Monday
10th April. After breakfast we assembled our bikes and
cycled to the race headquarters, where we discovered that we should
have been taking riding and climbing tests earlier in the morning.
No one had given us any prior warning. Henley & Irena who had
arrived during the night caught a local bus and we had a brief team
conference to decide what to do. The only practical test was to do
the sailing, as only two team members were required, so Primus and
myself set off on our bikes to the other end of the city. We arrived
at the yacht club to discover that the sailing test was to be in
catamarans. Primus had no experience of this so went out with an
instructor, whilst I took another one out. The wind was not strong,
so it was not too hard a test and we were both duly signed off. We
returned to the hotel to meet up with Trish and Judy, as time was
short we decided to take our riding and climbing tests in the late
afternoon, whilst the logistics group checked out the first aid
kits. The climbing test was quite simple, just climbing up a water
tower then a quick rappel down. Unfortunately by the time we had
completed this it was getting dark and too late to carry out the
riding tests although we did manage to get our equipment checked. We
were about to leave when our 4WD vehicle and driver arrived,
unfortunately the vehicle did not have an open back as we expected,
so we had to make arrangements to change it out with another one. We
returned to the hotel and then set off into town for our first team
dinner. Over dinner Trish explained that she had contacted Compaq at
the end of last year and they had supplied some leads for possible
sponsorship, then just two days before she left they asked her how
she had got on. Upon hearing that we had no sponsorship, they
managed to round up some $15,000, so the least we could do was to
rename the team TEAM COMPAQ.
Tuesday
11th April
After a breakfast of local fruit, bread and cheese we set of back to
the stables for the riding test, whilst the logistics crew took the
4WD away to be fitted with a rack to carry the Kayaks. We had a
phone call from customs to say our project material was being held
until we paid the necessary import duty, Karina duly organised this
and they delivered our material in the evening. Due to the fact that
some of our equipment was also in the project boxes we were unable
to complete all the mandatory checks until the Wednesday, so we did
a little bit of shopping and spent some time in an internet cafe.
Whilst shopping we bumped into a film crew who were covering the
race for local television. We also found a place to make new team
badges for our clothes.
Wednesday
12th April
Wednesday was quite a rushed day as during the morning we had to
formally present our project to the local dignitaries and also
finish off the compulsory equipment checks. One advantage of
presenting our project was to arrange for our boxes containing our
project kits to be transported in a large truck, saving us space on
our own vehicle. The time seemed to fly past and it did not seem
long before we were sitting down to our last dinner in Fortaleza.
Thursday
13th April
Logistics awoke early in the morning in order to start packing our
4WD for the trip to the start. Just as well we did not have to carry
our project kits as there was no room, in fact it was surprising how
much we managed to pack in: - Two double kayaks, 4 bikes, and half a
dozen kit boxes, plus rucksacks and bags! The start of this
year race was some distance from Fortaleza and coach took
competitors to Camocin some 380 Km away. Logistics vehicles and
crews made their own way. During the trip we took the opportunity to
start examining the maps and race instructions, marking out the
route of the course. We arrived
in Camocin in the afternoon and set up temporary camp in the local
gymnasium, as night fell the afternoon rains commenced.
Friday
14th April The
Prologue.
This
year a sailing race was arranged using the local fishing boats, the
owner of each vessel steering the boat crewed by each 4-person
ground team. The race was held in memory of Paul Vatine, a French
sailor who competed last year and was lost at sea last October. The
finishing order would determine the starting position for the sea
kayak leg. After the storms of the previous night the worst since
1974, there was no wind and even worse the boat that we were due to
sail had not arrived! Eventually the organisers allocated us a spare
boat, however it was much larger than all the other boats. We set
off to paddle to the start line some 3.5 K offshore, eventually
picking up a tow from a motor boat. In the end all the boats were
towed to the start area and there we anchored to await the wind. The
start was delayed until one o clock when a light wind began to blow.
