2017 RAID GALLAECIA, PART THREE
Eric’s alarm went off at 5 a.m., and Rick and Cliff got up to start plotting our course through the next big TA - five stages and what we guessed would be 36 hours of racing ahead.. Mostly, we noticed, it was biking. We had a 35K bike, followed by a 20K hike around what looked like a really scenic peninsula jutting into the Atlantic, then a huge 70K bike down the coast, a short 8K trek in what looked like another really pretty park, and then a 40K bike to the TA in a shopping mall in the town of Ferrol.
By this time, everyone was woken up and prepping to leave, and the rain had subsided to an off-again, on-again drizzle. We got out of the TA by 8 a.m. and headed out of town, up a steep hill that had us wanting to stop to strip a layer. We did, and the South African team Cyanosis, the champs of Expedicion Guarani which took place in March, cruised by. We thought we wouldn’t see them again, but for the rest of the stage, we kept crossing paths, which made us feel pretty proud of ourselves for being able to keep up.
On this second bike leg, we started noticing a pattern about the biking that would turn out to be true for the remainder of the race as well: easy roads were off-limits - marked in bright pink on our maps - forcing us to take long detours, often up mountains and frequently using dirt roads or trails, to get around them. On this leg, that meant going up a mountain and riding along a ridge, from which we could clearly see a nicely paved and flat road beneath us heading in the exact direction we wanted to go. It was off-limits, of course, making it all the more appealing in our minds. However, we forced ourselves to struggle through some now very muddy dirt roads, trying to stay on our bikes but frequently having to get off and push up a hill or around some nasty mud.
On the up-side, the rain had cleared and the sun came out for a couple of hours, revealing a very nice view of the bay we were biking around on our way to the town of Carino. From the ominous dark spot ahead of us on our maps,, we knew we had a big climb ahead, but we made good time to the base of it, not quite sure what we were in for. A long, slow climb, it turned out. We rode as much of it as we could, but it still took us well over an hour to get to the mountain’s summit, where we located the one CP on the leg at a viewpoint with an amazing view over the entire bay. We spent some about five extra minutes here taking in the view as USWE, a pan-European team, scooted in for the CP and then back out on their bikes. Then, on the way down, we passed the Czech team, Blackhill/Opavanet, chugging up the other side of the mountain. Melody asked, “Do we really have to come up this again?” and Rick confirmed we did.
But first, we had to get down. The route down was direct and steep, and full of loose stones and slippery eucalyptus leaves. On the way down, we were passed by the Kuwaiti team, who we were pretty sure was one of the only other teams to have skipped the fourth stage, and therefore, was our direct competition. After descending into town, we easily found the TA in a gynamsium, and were pretty happy to see they had trays of one of our favorite Galician snacks, tuna empanadas, for us to gorge on.
By this time, everyone was woken up and prepping to leave, and the rain had subsided to an off-again, on-again drizzle. We got out of the TA by 8 a.m. and headed out of town, up a steep hill that had us wanting to stop to strip a layer. We did, and the South African team Cyanosis, the champs of Expedicion Guarani which took place in March, cruised by. We thought we wouldn’t see them again, but for the rest of the stage, we kept crossing paths, which made us feel pretty proud of ourselves for being able to keep up.
On this second bike leg, we started noticing a pattern about the biking that would turn out to be true for the remainder of the race as well: easy roads were off-limits - marked in bright pink on our maps - forcing us to take long detours, often up mountains and frequently using dirt roads or trails, to get around them. On this leg, that meant going up a mountain and riding along a ridge, from which we could clearly see a nicely paved and flat road beneath us heading in the exact direction we wanted to go. It was off-limits, of course, making it all the more appealing in our minds. However, we forced ourselves to struggle through some now very muddy dirt roads, trying to stay on our bikes but frequently having to get off and push up a hill or around some nasty mud.
On the up-side, the rain had cleared and the sun came out for a couple of hours, revealing a very nice view of the bay we were biking around on our way to the town of Carino. From the ominous dark spot ahead of us on our maps,, we knew we had a big climb ahead, but we made good time to the base of it, not quite sure what we were in for. A long, slow climb, it turned out. We rode as much of it as we could, but it still took us well over an hour to get to the mountain’s summit, where we located the one CP on the leg at a viewpoint with an amazing view over the entire bay. We spent some about five extra minutes here taking in the view as USWE, a pan-European team, scooted in for the CP and then back out on their bikes. Then, on the way down, we passed the Czech team, Blackhill/Opavanet, chugging up the other side of the mountain. Melody asked, “Do we really have to come up this again?” and Rick confirmed we did.
But first, we had to get down. The route down was direct and steep, and full of loose stones and slippery eucalyptus leaves. On the way down, we were passed by the Kuwaiti team, who we were pretty sure was one of the only other teams to have skipped the fourth stage, and therefore, was our direct competition. After descending into town, we easily found the TA in a gynamsium, and were pretty happy to see they had trays of one of our favorite Galician snacks, tuna empanadas, for us to gorge on.
We took about 40 minutes to transition, which was relatively slow, but at this point, we were more racing for the experience than the competition, and Cliff, who had gotten badlly sunburned in the kayaks on the second stage, made sure the team lubed up with plenty of sunscreen.
We headed out of the TA through the town of Carino, and on the way out and up the nearby mountainside, we noticed a bunch of stores and restaurants, and logged that information in the back of our minds. The four-CP trekking leg brought us roughly around in a circle up a mountain with plenty of vertical gain, but we were able to stay on trail for most of it, making our progress steady, if not fast. However, as we marched up into the clouds, the precipitation began again, soaking us through. It was a feeling we were getting used to.
The highlight of this section were two CPs positioned in dramatic spots on cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. At one of them, Honza was waiting with his camera and he managed to take what turned out to be some stunning photos of us walking through the painfully thorny yellow briars we had given the ominous nickname of “droom” (a combination of broom and doom).
We found all four points without problem and headed back down the mountain into town. We made the decision to skip any sit-down meals, but Melody was smart enough to stop in a supermarket and grab two perfectly ripe avocados. Cliff popped open two S-caps (salt pills) and we had a mini-feast as we walked back through the picturesque town to the TA.
We headed out of the TA through the town of Carino, and on the way out and up the nearby mountainside, we noticed a bunch of stores and restaurants, and logged that information in the back of our minds. The four-CP trekking leg brought us roughly around in a circle up a mountain with plenty of vertical gain, but we were able to stay on trail for most of it, making our progress steady, if not fast. However, as we marched up into the clouds, the precipitation began again, soaking us through. It was a feeling we were getting used to.
The highlight of this section were two CPs positioned in dramatic spots on cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. At one of them, Honza was waiting with his camera and he managed to take what turned out to be some stunning photos of us walking through the painfully thorny yellow briars we had given the ominous nickname of “droom” (a combination of broom and doom).
We found all four points without problem and headed back down the mountain into town. We made the decision to skip any sit-down meals, but Melody was smart enough to stop in a supermarket and grab two perfectly ripe avocados. Cliff popped open two S-caps (salt pills) and we had a mini-feast as we walked back through the picturesque town to the TA.
CONTINUED...
