Pharmanex-Spie Takes Leads into Biking Section

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Elf Authentic Adventure
April 14-29, 2000
Pharmanex-Spie Takes Leads into Biking Section

Team Paul Vatine, in second place overall and roughly three hours from the transition to the mountain biking section, checks into CP18.

Pharmanex-Spie continues to dominate the field, having stretched their lead to nine hours as the race enters the biking leg. Following a hard night of walking on the wet, tangled trails leading through the Ubajara natural area, the leaders emerged from the forests into Tiangua and HQ3 in predawn darkness. They arrived here much later than anticipated, having stopped to rest during the night. Their progress was further slowed by their painful, shriveled, blistered feet, a factor that is now plaguing many teams. At 3:49 am, they rolled into the assistance posada grumpy, hungry, and in need of rest. The team slept until around 6:30, during which time assistance team members elevated and tended to their racers' sore feet.

By 7:45, they were in their cycling kit, running down their gear check list and greeting press and the clear morning, chipper and happy to be off their feet and in the saddle for a day, peddling on toward HQ4. They cleared CP 19 at 7:52 am. Team Paul Vatine, Pahrmenex-Spie's closest pursuers, rode out at 5:35 pm.

Regarding the pain they had endured over the last 24 hours, Kiwi Tim Grammar, whose feet and were so swollen he could barely squeeze them into his cycling shoes, sounded surprisingly upbeat. "I'm just glad to be off my feet," said the 1998 Southern Traverse winner. "It's good to be on a different leg and have a chance to use some different muscles."

Riding off, Pharmanex-Spie's pursuers were still slogging through the difficult sections of trail and the tricky navigation between CP 14 and HQ3. As teams cleared CP 18 during the day, many spoke of navigation problems (compounded by the maze of trails and the large scale of the course maps) and all the teams had at least one racer with extremely damaged feet.

The third team to clear CP 18 was AR Zone, which had moved up from seventh place by traveling through the night. "We wandered around dazed for a while but we didn't sleep," said Geoff Hunt. His teammate Robert Tucker seemed optimistic that they would continue to close the distance between themselves and the two teams ahead. "There's so much that can happen," he said, noting that they are only 256 kilometers into the 847-kilometer course. "We'll just keep going within ourselves, and have fun doing it." Team Paul Vatine and AR Zone arrived at HQ3 just before an afternoon deluge, which knocked power out at the media center and assistance headquarters.