2016 RAID GALLAECIA, PART TWO
We transitioned in a brisk 30 minutes and set out on the 48K trek, which we had been told by AreaRaider journalist Ger Cuevas would be the deciding stage in the race.However, at first glance, the nav looked relatively straightforward, except for a few semi-tricky points. We hit the first five points in daylight, finding them easily as all were on or near trails. The first point was on an overlook of the entire valley we had just paddled and was probably the most impressive. The sixth point was at the Caaveiro Monastery, which was built in the 10th century. We hit it right as darkness was falling and, in true AR style, stopped for a moment not to sightsee but rather to use the bathroom.
As night descended, we climbed a big hill, and by this time it was obvious that Melody’s ankle was hurting. Eric and Cliff had been carrying her pack through the entire stage, and even without it, she was still limping and slowing significantly on uphills. We found points 7, 8 and 9 with few problems, making progress but knowing we were probably losing ground to the teams in front of us due to our slower pace. Point 10 was tricky, and we lost our concentration a bit following some other teams along a ridgeline and getting a little too involved in conversation. We started to head east but the terrain kept pulling us north. We almost headed down the wrong valley, which would have been a really bad mistake, but Melody caught it and we forced ourselves over some rougher, uphill areas to get to a line of trees and some big boulders that reoriented us on the map. From there, we steered downhill into the correct valley and found the point by a small stone house that took some Class IV bouldering to get down to.
Right after 10, we hit a stream and turned uphill. After a bit of a climb, we realized we weren’t on a trail, but rather a cleared gas line, and we were headed in the wrong direction. We backtracked, popped out on a road, our landmark, and climbed again, up to CP 11. This point was at the top of a big hill and it was breezy at the top, but we descended quickly (thankfully Melody’s ankle felt fine going downhill). We got CP12 and then decided to take the long way to CP 13 via a road, to give our minds a break and to avoid bushwhacking through what we were finding to be devilishly harsh underbrush. On the long road walk, Rick hit a bit of a lull, and Cliff and Melody took over on nav for a bit, guiding the team close to CP 13. But we were unable to find it, and we slowed and took a five-minute power nap as first light broke. By daylight, we realized we had walked too far, and we backtracked and found the point, after about 45 minutes of time wasted. CPs 14, 15 and 16 were all easy in the daylight and Rick nailed all of them, in the process revealing an uncanny knack - that would reappear throughout the race - for spotting a flag from hundreds of meters away.
It was past 9 a.m. by the time we reached the TA, which was a longer walk than we expected from the final CP on the stage. We knew we were behind the bell curve of the race, but it was reassuring to see several other teams’ bikes still racked up when we got into the large tent that served as the transition area. We set to gobbling some food, refilling water and getting ready for our next stage, a 58K bike ride.
As night descended, we climbed a big hill, and by this time it was obvious that Melody’s ankle was hurting. Eric and Cliff had been carrying her pack through the entire stage, and even without it, she was still limping and slowing significantly on uphills. We found points 7, 8 and 9 with few problems, making progress but knowing we were probably losing ground to the teams in front of us due to our slower pace. Point 10 was tricky, and we lost our concentration a bit following some other teams along a ridgeline and getting a little too involved in conversation. We started to head east but the terrain kept pulling us north. We almost headed down the wrong valley, which would have been a really bad mistake, but Melody caught it and we forced ourselves over some rougher, uphill areas to get to a line of trees and some big boulders that reoriented us on the map. From there, we steered downhill into the correct valley and found the point by a small stone house that took some Class IV bouldering to get down to.
Right after 10, we hit a stream and turned uphill. After a bit of a climb, we realized we weren’t on a trail, but rather a cleared gas line, and we were headed in the wrong direction. We backtracked, popped out on a road, our landmark, and climbed again, up to CP 11. This point was at the top of a big hill and it was breezy at the top, but we descended quickly (thankfully Melody’s ankle felt fine going downhill). We got CP12 and then decided to take the long way to CP 13 via a road, to give our minds a break and to avoid bushwhacking through what we were finding to be devilishly harsh underbrush. On the long road walk, Rick hit a bit of a lull, and Cliff and Melody took over on nav for a bit, guiding the team close to CP 13. But we were unable to find it, and we slowed and took a five-minute power nap as first light broke. By daylight, we realized we had walked too far, and we backtracked and found the point, after about 45 minutes of time wasted. CPs 14, 15 and 16 were all easy in the daylight and Rick nailed all of them, in the process revealing an uncanny knack - that would reappear throughout the race - for spotting a flag from hundreds of meters away.
