In between all my sort of philosophical discussions lately, I’ve been racing cyclocross and trying to prepare for my last mountain bike race of the year.
So you’ve heard that Jeff Kerkove and I are going to race a co-ed duo in Brasil. It starts on Saturday. I’ve mentioned it’s 6 days and 326 miles, but I haven’t mentioned much else. Better late than never… but I’m finally getting into the details. We are leaving on Wednesday.
First, here is the race website. I got all this info from here: https://brasilride.com.br/site/Home
I thought I’d break each stage down. I’m not really sure what I’m getting myself into. I expect it to be extremely hot and humid, to feel tired, to put up a fight, to have fun and enjoy the moment, and to never give up.
STAGE 1 – Prologue
The race starts in Mucuge, Bahia.
There wasn’t an elevation profile. This is the shortest stage of the race clocking in at 22km/13.67 miles. Elevation gain is still unknown. I imagine it’ll be more like a TT, and good for openers. I’m glad I’ve been racing cross, because that will help with this short, intense effort.
STAGE 2
Distance: 139km/86.4 mi (eeek)
Elevation Gain: 11,063′
STAGE 3
Distance: 85km/ 52.82 mi
Elevation Gain: 5,728′
STAGE 4
Distance: 96km/59.65 mi
Elevation Gain: 5741′
STAGE 5
Distance: 83.9mi/135km
Elevation Gain: 5629′
STAGE 6
Distance: 50km/31 mi
Elevation Gain: 4,836′
Everyone will sleep in tents every night. We are provided with a black duffel bag to haul all of our race stuff for the week which will be driven from location to location. It’ll be fun to sleep in a tent – but it definitely will add extra challenges. No one gets the creature comforts of a hotel which I think makes the race more “organic.”
Where in Brazil are we going? It’s a big place! We will fly into Salvador, Bahia.
Salvador is on the coast. Beach time for a day!! YEAHOOO!
The UV index is high in Brazil since we are close to the equator. I packed my sunscreen. It’ll be weird and sweet coming back to what will be the Colorado winter all bronzed from the sunshine.
Race route:
Tomorrow, I’ll post some photos I found of the area. It looks beautiful, and almost desert-like. I’m hoping to get in a ride or two before I leave. I still have to pack, wrap up some stuff with work, and take an exam tomorrow. I can’t believe I’m actually going to Brazil on Wednesday!
