Check out the latest video documenting our recent adventures.

             

                “How do you feel?  Are you nervous?� asked a reporter at the starting line of the race.

                “Nervous? Nah.  I would say it is more a feeling of resignation,�  JJ replied as he looked at the road ahead.

                The thought of trekking, biking, and paddling across 318 kilometers of some of the most extreme countryside in the world leaves you overwhelmed.  We had been exploring the country, self –supported on bikes for the last month and were well aware how difficult this was going to be.  

                I looked around at the other teams; most were polished up in matching lycra outfits and looked like this was not their first race.  They looked serious.  Then I checked out our, rather eclectic team: we had affixed the American flag with duct tape to our jerseys, Sean´s Surly Big Dummy long bike looked far too substantial to be in a race, our clothes were all dirty and tattered from the months of bike touring.  We did not look very serious or intimidating.

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Only in Ecuador, I think to myself as the race director explains that we will be dealing with an active volcano during the competition. Tungurahua Volcano started spewing ash into the sky about a week ago, dumping it across the countryside and piling up in sections of our route.

We are less than 24 hours from the start of HuairaSinchi (Part of the AR World Series), which translates to “the wind´s strength� in Kichwa, but what really worries us about this race is not the wind or even the volcano, but the sustained high elevations throughout the majority of the race.

At the highest point of the 318 kilometer course unveiled last night, the route reaches 14,435 feet and drops to 108 feet in the last 100 kilometers, passing through a tremendous variety of ecosystems. A good 80 kilometers of the race doesn´t fall below 11,482 feet. They promised us that we will be cold and we will suffer. (more…)

Riding the Spine connects two roads that deadend on opposite sides of a steep valley as they do their best to prepare for the challenging adventure race awaiting them on February 21st.

Click on a photo to check out the new gallery off our bike adventures in Ecuador so far.

 

Check out the HuairaSinchi Adventure Race