It was past 9 a.m. by the time we reached the TA, which was a longer walk than we expected from the final CP on the stage. We knew we were behind the bell curve of the race, but it was reassuring to see several other teams’ bikes still racked up when we got into the large tent that served as the transition area. We set to gobbling some food, refilling water and getting ready for our next stage, a 58K bike ride.
It felt good ride mount up on our bikes, and the first three or four miles, which retraced some of the route we had taken on the previous trekking leg, went quickly. We stopped briefly to help out a couple of two-person teams still out on the trekking leg who were a bit turned around, and continued onwards on some fun, rolling paved roads. We headed steadily uphill, finally reaching a CP on a treeless ridge with lots of wind turbines, and the nice weather got the team a bit sleepy. We snoozed for about 10 minutes on the ridge, seeing a couple of teams go by. The day wore on as trudged through more rolling hills, eventually reaching a literal and figurative low point as we hit a mile-long hike-a-bike/bikewhack to a CP alongside a stream. Cliff hit a bad patch here, demonstrated when Rick asked him if he was following on the maps, where the trail was marked by a dotted line. Cliff replied that he was unable to because he couldn’t read braille.
Still, Rick was on top of the nav and we continued on, up a long and steep, unrideable (at least for us) uphill. That brought us to another bike-whack, including an especially harrowing section in which we needed to carry our bikes along a narrow trail abutting a 50-foot sheer drop.It was slow going, and at this point the stage started feeling a bit endless for the entire team. Just as we reached the end of the hike-a-bike, which included lifting our bikes over some wire fences, the sky got very dark and within minutes we were drenched by a short but powerful rainstorm. The weather and 36 hours of continuous navigating suddenly got to Rick, and he turned to Cliff and said, “I’m in a bad place right now.” Cliff responded, “Do you want me to navigate?” and Eric turned and said, “Yes, you need to navigate.”
Rick was still able to continue, and we made our way down through a valley and then up a trail to the next CP, seeing a couple more teams along the way. We continued onwards, cruising on a fun paved downhill for a couple of miles, before hitting what we knew was a forbidden road. Cliff was having trouble figuring out how to get to where we needed to go without using the illegal road, and Rick had to come to the rescue by taking over and guiding down a side road and through the grassy center of a roundabout, rather than around it - a pretty novel solution to what seemed like a difficult rules problem. Rick found the bike trail we needed to hit and led us through the last few miles of easy riding into the TA, which was in a gymnasium in the downtown area of a town called Ortiguera.
Getting into the TA felt really good, as we finally had access to all our gear and food. First thing that happened was stripping off our nasty clothes and adding an extra layer to prevent us from chilling off too much. Then Melody brought us all over piping hot chicken and bean soup, and Rick and Eric supplemented with a Mountain House meal. We cracked a couple of sodas from our team gear box and things started feeling very civilized.
Then we started talking about what lay ahead: a 65-kilometer trekking section that included a rappel and several open-water swims. It was a requirement that everyone carry their wetsuits, climbing harnesses and two carabiners, in addition to all our other mandatory gear. At this point, with the state of Melody’s ankle, it was clear that our progress was going to be slow, even without all the extra gear we had to carry. Melody made a generous offer: leave her behind and have the three guys complete the stage, followed by a reunion back at the TA to complete the rest of the course together. But Rick and Eric pushed back: we were a team, and we should stick together. If that meant going short-course, then so be it. Cliff agreed, and the decision was made.
