I am back on home soil after a truly epic, most amazing experience in South America - all I can muster at the moment is an awestruck "OMG that was the most amazing thing EVER..." - my brain is still on fire, and I am having trouble formulating complete thoughts, so I will begin the race report by jotting down day-to-day events in the hopes that they become clear to the reader as I string them together.
I entered this race as a complete newbie to expedition racing and, hopefully, have returned a little more in the know, as I was honored to spend the time with three amazing, strong, fun, competitive, and unforgettable women. We knew we were going to have fun down there, but also knew we wanted to be competitive and hold our own, so we set our sights on a solid finish with a great attitude. After a week of solid packing, unpacking, repacking, weighing bags, repacking , and weighing bags again, it was time to launch. I hope the following will shed some light on what went down over the course of our journey...
Day 1: Flight to Quito, Ecuador via Bogota, Columbia: I was lucky enough to coerce Drew to haul Leanimal and I down to Pearson with all our bags and bike boxes - he picked me up at 10 AM, and we set off toward Bolton to gather Lee. Quick final gear packing, and we hit the airport for a 2:00pm flight to Quito with a 2 Hr. layover in Bogota, Columbia. We met Trish in Toronto, as she had flown in earlier form Sault Ste. Marie - and thus begins the non stop giggling and laughter that would become the hallmark of our trip. The flight was smooth, and we three chatted and laughed the whole way to Bogota. A brief stop in the airport illuminated the fact that Trish was going to be our go-to-girl for all things Spanish, as she managed to order us some water and empanadas form the cafe while I drew a blank to all Spanish I had ever learned in the past. We arrived in Quito at 11:00pm, but alas, there was no one to meet us! A communication error had left us stranded until a nice cabbie named Diego saved us, hauled all of our crap into his van, and shuttled us off to our hostel.
We checked into the Crossroads Hostel, in the heart of the party district in Quito, just as the party was gearing up outside - noize delux! - but we were so pooped, we managed to crash pretty hard.
Day 2: In Quito at the Crossroads Hostel awaiting Nicky's arrival: We awoke to the sound of constant car alarms and the buzz of the city gearing up for another day. Just across from the Crossroads was a hostel/cafe called the Magic Bean - highly recommended by Trish from her previous trip to Quito - so we headed over to grab breakfast and the first of many unbelievably good cups of coffee. (up until this day, I had been off coffee - crazy, I know - but when in Rome...so it's safe to say that after Ecuadorian coffee, I am now hooked again, and trying desperately to ignore my renewed love of java...sigh...) First order of the day after breakfast was to get some food shopping done for the race. We planned to pick up all we would need while on course, so that when we went out to the mountain hostel to acclimatize, we could take the snacks with us, and get them organized for the race. Off to the SuperMaxi we went with our packs, and loaded up on all the adventure race essentials such as cheetos, oreos, baby cookies, dried fruit and nuts, chips, pb, gummies, chocolate, baby wipes, crackers, tuna, arequipe, etc, etc...what a smorgasbord! We also had our own favorite foods brought with us such as gels, sharkies and various bars, but they are not nearly as exciting ;)
After shopping, we headed back to the hostel to get more organized. We tried at one point to go for a run through town, and found that any aerobic capacity we had was severely squashed by the altitude. Quito sits at approx. 3000M , and this was enough to send my HR to 85% with the slightest jog. Wow...so we ended up in a park with a great Sunday Market going on, and of course did a little poking around - very cool.
Back at the hostel, we set about making dinner and awaiting Nicky's arrival. We used the ultra grunge kitchen to whip up some chicken soft tacos which turned out OK all things considered. (our lack of Spanish translation meant that we were buying spices we were not entirely sure of...but deelish nonetheless.) The kitchen was over run by the annual South American Herbalife conference contingent, and we soon realised that in fact, the entire city was over run by Herbalife reps. - apparently it is VERY popular down there, and the annual shin dig was the biggest celebration ever. Crazy!! There were Herbalife jackets on every body flooding the streets, and even and Herbalife party bus that kept circling our block, cheering and hooting and pumping out the toons - they were having a blast! back in the kitchen, they were whipping up power shakes for dinner, and kept the blending going at a constant whir for hours.