As the start time approached I realised that the skipper did not
know where the start line was, so we had a frenzied conversation
with Karina translating in order to explain that we had to pass
between a moored boat and a buoy. Just in time we set up directly on
the line and were off. We had a good start, however the boat being
so large it was very hard to paddle, on occasions we did manage to
catch and surf on a few waves. Due to the lack of wind the course
was shortened to one lap, around an island on the river. As we
approached the turning point the wind began to increase, when we
turned into the wind the boat picked up speed and we began to
overtake some of the smaller boats. Each time we tacked we gained a
place and although we still need to paddle we were gaining on the
leaders, the question was would we catch them before the finishing
line. At one time it looked as though we would, however it was not
to be and we finished an honorable 9th. It had been a long day on
the water and we went to a nearby restaurant for well earned
refreshments, during which I had my picture taken with Karina for
Marie Claire magazine, as together we were the oldest and youngest
in the race. The rest of the day was spent preparing the Sea Kayaks
for the race up the river to Ganja.
Saturday
15th April
After another night of rain we awoke to commence the race, our
support team transported our Kayaks down to the beach, where we
checked out the equipment, the organisers agreed that it was not
necessary to wear life jackets and fit spray decks but they should
be carried. This was just as well as even at 8 AM the temperature
was in the 80's. We launched the kayaks into the fast flowing river
to take them for a test; this was the first time we had kayaked
together. Trish being a very experienced paddler was soon giving me
tips to improve my style. Test over we returned to the beach to
prepare for the start. We made our goodbyes to the logistics team
and sat in our Kayaks on the beach. As the gun sounded our logistics
team launched us into the river -- we were off. The first point on
the course was a buoy set in mid river and the situation became very
confused with 60 kayaks all heading into the first corner. Trish
opted to go wide however we still managed to collide with a couple
of other boats and then we were heading off up river. The fleet
split following each river bank trying to keep out of the current,
we chose the right bank, as we had already worked out that there
were a couple of small channels which we could follow which would
reduce the distance we would have to travel. Initially the paddling
proved quite easy although the kayaks were quite large and heavy to
paddle and we had to stop a couple of time to adjust the steering.
Once clear of Camocin all we could see were the mangroves and it was
evident that the river level was much higher than normal as water
was also flowing through the mangroves. The temperature rose
steadily into the 100's and the paddling became harder as we battled
against the floodwater, at each bend in the river we crept up on the
inside in the quieter water before sprinting across the river to
reach the shelter of the other side. The 38 Kilometres of this leg
was supposed to take us 3hours, however at lunchtime the end was
nowhere in site. We pulled into the mangroves for a brief rest, to
eat and answer calls of nature and then continued on our way. As we
travelled up the river the influence of the tide had less effect and
the current became stronger, we passed one team that had capsized in
the conditions. I began to get cramps in my forearm, and for a time
Primus and Karina towed us, however this proved to be quite
hazardous as we nearly got entangled in a tree so we decided to
continue separately. Towards the end of the paddle we gained a
little respite from the current by paddling across flooded fields,
this gave us a little time to rest in preparation for the final
kilometre which the organisers said was difficult. We eventually
spotted the building of Ganja and could see the final obstacles in
our path. There was a bend in the river with rocks and fast flowing
water on the inside, however the right side of the river looked
calmer, so we headed that way taking a wide sweep around the bend.
There was one difficult part where some locals were watching from
the rocks, so we powered up in the slack water and launched
ourselves against the current, for a moment both kayaks were swept
sideways before we regained control and stemmed the flood. Once
again in calm water we relaxed a little and looked to see where the
landing was. There was a bridge over the river and a big weir beyond
it with the water thundering over and the landing was just below the
bridge on the opposite side. We were directed to cross to the other
side, however we decided to continue to paddle in the sheltered
water before powering up once again to cross the rough water below
the bridge. The kayaks took to this water easily although the
paddling was hard and we soon reached the other side to be assisted
by our logistics crew. We arrived about 4 PM in 21st place,
which meant we had less than an hour to get on with the horse riding
before curfew. The transition area was quite crowded and it was
difficult to change into riding gear, whilst being filmed and
watched by the local people. We also had to grab something to eat
and pack supplies for two days of horse riding. Karina had
disappeared at this point and there was a bit of panic until we
found her in the crush. Gathering together our equipment we walked
across the bridge the corral where the horses we waiting. We could
pick any one we wished, but to be honest they didn’t look up to
much. I picked an old mare and soon had it saddled and bridled and
we set off with 30 minutes left before the night curfew. The roads
of the town by the river were flooded so we had to go slowly, we had
lost our map during the kayaking so were trying to follow another
team in order to take the right road. As darkness began to fall we
looked for a place to stop and the locals directed us to an
abandoned house, which had a balcony for shelter and a telephone
box! As we were unsaddling our horses, my one broke his halter and
nearly ran off, I stopped him by flinging my arms around his neck.