Cliff went to talk with a race official, who said that because we had already gotten maps for the next stage, and that the cutoff wasn’t until 10 p.m. - still three hours away, we had to wait to leave the TA for the next stage until we were given the OK by the race staff. At that exact moment, almost on cue, a cacophonous din of rain slammed against the roof of the building. We laughed and agreed not to leave the TA, and then added some worried thoughts about all the teams stuck out on the long trekking leg in the middle of this latest crazy rainstorm.
Gear sorted, Rick, Eric and Melody headed off to sleep, with a planned wake-up time of 5 a.m. Cliff stayed up for a bit, chatting with photographer Honza Zak about how the race was playing out, and then watching the top teams Raidlight, FMR and Estonia ACE Adventure come through the TA and get surprised with an unscheduled gear check. He saw the Estonians get hit with a penalty for being short two harnesses, and then as the other teams decided to snooze for a bit, Cliff also decided to sleep, around midnight.
Still, Rick was on top of the nav and we continued on, up a long and steep, unrideable (at least for us) uphill. That brought us to another bike-whack, including an especially harrowing section in which we needed to carry our bikes along a narrow trail abutting a 50-foot sheer drop.It was slow going, and at this point the stage started feeling a bit endless for the entire team. Just as we reached the end of the hike-a-bike, which included lifting our bikes over some wire fences, the sky got very dark and within minutes we were drenched by a short but powerful rainstorm. The weather and 36 hours of continuous navigating suddenly got to Rick, and he turned to Cliff and said, “I’m in a bad place right now.” Cliff responded, “Do you want me to navigate?” and Eric turned and said, “Yes, you need to navigate.”
Rick was still able to continue, and we made our way down through a valley and then up a trail to the next CP, seeing a couple more teams along the way. We continued onwards, cruising on a fun paved downhill for a couple of miles, before hitting what we knew was a forbidden road. Cliff was having trouble figuring out how to get to where we needed to go without using the illegal road, and Rick had to come to the rescue by taking over and guiding down a side road and through the grassy center of a roundabout, rather than around it - a pretty novel solution to what seemed like a difficult rules problem. Rick found the bike trail we needed to hit and led us through the last few miles of easy riding into the TA, which was in a gymnasium in the downtown area of a town called Ortiguera.
Getting into the TA felt really good, as we finally had access to all our gear and food. First thing that happened was stripping off our nasty clothes and adding an extra layer to prevent us from chilling off too much. Then Melody brought us all over piping hot chicken and bean soup, and Rick and Eric supplemented with a Mountain House meal. We cracked a couple of sodas from our team gear box and things started feeling very civilized.
Then we started talking about what lay ahead: a 65-kilometer trekking section that included a rappel and several open-water swims. It was a requirement that everyone carry their wetsuits, climbing harnesses and two carabiners, in addition to all our other mandatory gear. At this point, with the state of Melody’s ankle, it was clear that our progress was going to be slow, even without all the extra gear we had to carry. Melody made a generous offer: leave her behind and have the three guys complete the stage, followed by a reunion back at the TA to complete the rest of the course together. But Rick and Eric pushed back: we were a team, and we should stick together. If that meant going short-course, then so be it. Cliff agreed, and the decision was made.
Cliff went to talk with a race official, who said that because we had already gotten maps for the next stage, and that the cutoff wasn’t until 10 p.m. - still three hours away, we had to wait to leave the TA for the next stage until we were given the OK by the race staff. At that exact moment, almost on cue, a cacophonous din of rain slammed against the roof of the building. We laughed and agreed not to leave the TA, and then added some worried thoughts about all the teams stuck out on the long trekking leg in the middle of this latest crazy rainstorm.
Gear sorted, Rick, Eric and Melody headed off to sleep, with a planned wake-up time of 5 a.m. Cliff stayed up for a bit, chatting with photographer Honza Zak about how the race was playing out, and then watching the top teams Raidlight, FMR and Estonia ACE Adventure come through the TA and get surprised with an unscheduled gear check. He saw the Estonians get hit with a penalty for being short two harnesses, and then as the other teams decided to snooze for a bit, Cliff also decided to sleep, around midnight.
CONTINUED...