Another mix up at the airport meant that Nicky had to find her way to Crossroads in a cab, but she arrived safe and sound, and then we were 4. Alot more giggling and catching up, introductions, and stories were told, until finally, we faded off to sleep amidst the constant drone of the Herbalife fiesta outside our windows.
Day 3: Quito to Cotapaxi - Secret Garden - We awoke to the city still in a tailspin after the Herbalife assault - found fresh coffee at the Magic Bean, (una cafe con leche por favor...I am learning!) and packed up our stuff to await the arrival of Arturo, a driver for the Secret Garden Hostel in Cotapaxi who would shuttle us 2 hrs. away into the mountains for a few days of acclimatization at 4,000m plus. It was time for the real altitude to hit. I had been feeling pretty weak at 3,000, so it was going to be fun to see how it felt even higher.
We drove up, up, up out of Quito, heading towards Cotapaxi, through many small, crowded villages full of kids on their way to school, and dogs basking in the sunshine. Perfect weather meant we were comfortable in t-shirts as we slowly made our way to the Secret Garden. This hostel is owned by Tarquin and Kathryn - an Aussie and an Ecuadorian - and is amazing - highly recommended! It is without electricity, and is as close to Eco friendly as can be. Kathryn is a chef, and they have their own organic produce grown here, plus pigs, cows, guinea pigs (coy), chickens, llamas, alpacas, and horses. No shortage of tasty treats here. Spent the day settling in after a tasty lunch of veggie soup and bread - very hearty - so we decided to work it off by trying a little run at 4,000m...OMG the wind sucking going on was incredible! i think we all had slight altitude headaches, and some dizziness - for some ungodly reason, Trish decided it would be fun to try a couple sprints...hah!! The pictures, which I will post soon, will show the outcome of that. I have never felt so old, tired, slow and fat as I did on those 2x50M (woowee!) sprints...whew!
Back to the hostel for a little r&r, followed by dinner and early bed - the next day would bring a day of mountain trekking and mountain biking...yikes...
Day 4: We got up early, and enjoyed another hearty meal of granola (quinoa!) and fruit, omelette's and croissants, all with the most amazing fresh coffee ever - I had been off coffee for sometime, but again, this trip sucked me back in to so many of the old habits I had been missing ;) We had some great conversation getting to know the others in the hostel, but soon it was time to load up the bikes (I think they were called "Firesteed" or some uber-tough sounding name...) our packs, our flaming pink race undies (thanks Trish) and our guide Omar, and we headed up to a midway point on Ruminahui mountain.
After a mandatory pink undies photo shoot, we headed up the mountain - we in our tech. gear, and Omar, miles ahead, in his jeans and ball cap - we were humbled. Amazing views, beautiful, rugged terrain, and much elevation greeted us as we climbed higher and higher for what seemed like forever, but was actually only 20 mins. Altitude kicking in hard at this point....Omar just kept climbing ahead, and then waiting for us as we pretended to be observing the terrain and views, but in actual fact were just pure sucking wind...
after a good climb, and pause, we headed back down to the truck, and our trusty steel-rides.
There were sandwiches waiting for us before we headed out on bike, and a really deelish hot Lemon Verbena tea as well - so good.
Off we headed down the mountain on bike - took about 1-1/2 hrs. before we made our way back to the hostel. At one point, we took a little detour past a neighboring hostel where we adopted 2 very cute pooches - they gave us a guided tour of the area, and then followed us back to the Crossroads where they remained for the next couple days! So cute, and they had a good time sneaking crackers from us, playing with the hostel's own dogs, and generally melting my heart. We spent that afternoon before dinner pulling out all of our snacks for the race, and portioning them into 6Hr. food bags - much to the amusement of the other hostel guests when they saw our mountain of bars, chips, cookies and crackers that would become our 'fuel' for three days in the mountains....mmmmmmmmm snickers.........