One of the locals who had gathered around then used my rope tether
to fashion a new halter. Curious village children and locals
gathered around to watch us as we sorted ourselves out for the night
ahead. The horses were tethered together and had plenty of greenery
to eat. Karina set up a hammock, then one of the locals offered room
in her house, so Trish and Karina took up her offer, whilst Primus
and my self decided to stay near the horses. I decided to sleep in
the hammock, whilst Primus lay down on the horse blankets. The first
day was over and we were all looking forward to what we though would
be a relaxing riding stage.
Sunday
16th April
I woke in the middle of the night to the noise of an animal with a
bell on moving about nearby. I got out of my Hammock and went to
check our horses. They were ok but had been joined by another horse
with a bell on, which had woken me up. Later on I heard and say
another horse moving around, as this one did not have a bell on I
investigated further and discovered that it was Karina's horse,
which had loosened its tether. I woke Primus and together we spent
about 20 minutes trying to recapture the horse, every time we
approached it turned it back and tried to kick, eventually we
managed to get a rope around its neck and tied it up with the
others. As dawn broke we set about preparing our horses, securing
our saddlebags and dry bags to the saddles at we set off at 0530 for
checkpoint 3. Now was the time to get to know our horses. Karina
appeared to have picked the best horse which was very lively and
liked to lead, Primus's horse need some persuasion to get going,
whilst Trish appeared to have drawn the short straw with a horse
that appeared to need a lot of hard work. My horse "Fred"
seemed to be middle of the road neither to fast or slow. In order to
get them to trot you had to make a clicking sound. Not long after we
set off Karina swapped horses with Trish who was having trouble
keeping up. The track we were on was quite straight and undulating
and ahead of us we spotted another team (Team Uruguay), not long
after this we picked up a map case lying on the track, it would seem
they had dropped it as one of their riders was returning. We had
just got ahead of this team when we came to a path junction where we
turned right but Team Uruguay went straight on. The question was who
was going the right way? This was soon answered when Karina stopped
a local on a bicycle, who confirmed we were on the right track. We
celebrated this news by urging our horses along, Fred seemed up for
this and drew alongside Trish's horse, and the question was what is
Brazilian for Canter? I decided to say "Ya Ya" and this
appeared to work Fred picked up a fast trot, Primus whipped his
horse into a canter and Trish disappeared at high speed, with Karina
not far behind. This was exhilarating and for about ten minutes we
were all flying along. The fast trot proved to be quite comfortable
with little of no bounce and only slightly slower than a canter. At
times Fred tried to break into a canter but I held him back. We were
making good progress and hardly paused on passing through checkpoint
3. The sun had come up and the temperature began to rise into the
100's C, whenever possible we tried to make the horses drink at
streams crossing the paths. However unless we stopped all the horses
they had a tendency to skip drinking in order to keep up with one
another. Between checkpoint 3 and 4 another team Tchiboula caught up
with us and we travelled together. We stopped just short of
checkpoint 4 in order to check that we had not reached it ahead of
the minimum time, we were just about right, however Tchiboula had to
wait in order to avoid a time penalty. The rest area for the
horses where we had to stop for two hours was quite spacious, and we
unsaddled, fed and watered the horses. Vets came around and checked
the horses, both Fred and Primus's horse had developed sores under
the saddle, so these were treated with Betadine and before
restarting Vaseline and further padding was added. We had an early
lunch and refilled our water bottles from a well, treating the water
with iodine for protection. By the time we set off again the
temperature had risen to 110C, it was hot, although there was a
light breeze blowing across the Sertigoe. The horses laboured
under the broiling sun, Fred kept plodding along and Karina managed
to keep her horse moving, however as the afternoon wore on a problem
developed with both Trish's and Primus's mounts, who both just lay
down in a stream crossing the path. Karina left me her horse and
went back to assist, after some time the tired horses were urged to
their feet, but had to led rather than ridden. After a while both
Primus and Trish were able to remount and we walked our horses into
CP 6 just short of a mountain pass, arriving at 1640 in 15th Place,
teams that had been ahead of us having got lost!.
