Raid Gallacecia Expedition Race
And Then There Were Three ...
Rob Howard / 13.05.2015
At the end of the second day of Raid Gallaecia only 3 teams remain on the full course, Seagate, Haglofs Silva and Adventure Addicts.
During the day most of the teams have realised the full course is beyond them and taken a variety of different routes, dropping checkpoints and accepting the time penalty on their short course ranking. The end of the day also saw the implementation of the first race cut-offs and those teams who missed them were put onto the official short course routes.
There was some drama at the cut-off at the canyon stage and Team Arctic Circle from Finland came so very close to being the 4th full course team – only missing the 18.30 cut-off by a heartbreaking 10 minutes.
They had raced hard all day, gaining several places and moving into 4th, but in the end the odds were stacked against them. The paddle on the Xallas river had proved harder and longer than anyone expected or planned for – with the leading teams taking 4 hours. To make it even tougher for the determined Finns both their boats capsized in the rapids (which the route book simply described as ‘rough water’) and they had to paddle into a strong headwind all the way.
Kati Vehmas said, “It took far longer than we expected and when we capsized we lost our paddle bag and had to swim a long way to get the rucksacks.” Earlier Monica Aguilera of Team Adventure Addicts has said; “It was much harder and more technical than we expected and will be hard for those teams trying to make the cut-off.”
Despite their disappointment the Finnish team remained purposeful and didn’t let their racing pace drop. They paddled hard into the transition and were focused and quick in transition before starting the trek along the roads down to the next transition, which is on the coast at the foot of the canyon.
The canyon cuts down below the flanks of Mount Pindos, which would be the next stage and Robert Lindberg of Haglofs Silva said, “It was quite technical, slippery and very cold. We had to do a lot of swimming, but the finish was special.”
The finish of the canyon was an abseil down the Ezaro waterfall, which is the only one in Spain to fall directly into the sea. It is a beautiful and powerful cascade and the teams descended right down the middle before a final slide in the sea. It is just a pity only 3 teams got to make the descent.
Teams who missed the earlier cut-off at the start of the reservoir and river paddle carried on riding around the checkpoint at Ezaro, the resort town below the falls, and this transition is the point where teams will gather together again tonight to continue racing. It is in a communal hall and library overlooking the beach and there is also a picture window view of the intimidating Mount Pindos, which is the next stage.
Team arriving before 01.00am (the next cut-off) will climb up its rocky flanks looking for 8 checkpoints and the course officials say it will be difficult. The mountain has virtually no soil or vegetation, it is all rock, sculpted and smoothed by the Atlantic gales into strangely shaped formations. Navigation will be hard, especially in the night, and towards evening clouds were gathering as well.
When teams get back from Mount Pindos they will return to the transition in Ezaro and take their mandatory 3 hours sleep (they can have more if they want) before riding on to Fisterra for the long coasteering stage on the ‘Lighthouses Path’. If the strong evening wind keeps up it will make the trek more tiring for those teams out on the coast tonight.
[Two teams are now unranked. Issy Aventure are continuing as a team of 3 on their own ‘tourist route’ and Trochando Colombia spent 4 hours looking for a CP on the first night and opted to continue unranked.]
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