At one point, a group of hikers - Marianna from Montreal, Jake from Seattle, and Remy from South Africa (or was he auzzie??) - arrived looking out of breath and quite pale. Apparently they had been chased 250m by a very angry bull! The only way they escaped was to jump a ditch up and embankment, and the bull could not follow. Holy shit, they could have been seriously gouged!! They say in Ecuador that the only thing you have to be scared of is the bulls...they are trained to kill people....yikes.
Just before dinner, Trish gave me a ropes lesson on the front porch of the hostel - using a horse halter and rope...I am so set ;)
After a hearty dinner of Moroccan Chicken and Cous Cous and a glass of red wine, we hit the hay, but not before a quick chat with Tarquin about tomorrow's adventure on Cotapaxi. He promised we would love the hike, and arrive at the base camp in time for Hearty banana bread and hot cocoa...mmmmmm...Hearty snacks await! (could I add 'hearty' one more time?? Tarquin would be proud ;)
Next up - Cotapaxi and 5,000+ M!
Day 5: So once again, we woke up, shook off the fog of altitude, and sat down to a big breakfast of pancakes and fruit, and of course, coffee :) We were catching a shuttle to Cotapaxi - Ecuador's most perfect, largest, and semi active volcano. We were heading to a parking lot at about 4,500m; then a trek straight up 500m to Base Camp - then a further trek to approx. 5,300m I think - onto a glacier to play around.
We were joined by the beautiful Swedes, she a swimsuit model and he, a dashing young man who had spent 7 mos. in a Thai prison in Phuket for being 'beside' someone smoking a joint...and a young woman from Liverpool (? I think). We chatted our way along into the Cotapaxi Park, and up to the lot. Got out, and sadly it was very overcast, cold and drizzly. Waterproofs on, we headed up on the moonscape turf of gravely volcanic rock. It was tough going and very steep, but we arrived about 20 mins. later at the base. Trish got a chance to relive past glory by showing us the spot where, a couple years before, she had passed out ill after summiting Cotapaxi, and managed to vomit into a pile of human dung - without a care - that's how crappy she was feeling at the time...good times for her for sure ;)
We carried on up another 15-20 mins. to the glacier. At this point, we were higher than any of the European mountains, including Mont Blanc! Very cool - we looked around, saw a little fox, or wolf as they called it, took some good photos, and headed back down to base. The weather was breaking, and we got some amazing views of the valley below for our efforts. Spectacular. What a big, beautiful volcano...
As promised, we got to base, and were welcomed to a sandwich, cocoa, and a piece of the heartiest banana bread I have ever had. Tarquin had not steered us wrong. Refueled, we set off back down to the lot to pick up the bikes for the final descent of Cotapaxi.
We got on, Lee got the helmet cam ready for some footage, and off we went...and off went Nicky's tire - totally flat, right off the bat :( Sadly, they had provided us with a pump, but no tube....so our guide, who was behind in the truck, thought it best he just pump really hard in the hopes that it might fill up. Hmmm....N.B.L....so, sadly again, Nicky packed up the bike on the roof of the truck, hopped in and caught a ride down to the park entrance. Leanne, Trish and myself let 'er rip, and cruised downwards, enjoying the views along the way. When we got to the park gate, the truck, and Nicky were there waiting. Trish and Nick did a little swap, and off we went again, down the mountain.
After a while, we met up with Trish having a walk on the road back to the hostel. She had decided the truck was no way to ride, so hopped out, and decided she would hoof it back. We regrouped, and all rode/walked/ran bits of the way home. Altitude still kicking in...
After cleaning up and repacking for the next days departure back to Quito, we headed in for our final dinner at the Secret Garden. Had a quick tour of the organic gardens before sitting down, and checked out the rabbit and guinea pig cages - a meal I was happy to be missing, but was scheduled for the next day. Coy is a big dish down here!