The
CP was quite basic and horses were tethered to large trees, however
the ground around was rough with many cut down sapling creating trip
hazards in the undergrowth. Having settled the horses we set about
setting out a place to sleep, spotting a level patch in front of a
parked truck below a tree. We set up Trish's tent as an awning
suspended from the tree and tied to some posts which some of the
locals drove into the ground for us. We laid some plastic sheeting
on the ground to protect us from the mud. Before darkness arrived we
set off to collect water from a stream running down the path. the
area was very wet, and as a result of the recent rain we were
informed that the next checkpoint had been moved a further 12
kilometres away to avoid a dangerous river crossing. We were
not happy with our horses and Karina tried to get a replacement for
hers as she felt it would not make it over the mountain pass in the
morning. However none were available. Trish managed to get a
replacement harness as hers had broken during the afternoon whilst
she was trying to get her horse back on its feet. We covered
ourselves with a mosquito net and tried to get some sleep.
Monday
17th April
Once
again a disturbed night as I awoke to hear a fellow competitor
saying that she had found a horse that had broken loose, somehow I
knew it was one of ours, however decided to ignore the problem as
she managed to tie it to a nearby tree. Rose about 5AM and checked
the horses, yes sure enough Karina's horse had gone AWOL again. I
awoke her and then we all prepared for what we hoped would be the
final day of riding. We started off walking our horses along the
flooded trail towards the mountain pass, shortly thereafter the path
began to climb steeply and we were forced to dismount to lead our
horses up and over a 500 metre high pass. some parts of the path
were green and leafy and at other times we passed through rocky
ravines. Eventually we reached the top and the path started to
descend, I was considering remounting, but glad I didn’t as the
decent was rougher than the ascent. On the way down we met a local
carrying his bike over his shoulder. The path flattened out for a
bit and I remounted, then as we came towards a stream I noticed that
that the way ahead was up a steep rocky ravine, before I could
dismount Fred engaged four wheel drive and was climbing the rocks
out of the stream. There was nothing to do but sit back and enjoy
the ride. We eventually reached a dirt track and headed to wards the
new checkpoint 7 at Puala Pessua where there was a bridge to cross
the now flooded Rio Itacolomi. Once again we allowed the horses to
stretch their legs the other three cantering and Fred doing his
extended trot, sometimes his gait was wrong and it was a bumpy ride
so I let him have a gentle canter. We passed by the deserted former
checkpoint 7 and eventually reached the new checkpoint at 9.42 still
in 15th place, where we had to take in a one and half hour
compulsory stop. The horses were fed and watered and we all took the
opportunity to swim/cool off in an eddy pool of the fast flowing
river. The horse Primus was riding was still giving cause for
concern as already it was lying down resting. We ate an early lunch
and then set off crossing a wooden bridge, which had been
strengthened to allow the horses to use it. We passed through
a number of small villages and at the first one there were children
lining the streets handing each competitor a paper flower as they
passed by, in celebration both of the race and the 500th birthday of
the country. At another, Karina and I stopped and were invited
to have a cup of coffee whilst we waited for Trish and Primus to
catch up with us. Later on in the day around 3pm the storm clouds
gathered. Soon we were in the midst of a spectacular tropical
thunderstorm, the locals must have thought we were insane as we
walked our horses down the deserted main street, our clothes soaked
to the skin, we did not bother to put on our waterproofs.
