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From the seaside to the countryside 2007-12-07 00:40

The first day of the Estoril Portugal XPD Race started under a foggy drizzle along the coast of Cascais. Team MilleniumBCP-Porto were first under the starting arch, for a section of inline skating and trikke. The following teams set off at two minute intervals.

The highlight of the morning was the American team Feed the Machine who set off with huge red wigs and red and white stripped socks.

The wet slippery cobblestones of the road in front of the Square Praça do Município made life even more complicated for the skaters, but as soon as they were rolling on asphalt they set off fast.

Some of the Portuguese teams preferred to carry their skates and run, rather than struggle to skate. Others took the risk, and skated, but it was not an easy journey for them. Teams broke up with large distances opening between the elements who could skate and those who couldn\'t.

While there was a clear lack of team work in some teams, others were a perfect example of how the whole can be stronger than the sum of its parts. Both Team Arena and Motorola SOS Mata Atlantica were true teams.

The Russian team Arena, consisting of women only, left 10 minutes behind Motorola SOS Mata Atlantica but the girls showed good cooperation and eventually managed to overtook them nera the end of the section. Since the Brazilian athletes are not very good skaters, half of the Brazilian/USA team set off skating and the other half on the Trikkes. The two Americans were towing the two on Trikkes, meaning this team made faster progress than some of the others. All the Russian girls came skating, showing a remarkable cooperation spirit. Apparently one of the Russians has been junior cross-country ski champion.

The following section was one of the most demanding in physical terms, a coasteering activity that passed through Cape Roca, the most westerly point in Europe. After some ups and downs, teams arrived at Praia Grande beach. The views from this section were stunning, from the high cliffs over the raging ocean. This part of the Portuguese coast is deep valley after deep valley, and there is no way to avoid the repeated steep climbs and descents.

At some point in this section a small white dog decided he liked the idea of adventure racing too and he joined the teams, spending time with one team before moving along to the next one. He came all the way to Praia Grande, where he rushed around between the teams, checking their route choices on the maps, and helping them finish off their sandwiches.

From Praia Grande the teams set off on mountain bikes with Team Teva-La Pinilla setting off first. The third section was a long one, again with repeated climbs and descents. Checkpoint 10 was on the cliffs above the beach of Foz de Lizandro and the mouth of a river. The teams had two choices of routes to get to checkpoint 11 from here. Either heading back to the road and a +100m, 3.5 km climb and a descent to a bridge, or by descending straight down to the beach and a river crossing. Despite the savings this option would provide, very few teams took the risk. Team Clube de Praças da Armada did, and overtook several teams between CP10 and CP11.

The first teams to arrive at the first Transition Area (AT) were all from the North and East of Europe. Master Unit (Team 25) from Finland arrived at 18:02, with Salomon Navigator (Team 26) from Poland and Alpine Pro/Nutrend (Team 23) from Czech Republic, both at 18:04.

From here they will set off on Section 1 of Stage 2, a 45 km trekking section in the land of dinosaurs, where if they don\'t go carefully they may stumble on dinosaur bones which can be found in abundance in the fields here. No one will have time to stop, but they will also be passing close to the largest private collection of fossils.

Teams 26 and 23 both set off rapidly, in front of Team 25.

 

Other News

2008-01-23 16:31: A nice work from the Lusiada University students who were reporting on XPD

2008-01-23 15:38: Excelent article of XPD in Finisher Triatlon (in spanish)

2008-01-23 15:26: XPD 07 report on Zona Radical Magazine in SPORT TV Portugal

2008-01-22 16:38: Estoril Portugal XPD Race aired in Zona Radical TV Magazine in Portugal

2007-12-27 : GPS Track with best route

2007-12-16 16:58: Final Results and Prize Money distribution

2007-12-12 09:26: Next stop - World Championships 2009

2007-12-10 00:23: The final stage

2007-12-09 12:43: From land to sea

2007-12-09 09:31: Day 3 Photos@Sleepmonsters

2007-12-09 09:30: From land to water

2007-12-08 10:33: Photos of the Prologue and Days 1 and 2 available in the Gallery

2007-12-08 00:17: Limestone and fog

2007-12-08 00:00: Day 2 Photos @Sleepmonsters

2007-12-08 00:00: Day 1 Photos @SleepMonsters

2007-12-06 14:30: SleepMonsters Race coverage

2007-12-06 14:30: Leader board

2007-12-06 : Estoril XPD - The Day before

2007-12-05 : Raidbook Estoril XPD (Download)

2007-11-28 : Press Release #2 - Portugal into the World Series

2007-11-26 : Race Rules available

2007-11-08 : Equipment and Logistics available

2007-08-24 : Press Release - 24 of August 2007

2007-06-16 : Press Release - 16 of June 2007

2007-05-24 : Adventure Racing World Championship

2007-05-24 : Press Release - 19 of May 2007

2007-05-08 : Website online

 



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