This was by far the best dinner - ever...a few glasses of red wine made everything look rosy, and while the food was OK, it was the surroundings, the conversation, and our new friend, Steele Payne, that made the night so special ;) Nicky was the lucky one to bask in the glow of close proximity to such a classic, and iconic being...unforgettable. This was to be our sole comfort for many trying occasions during the race ahead. Thank god for Steele....
We toddled off to bed, and slept soundly for a last night in Cotapaxi.
Day 6: Secret Garden to Quito Crossroads - bikes, shop, pack, Raul : Once again, we woke with the daylight, and the most spectacular views of Cotapaxi and Ruminahui yet. Leanne took a lot of pictures, and got some stellar shots of the early morning mountains and landscape. We did a quick final pack, and hit breakfast - settled up our bill, said our goodbyes - one final parting shot of Steele, and off we set with Arturo behind the wheel, back to Quito and the Crossroads hostel once again. About 20 mins. into our drive, my gut took a serious downturn...oh no...Montezumas revenge! Not pleasant, but after an emergency stop, I managed to get to the hostel. This was not good the day before the race sign-in. Crap...
We made contact with Raul, our race support, and made plans to meet for dinner that night, then settled in to build our bikes, and do final race prep for tomorrow's departure to the race start. All went smoothly; a little last minute shopping for ropes etc...and we were ready to go. Montezuma was in full revenge at this point, so when Raul showed up for dinner, I bowed out and stayed at the hostel to rest. Nick had picked me up some chicken noodle soup, so I had a bowl, watched 'Fred Claus" in Spanish, and then hit the hay. We all slept sporadically, and awoke eager to get going.
Day 7: to the race! We grabbed coffee to go from the Magic Bean, loaded up Raul's very full pickup, and headed north out of Quito for about 2 hrs. toward the Columbian border, and Lake Yaugarcocha, the site of the race registration. All along the drive we twisted up and around the mountains, each turn offering a new terrain, from forest, to farm land, to desert scape, and then back to forest and waterfalls - amazing, amazing, amazing - I was awestruck. So was Montezuma as he stuck with me for most of the drive...several emergency stops in, we hit the equator! Mandatory pit stop for photos of course...very cool.
When we got to the Lake, the games began. Apparently Huairasinchie had never had an all female team before, so the buzz was on. Teams were wanting photos with us in the parking lot - lots of staring and giggling as we set about the registration process. We did the mandatory gear check, a ropes check/lesson; got to use Nick as a crash victim for the first aid check, gathered FSR radios and GPS units - all sealed by the race organizers and only to be used in extreme emergency...got some good swag, t-shirts, Jeff sport drinks, buffs, etc. and finally, got ourselves back into the town for the pre race briefing. It was here that the paparazzi struck - photos, video, shots of us eating, talking, sitting, interviews and lots of buzz. The Milton Basement Racers were also treated like celebrities, and the Canadian pride was strong. It pays to be from a well respected country! I have never heard such loud cheers from the crowd as they announced the Canadian teams - we felt very honored. We had been joined by Belan, Raul's girlfriend, and our 2nd support crew member - she runs an NGO in Ecuador (Pachamama) that helps indigenous people preserve their territories and the resources in the land. Her organization was the cause of the race - raising awareness to the fact that Ecuador, an oil based economy, will be out of oil by 2020 - alternative resources, and conservation, is the goal.
During the briefing, the race organization provided translation units for us - headsets - and they went over the course, and what a challenge we had ahead of us. My nerves were setting in a little. The maps were given out, and I was amazed how calm and collected my three teammates seemed compared to my juggled up innards - or was that Montezuma in effect?? just before heading out, we were given gorgeous long stemmed roses - which I never saw again after that night...ah well - the memory remains...