Once
again as the day drew on our horses slowed and a couple of other
teams caught up with and passed us. We had hoped to reach checkpoint
8 before nightfall however this proved impossible and as darkness
fell we approached a small village. Two Brazilian teams were already
in the village and another team was just behind us. The question was
would we find anywhere to accommodate us. Karina approached the
owner of the local store, which was the centre point of the village,
having a communal TV. The owner was extending his house above the
shop and offered each of the teams a bare room. Karina also made
arrangement to buy rice, eggs and beans for the team and a local
woman agreed to cook for all the teams. The villagers hospitality
was overwhelming as the food cost on R$ 2.50 per team (£1) and the
rooms were free. We each of us found suitable pickets for our horses
and fed and watered them with the help of the locals. Primus's horse
was in a very bad state and could not stand and was given corn by
the locals. We sorted our equipment out socialised with the locals
and then gathered together for a communal meal after which we
settled down for the night.
Tuesday
18th April
All the teams were up early preparing their horses for the day
ahead. Primus's horse was still looking sick, so we planned to leave
it at the next checkpoint. As the 5.30 dark zone passed the four
teams made their way out of the village. On the way to the
checkpoint we had a discussion and decided that it might be quicker
for us to abandon all the horses at the checkpoint and to continue
on foot. When we arrived the vet inspected them an agreed that
neither Trish nor Primus's horses were in good enough condition to
continue. A few other teams had already reached similar conclusion
to us. We collected together our riding equipment and lightened our
packs leaving the excess equipment for the organisers to transport
to the next transition area. Travelling along the tracks was quite
easy and we managed with the assistance of one of the locals to find
a short cut that saved us walking extra kilometres and avoided
passing through the town of Araquem. Generally speaking the roads
were strait and undulating but it was somewhat disheartening to be
overtaken by teams that still had their horses. We eventually
reached checkpoint 9 where all teams had to leave their horses as
the Rio Coreau was in flood and it was to dangerous to cross with
horses. Never the less the teams still had to swim across. As
we approached the crossing Karina stepped on some soft mud and sank
up to her thighs, I grabbed her arm and helped pull her free. Karina
was first to swim across followed by Trish & Primus, with me
taking up the rear. It was just a matter of diving in and swimming
as fast as possible hoping to reach the bank before being swept down
river. We all safely reached the far side, sorted ourselves out and
set off towards CP10 the transition area where we would meet up with
Logistics. Once more as the afternoon drew on, the rain clouds
gathered and we received our afternoon soaking, the tracks being
instantly transformed into mini rivers and lakes, by this time with
all competitors walking, we were in company of four other
teams, forging our way through the water, laughing and joking about
the conditions. There were some Brazilians walking along the track
with us, and it was somewhat amazing to note that they were walking
barefoot seemingly ignoring the sharp stones and rocks, what I would
give to have feet like that! Eventually over a hill and round a bend
we sighted the assistance point at Barra Vermehlo, our spirits we
raised with the thoughts of food, meeting our logistics and the
official end of the horse riding. Judy, Henley and Irena were
waiting on the line to great us and lead us back to the makeshift
camp. Unfortunately the rains before our arrival had caused some
last minute changes to the planned turnaround. We were however fed
and watered, our feet were washed and massaged. Water bottles were
refilled, equipment checked over and food provided for the next
planned three days of hiking and climbing. We did not have much time
to rest as we needed to reach CP12 by midnight to remain in the
Adventure category, so we set out once more at 1640, as dusk fell.
The moon was quite bright and we soon passed through the town of
Ubauna, on the outskirts of the town whilst searching for the
correct track to lead us to CP13 we were joined by another French
team. We cross-checked our GPS positions then set off, looking for a
further turnoff on the left hand side. Sometime later we made a turn
as instructed by the race notes, however Primus was not happy that
we were heading along the correct track so both teams returned to
the junction to re assess the situation. We all agreed to continue
further along the main track, which proved to be the right way. The
French team drew ahead and disappeared into the night, a little
later on the track divided and we were unsure which one to take so
we split up only to find that the tracks joined together a few
hundred yards further on. We made our way along a pass between two
ranges of hills eventually reach checkpoint 11, a little villa
forming part of a scattered village. We wasted no time here and set
off once more to find the path up the mountain, which according to
the instructions was quite difficult to find. Whilst scouting for
the route we met a Brazilian descending down a small ravine, he had
been assisting other teams who had been having difficulty finding
the correct way up and agreed to guide us in the right direction.
