At Oyacachi – Transition 3

Rob Howard / 10.11.2014

There has been torrential rain through the first night of the race and into day 2 as teams climb back up to high altitude again on the second trek of the race, then get on their bikes once more for another 650m of climb up to 3800m.

Overnight all of the teams were on the trek up from TA2 to TA3 – and ancient trading trail which runs alongside the fast flowing Oyacachi River.  It was a steady climb in the dark and during the night the rain began and steadily increased. By early morning it was torrential, flooding the tracks and trails, limiting visibility and raising the river levels even more.  Ecuador not only has very changeable weather systems, but whatever the weather at the time it’s always full on.  If it rains here it rains hard!

During the trek there were a few unstable and collapsing bridges to cross and the race had set up safety ropes for the teams to use.  Barbara Bonfim of Columbia Vidaraid told me she fell, and when I asked if she meant into the river she replied, “No, then I would be dead!”  The safety ropes had done their work and kept her safe.

It wasn’t until 03.40 that the leaders Team France arrived at TA3 at Oyacachi, just ahead of Movistar, Columbia Vidaraid, Seagate and Silva – all the lead 5 were into the TA within 30 minutes, but they had taken different routes and it’s a point of contention.

Seagate and Haglofs Silva both followed the race instructions to the letter and kept the river on their left all the way between TA2 and TA3 ... but towards the end of the trek the track met a road, which crossed to the right side by a bridge, and it seems some teams, including Movistar, took this route. This was certainly much, much quicker as the road lead into the TA, while Chris Forne of Seagate described bushwhacking for some hours on the other bank. “We were not too happy to see teams having an easy time on the road across the river,” he said.  Quite how this will be adjudicated we’ll have to wait and see and it may account for some teams moving up to join the leaders on this stage.

The transition at Oyacachi was the first where teams could take some of their mandatory 8 hours rest (strangely called discharge time by the race) and almost all of the top teams chose to stop. Of the leaders only Adidas TERREX pushed on through. Movistar took 3 hours and Columbia Vidaraid only one, while Seagate also had 3.  (These stops will be reflected in the leaderboard times, but you won’t necessarily know how much sleep each team has taken.)

Movistar had intended to take 2 hours but were late getting going and the rules say you must take a full hour, so they took their time and rested some more.  Teams will have to get their timings right for these sleep regulations ... their tactics too.  Once they’ve told the officials they are taking discharge time they don’t have to sleep, they can carry on packing and prepping, building and breaking down bikes etc.  As there are 4 TA’s where they can take sleep it should be possible for the top teams, who don’t usually sleep as much as 8 hours, to use the discharge time to account for 4 of their transition times – I think!

When Haglofs Silva arrived Josefina Vikberg needed some attention in the medical room for a damaged wrist and this team had a much longer stop. She had fallen after sliding on oil on the road at the start of stage 2 and her wrist and fingers were swollen. The medics said it was dislocated, and might also be a break but the team and especially Josefina, were obviously loath to pull out and spent some hours discussing what to do.  In the end they had to pull out – every time she tried to grip her brakes the pain was too great and she couldn’t go on.  It’s a huge disappointment for the team, especially as exactly the same thing happened last year in the World Champs in Costa Rica!  It’s a disappointment for the race too, to lose a top team from the competition so early on.

I’m told one Ecuadorian team has also withdrawn, but don’t know which one – they decided they couldn’t make the second trek and as TA2 is not a cut-off there is no short course option for them there.

Fortunately for the teams arriving at Oyacachi the TA set up was again exceptionally good.  There was a large covered area for all the bike and gear boxes, protected from the torrential rains, and the TA was in the school so teams could sleep in the small classrooms in the dry.  The shelter will make a huge difference to the teams who are arriving drenched and exhausted from the tough overnight trek in the jungle.

The town itself is set in a lush green mountain valley surrounded by numerous waterfalls and has a few shops and a thermal spring. There are some traditional Indian homes here too, but is a long way off the beaten track and rarely visited by tourists.

When teams leave the TA they face the steady climb back up to high altitudes on their bikes. They are on a cinder road all the way so the riding conditions are good and the road takes them to PC7 above a very deeply incised river gorge.  After the high point there is a long descent on this stage, taking teams back into more populated areas and later on in the stage to CP10, which is on the Equator!

They have to take a picture of themselves there, and it will surely be one for their albums!

You can follow the race live on live http://live.huairasinchi.com/

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