We caught a ride to a football field in town that had been reserved for all the camping, and the race start. Raul had gone over earlier to set up camp, so we headed over with Belan, and found our tents all ready to go. Leanne and Trish hit the tent with the maps (well, not literally...) and set about finding our route for the next three days, while Nikki and I filled bladders, got packs filled with food for the first leg of the race, and got our TA bags and bikes ready to go for the AM start - 6:30 was going to come quickly. After cutting and mac-tacking the maps, we settled in for a restless sleep, while the band played on across the field. (at some point, Nicky disappeared, and returned with the most amazing hot blueberry juice - wicked nightcap :)
Day 8:Race Day!! The race was to play out something like this...18.1K bike - CP 1 - 10.2K bike - CP 2 - 6.3K paddle/bike - TA to 27.3K trek - CP 4 - 11.4K trek - TA to 12.4K bike - CP 6 - TA to 1.2K trek to Tyrolean traverse - CP 7 - 23.8K trek - CP 8 - 7.2K trek - TA to 14K bike - CP 10 - 26.7K bike - CP 11 - 37.9K bike - CP 12 and rapell - 31.2K bike - TA to 4.1K trek - CP 14 - 7.5K trek - CP 15 - 6K trek - CP 16 - 7.7K trek - TA to 15K bike - CP 18 - 12.6K bike - CP 19 - 26.3K bike - CP 20 - 22.9K bike - CP 21 - 4.4K bike - TA to final 9.5K paddle orienteering - TA to 1.3K run to FINISH! and CP 24.
What follows will be highlights of the most awesome experience I have had to date. I fear I cannot do it justice - words will never capture what I felt and experienced out there. I suppose those with more experience than I will understand, if they think back to their first big race - you kind of go somewhere in your mind and your emotional-self that you have never been before. To say I came away changed, would be an understatement...
The race began with a neutral ride to the start area - lots of music, crowds, fanfare - and we were off! Straight out of town, and straight up a mountain. Nerves, excitement, and a whole lot of altitude sunk in right about now, and we slowly plugged our way upwards, for and hour and 1/2, until we reached our paddle transition. It is at this point that I will go to bullet points, or you will be reading FOREVER...
*transition to paddle for an short orienteering section of 4 checkpoints
* one point was misplaced, but we caught it early, and kicked ass in the boats, to move into 6th spot, from fairly well back.
* the photographers were rabid during transition - celebrity status intact.
* back onto the bikes, shorter ride to TA, and switch to trek. At this point, we were feeling pretty good, but I was very happy to see Raul and Belan. Jen Segger was there as well, cheering and filling us in on details - we were not to far back from the top team! Huzzah! MBR transitioned with us, and we headed off on foot - again, straight up the mountain. By now it was very hot out, and it was very steep - whew, but all holding well.
* the trek leg was very long - and very beautiful - up, down and around mountains for hours. Through clouds, muddy trails, and mountain village roads. We were met at one point by 2 boys on bikes as they wound there way down the rugged (read close to impossible to ride) mountain trail. We cat-and-moused them for hours - they would get hung up on roots and mud, we would pass them, then they would bomb past us on open areas. Wicked! At one point we were even overtaken by a man on a horse at full gallop - spooky coming out of nowhere through the clouds. There were pigs, horses, dogs, chickens, and cattle everywhere - just hanging out in the bushes, in fields, on roads - I felt right at home :)
* great moment as we approached a river where a French team of 4 men were sitting, removing their shoes and sox - Trish looked back at us, rolled her eyes, and proceed to plod across the river full charge. We followed - their jaws dropped - we felt victorious...sooooo Chicked!!!
* bought a coke from some hut in the middle of nowhere village - tasted good and we passed it around - village was guarded by small barefoot children with machetes...
(OK...it is now March 31st, and I ma going to attempt to finish this post...I will have to result to highlights, however, as my mind can no longer regurgitate the exact events - that, and the fact that during the race, in my sleep deprived state, I had a problem differentiating one day from the next...)