We noticed during the climb a couple of places where but for his
guidance we might have taken the wrong route. We climbed higher and
higher zigzagging up the hillside and were soon able to look down on
the lights of nearby towns and villages, eventually we neared the
top and we where walking on large areas of exposed granite. Once
this ran out it was difficult to pick up the right track, time was
running out and together with two American teams Team Varig and Loch
Harris Coldwater we spent a lot of time criss-crossing the
mountaintop looking for the right way. Eventually a local Brazilian
came once more to aid and we were headed for the CP arriving some
thirty minutes before the deadline in 23rd place. The camping area
was quite small and there was little room to maneuver, however we
found a space and set up a temporary bivouac, under a tree for use
by Primus, Trish and myself. Karina in the meantime joined up with
one of the Brazilian teams for the night. It was not a very restful
night and to make matters worse the rain came on, so that the three
of us had to huddle together to keep dry.
Wednesday
19th April
The
team had a luxury of a lie in, as we were one of nine teams who were
camped out waiting to go to the climb site each team was dispatched
at ten-minute intervals. The site was quite muddy and our shoes soon
became caked in mud. When our turn came to depart we were informed
that due to the rain all teams would be using the easier of the two
climbing routes where a fixed rope had been set up to assist
climbing. We would only be required to use one of our two climbing
ropes in order to rope ourselves together. We set of in good spirits
along a twisting muddy track between trees and bushes that grew
steeper as we approached the base of the climb, here it was
particularly muddy just like the Philippines as one of the
Portuguese team members commented. We spent about an hour queuing at
the base of the climb. The rocks were drying out and the organisers
re opened the harder route, we declined the opportunity to jump
ahead of the other teams, perhaps a wise decision, however the team
behind us took up the offer. Soon after this it was our turn and
after donning our harness and helmets, securing our trekking poles
we were on the climb. It turned out to be an easy scramble, with
branches from trees laid in crevices to assist us.
The
most difficult part was to avoid tangling the climbing rope that
linked us all together. Halfway up we paused to look around at the
view of the valley below. The two climbing routes joined together a
bit further up and we were pleased to find that we were once more
ahead of Loch Harris Coldwater. Traverse lines were set up near the
top and we clipped into these for safety, before diving off into the
undergrowth towards the rappel site. Once again there were mud and
tree roots to avoid as we used a rope to slip down to the start of
the rappel. By the time Primus and I arrived Karina was already
hooked on and ready to descend the first rappel, followed by Trish.
Primus hooked on and I had time to look around and survey the
countryside whilst waiting for him to clear the rope. I chatted with
the guides and cameramen whilst hanging by my cows tails over the
300 metre drop. The rope was clear so I attached my decender,
unhitched my cows tails and was off, in now time at all I was down
at the second and longer stage. Once more I waited hanging around
until the rope was clear, I would have like to have taken a
photograph but could not reach the camera which was in my pack. This
longer rappel was quite hard as in order to reduce the friction on
the decender you had to lift the weight of the rope with one hand,
as I'm quite light it does not take much friction to hold me, so I
descended this part quite slowly. Even so the decender got quite hot
and when I reached the bottom it burnt my legs. The rappel completed
however there was still some distance to descend the mountain and
safety ropes had been set to assist progression towards a stream at
the bottom. There was no sign of my team-mates and I assumed they
had gone ahead to refill their water bottles, as I was the only one
who had any water left by the time we reached the top of the climb.
