounds HAG hauling around that flailer. no worries, though. better to call it while you’re still in one piece, cos it’s just a little part of your big mish. i’m stoked that you went out and represented the hammies and the blarians, proudly.
hey boys, that sounds HAG hauling around that flailer. no worries, though. better to call it while you’re still in one piece, cos it’s just a little part of your big mish. i’m stoked that you went out and represented the hammies and the blarians, proudly.
hey boys, that sounds HAG hauling around that flailer. no worries, though. better to call it while you’re still in one piece, cos it’s just a little part of your big mish. i’m stoked that you went out and represented the hammies and the blarians, proudly.
Bummer to not finish, but I really enjoyed reading the play by play. Best of luck on the next adventure.
Bummer to not finish, but I really enjoyed reading the play by play. Best of luck on the next adventure.
Bummer to not finish, but I really enjoyed reading the play by play. Best of luck on the next adventure.
por eso estan tan atrás? q mal!!! que mal! no hubieran llamado a ese chico! 🙁 los hizo perder
por eso estan tan atrás? q mal!!! que mal! no hubieran llamado a ese chico! 🙁 los hizo perder
por eso estan tan atrás? q mal!!! que mal! no hubieran llamado a ese chico! 🙁 los hizo perder
irresponsable declaration of experience could be desvasting even dangerous, any way the best part is the adventure, by the way impresive web site the Photos are beauuuuuutifull, i will keep in touch whit your project, have a nice ride through the spine
ride on
irresponsable declaration of experience could be desvasting even dangerous, any way the best part is the adventure, by the way impresive web site the Photos are beauuuuuutifull, i will keep in touch whit your project, have a nice ride through the spine
ride on
irresponsable declaration of experience could be desvasting even dangerous, any way the best part is the adventure, by the way impresive web site the Photos are beauuuuuutifull, i will keep in touch whit your project, have a nice ride through the spine
ride on
Bad luck with Pedro. When I was tracking ya’ll the first day I felt like something like that had happened. I know you gusy are supermen and would not be going so slow–after all I’ve tried to keep up with you myself. I hoep you enjoyed the part of the race you were able to do.
Bad luck with Pedro. When I was tracking ya’ll the first day I felt like something like that had happened. I know you gusy are supermen and would not be going so slow–after all I’ve tried to keep up with you myself. I hoep you enjoyed the part of the race you were able to do.
Bad luck with Pedro. When I was tracking ya’ll the first day I felt like something like that had happened. I know you gusy are supermen and would not be going so slow–after all I’ve tried to keep up with you myself. I hoep you enjoyed the part of the race you were able to do.
Bummer Fellers,
I would have gladly taked pedro’s place. We should enter a race when y’all return. Fun to read thougth, I could empathize with your frustrations. I hope it was a great experience, now back to the road I suppose……
Cheers, Russ
Bummer Fellers,
I would have gladly taked pedro’s place. We should enter a race when y’all return. Fun to read thougth, I could empathize with your frustrations. I hope it was a great experience, now back to the road I suppose……
Cheers, Russ
Bummer Fellers,
I would have gladly taked pedro’s place. We should enter a race when y’all return. Fun to read thougth, I could empathize with your frustrations. I hope it was a great experience, now back to the road I suppose……
Cheers, Russ
Roberta or I would gladly have filled out your team ! Next time just gtive a holler 🙂 … sorry about Goat’s foot(we hope he’s on the mend). I loved that part of Ecuador(compared to Quito where we were always paranoid !)…. keep on keepin’ on and I hope to see you somewhere down the trail. Don
Roberta or I would gladly have filled out your team ! Next time just gtive a holler 🙂 … sorry about Goat’s foot(we hope he’s on the mend). I loved that part of Ecuador(compared to Quito where we were always paranoid !)…. keep on keepin’ on and I hope to see you somewhere down the trail. Don
Roberta or I would gladly have filled out your team ! Next time just gtive a holler 🙂 … sorry about Goat’s foot(we hope he’s on the mend). I loved that part of Ecuador(compared to Quito where we were always paranoid !)…. keep on keepin’ on and I hope to see you somewhere down the trail. Don