* after a quick bike transition , we were back on foot, in the dark, for our first night. We headed off towards the Tyrolian Traverse just 2Km away. I was really nervous for this, as it was my first time, and it was foggy, cold and dark, so I was completely unaware of what might go down...would it be me? Would I make it? What if I had to overhand, and re-pulled out the ribs that were just healing from the weeks before? Gleep! When we got to the ropes, we were stopped by the medics, and told that we would need to stop for about 1Hr., and then have the doctors check us out before we continue. After a brief nap, we got checked out, and it was determined that we were good to go, so we suited up and off we went. I watched Leanne jump off the cliff into the dark, heard the whoots across the valley, and the rushing water of the big river below; hooked up, ran and jumped myself. I was sooooooo tense that I didn't even make a peep. But it was awesome! I was trembling as I unhooked, but it went so smoothly - whew!
*off again on foot for a long night of trekking in the dark - some long, heinous sections up, up, and more up - many river crossings, and tiny, muddy, mountain trails - one in particular kicked our asses as it climbed wayyyyyyy up for hours in deep, steep, steep mud. It seemed it would never end - we all ran short of umph for this one...
*the next day brought lots of bike - through the heat of the day, and into the night - up many a mountain, and then, as we were racing to get to the rappel section before a cut-off, the rain and fog set in, we risked life and limb to head Mach 9 down - straight down - a mountain, at what must have been 60KPH for about 45-60 mins (foggy judge of time - could have been longer) I ate up my brake pads on this one!
*made the rappel - I nearly chickened out while standing ready to launch, but then saw Trish fly off the bridge and down, so I jumped - this was waaayyyy more fun than I expected - what a rush!! Definitely have to do that again :)
*got into TA after one more bike leg, and took a little more time here - Trish was really feeling like crap, and was ill, ill, ill so we rested some, and got some food in, and prepared to head out on foot in the early AM - Raul and Belan had hot food and tea for us - so good!!! (they were the best crew - amazing - not to mention, they introduced us to panela for altitude energy - excellent..)
*long trek up a mountain next - hot out for sure - we had Trish on tow and took her pack for her - cannot believe she kept going! No food for 18hrs. - puking, dehydrated, and she kept plugging along - tough chic!
* we were met in a bamboo forest by a medical crew who had come to offer aid, and get up up to the next CP - they gave Trish a mineral tea every 1/2 hr., but I don't think she loved it...more barf...ouch...
* got to the CP where they lay her down in an old barn, on a bench, stuck an IV in her arm, held up by chicken wire, and told us they would get us to the last paddle leg - we would miss the last trek and bike. I honestly don't think at this point that anyone minded!
* final paddle leg was a cruise around a large lake, hunting for 4 CP's all along the shoreline - straightforward and fun to paddle again finally.
*we had one last run to the finish - just before the line, I bailed face first into the grass - very delicate...
* BIG FINISH! We were welcomed by the race director and others, many photos, a Canadian flag, a bottle of Huairasinchie bubbly vino, and a beaming Raul and Belan - sooo great for sure! We were super happy, and super tired. What a crazy ride!!!!!!!!!
*got changed right away, and had to head back to the hostel in Quito for the night to repack for a flight home the next day - we stopped for dinner at some point on the way there - but were all so sleepy, that I vaguely recollect - I do remember seeing a platter of deep fried guinea pig, and we had Locra soup...and maybe there was beer...who knows?
*packed up in a hazy daze the next AM, and caught a cab for a 5:00 flight - had to miss the post race awards due to said flight - so we had a glass of wine in the airport and had a little woo-hoo while we waited for the flight - Bogota - Toronto, and back to the chill of winter.
* I was surprised how good my body felt after this race, despite a couple blisters, and the swollen feet and legs - but no major injury or stiffness - yahoo!
To wrap it up - I can only say that this was the trip of a lifetime, and I feel very lucky to have been included on the journey with these amazing women - great team, great time, awesome memories - when can we do it again?? :)
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