The sun was hot and I realised that my feet were quite sore even
though I had been taking Ibuprofen. I tried to relieve the stress on
them by using the trekking poles to take most of my weight, I lost
my balance a couple of times but got up with just a couple of
bruises. I walked on eventually entering the shade of some trees by
the stream where my team and others we resting. There was a spring
in the stream and local girls were refilling everyone’s water
bottles and also handing out Mangoes. We rested for a while ate and
drank and then set off once more, together with another team. To
start walking again was difficult and I took a little time to get up
to speed, then we met up with a Team coming back saying there was no
way through a fence. We returned to the stream and some of the
children offered to show us the way. They took us along a track that
led to the door of a house, and I could not believe it as all the
teams passed through the house and out another door! We joined a
dirt track road at a hamlet called Bom Jesus and set off in the
direction of the next rappel which was to be down the Cascada Pocao
waterfall in the Ubajara national park. As we walked along the road
Primus asked how I was, for a moment I was unable to reply, there
were tears in my eyes hidden by my sunglasses, I just shook my head. We
stopped and then returned to a nearby house, which doubled as a
store. Here we brought soft drinks and sat down to discuss the
situation. It was a very emotional time, I had planned and dreamt
about this race for the past year and had gathered together a team
to take on the best in world, only to become the first victim with
foot problems, apart from which I felt strong. I had not considered
my feet to be a problem, as I was one of the few not to suffer in
the Philippines the previous year. I felt I could perhaps continue
to the next checkpoint however it was unlikely I would reach the
finish line. I would delay the team by doing this, so I decided the
best action would be to withdraw allowing Trish, Karina and Primus
to continue together as an incomplete team. Karina went off in
search of medical assistance and to see if she could arrange
transport to get me back to the logistics group. She evidently made
quite a scene as a fellow competitor arrived who had some medical
experience, expecting to find me collapsed from exhaustion! He did
have a look at my feet, which looked more like swollen white prunes.
The decision made I handed over the passbook to Trish, passed over
food I was carrying and bade them good luck. The owner of the store
then drove me back up the road where I met the organisation who
advised me that my logistics team would be along in an hour or so to
take me to Tianua, which was the next transition point. I went to a
nearby house and was given a rocking chair and sat down to wait. I
had some company for a while as Brazilian team Zipnet arrived they
looked quite tired. I noted that they still had some climbing
equipment that they would no longer need so I offered to carry it
back with me and give it to their assistance team. I conversed with
the locals by sign language for a bit. As the afternoon drew on the
organisation left and I was alone, the hour had long since passed.
My hosts noted that I was beginning to doze offered me a hammock, so
I went inside and rested. Eventually Judy arrived in one of the
organisations support vehicles together with two members of team
Accor one of whom their team captain had retired due to heart
problems, they had picked him up about a mile up the road. The ride
to Tiangua was quite spectacular and it was a pity the rains came
on, at one point the road wound its way high up into the mountains,
and there was evidence of recent landslides. We reached a point
where it looked as though a boulder had crashed into the road
minutes earlier, nearly blocking it and our driver just had room to
squeeze past. Arriving at the Poussada in Tiangua, the press were
soon around like flies and I was interviewed for French TV. A
member of team Terra Force support team took a look at my feet,
noting that there appeared to be some form of infection and perhaps
I should see a doctor. The organisation invited me to attend the
evening press briefing and arranged to send a car to take me to the
hotel some 500 metres away, as the doctor was based at the hotel I
decided to find him after the briefing.
The
press briefing was quite an informal affair and I stated that I felt
my foot problems had developed as a result of needing to walk during
the horse riding stages at which time I had been unable to strap my
feet. I also expected that many other competitors would also be
forced to with draw over the next few days. After the briefing I
looked for the doctor only to be told by one of the assistants that
he was unavailable and I should return later at 10PM. I was not
happy about this however Judy arranged to a Brazilian doctor who was
working for the Organisations Logistics to have a look at my feet.
She treated numerous blisters and confirmed that I had some kind
infection for which she gave me anti biotics'. I asked her what
would have been the effect if I had continued and she explained that
there was no way in which the damage would heal and my feet would
suffer more injury. I was told to keep my feet dry and raised as
much as possible. So ended my active participation in the race.
Continued
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