Adventure Racing World Championship Portugal 2009
The Portuguese Riviera, Lusitanea and the Schist Villages
Rob Howard / 04.11.2009
The Estoril coast is the home of XPD, which has always been supported by Estoril and the Municipality of Cascais. Only a short distance from Lisbon and with excellent transport links, the coastal region, bordered by the Atlantic to the South and East, has provided a perfect adventure racing venue when combined with the nearby Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
The mild climate and the cliffs and beaches of the coast, combined with world class sailing facilities, race track and a famous casino have established Estoril as an outdoor playground known as the Portuguese Riviera. The coast has provided some memorable moments in past races, although the severe swells and big breakers have been known to cause some cancellations of paddling sections ... and also a few heart stopping moments to the racers.
The mountains of Sintra are one of Portugal's most popular visitor destinations and the area's rich cultural heritage includes the Moorish Castle, Pena Palace, the Sintra National Palace, and many other buildings of historical interest which, together with the mountains and the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, are classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
North of Sintra lies the Municipality of Mafra, an unspoilt area of traditional farms and villages. The town of Marfa itself has featured in XPD before and the huge walls of the vast 17th century National Palace and Convent of Mafra seem to rise up out of nowhere. An enormous church, famous for its bells and an exquisite library are among its many attractions. The grounds, formerly the royal hunting grounds, are now a wildlife reserve where deer graze freely.
ARWC2009 may visit these areas again, but will travel much further into the heart of Portugal, to Lusitanea, the 'Land of Light'. The name is used to refer to the mountains and plateau of central Portugal and comes from the name of a tribe who were living in the area before the Roman colonization of Iberia. Exactly where the race we don't yet know, but the organisers have promised much more difficult and mountainous terrain than has been used in past XPD races and some very technically challenging sections.
One area the race will visit are the Schist Villages or Aldeias do Xisto. The name comes from a metamorphic rock which is used as a building material in the villages of a remote and sparsely populated area of central Portugal where a network of 24 villages are being reconstructed and repopulated, with the development of traditional crafts, tourism and outdoor activities.
The villages are scattered across the mountain sides and valleys of a beautiful area which includes many unique rock formations like the Lousã and Açor mountain range and is crossed by the Alva, Ceira, Zêzere rivers. (You can find out more about the Schist Villages at www.aldeiasdoxisto.pt.)
Where exactly the route will visit will be revealed in the technical briefing on Saturday evening, ahead of the race start in the Casino Gardens in Estoril at 10,00 am on Sunday.
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