Reba in Brazil
Iron Biker Brazil 2008 by Rebecca Rusch
Iron Biker has been described to me as the Sea Otter of Brazil. It is the oldest and largest mountain bike race in Brazil and riders come from all parts of the country to participate. Each year, this 2-day stage race draws nearly 1000 riders to the hilly region of Minas and the historic cities of Mariana and Ouro Preto. I was invited to participate this year by Daniel Aliperti, the owner of Pedal Power bike shop in Sao Paulo and the Brazilian distributor for Specialized. Since I’ve never been to Brazil and the snow was about to fall at home, I jumped at the invitation to get some late season riding in a warm climate. The race format was pretty short for me, more a marathon length course each day instead of the multiple hour suffer fest that I am used to.
I arrived in Sao Paulo Brazil after an all night flight. Sao Paulo is a city of 17 million people and a lot of fast, crazy drivers. I’m pretty sure this is where Manhattan taxi drivers come for training camp. Danny and his marketing folks planned a full schedule of magazine appearances, bike shop visits and a slideshow at the Brazilian version of Interbike. Oh yes, and racing the Iron Biker was thrown in the middle of that. It was a whirlwind trip, but one that has left me wanting to come back again next year for another Brazilian adventure. Many people have asked me if I miss adventure racing since I am doing more bike races now. These international trips are always an adventure from the moment I step off the airplane, so I don’t feel lacking in that department.
Day 1, Caliente!!!!!!
Day 1 was HOT. The average temperatures were recorded at 31 C (89 F) with high of 38 C (100 F). I lined up at 9am with 1000 amped racers. They line up the pro men first, then pro women, then everyone else pushing forward in a hungry pack. In traditional Brazilian party style, the disco music was pumping at an insane volume and the announcer was enthusiastically shouting words I could not understand. Multiple La Ruta winner, Louise Kobin and I exchanged confused looks and laughed. I think its’ good to have a sense of humor when you are in unfamiliar territory. Once the gun went off, I was faced with the familiar survival techniques of staying upright in a massive sprinting pack. Luckily, the road turned uphill quickly and that settled the pack right down. My legs felt heavy from the days of traveling and zero riding time in the city. My only ride in Brazil had been a quick spin in the dark at 7pm the evening before. We only had time to cruise the cobbled streets of Ouro Preto to check out our bike set up.
Since I had not been on my bike and due to the heat, I settled into a pace that I could sustain and kept drinking my water. The course profile showed approximately 4500 ft of climbing over 63 km. Most of the hills were short compared to the mountains of Idaho, but they were steep. The dirt reminded me of the red clay of Moab and even at 9am, the heat felt stifling and the air was still. I will say that compared to riding with the Costa Ricans in La Ruta, the Brazilians were very civilized on the bike. Fast, but civilized. No one was pushing or shoving and people were friendly and encouraging, even the women I was competing against. I started to feel warmed up by about 15 km and the riding was beautiful. Nearly everything was rideable, even though it had rained like crazy the night before. The rolling, green terrain reminded me of the hills of North Carolina, except with tropical foliage. The course was a mixture of double track and really fun single track. The aid stations were set up so that you had to stop and fill your own water if you needed more. Pedal Power also had a bike service for this race and they set up a support area at 48km. I had elected to carry a hydration pack so that I would not have to stop at the neutral water stations. By 35 km I was sucking on an empty Camelbak tube, the temperatures were over 100 F, and I was feeling the affects. I kept eating my Hammer gels and popping endurolytes to ward off cramping. I was really thirsty and a bit dizzy. When I finally the Pedal Power aid station, I was elated. I had been battling with a Brazilian woman and we were trading 5th and 6th place. I admit I was thinking less of my placing and more of managing the heat and making sure I finished on top of my bicycle and not in a support vehicle. I was racing as hard as possible without going over the limit, but I was definitely not at my best. I chugged the two bottles instantly and tried to push it for the last 15km. I felt better for the last part of the race and finished 6th female for the day, around 12 minutes behind the female race leader. I was disappointed, but my perspective was jolted back to reality when I met a Paralympic athlete who rode the course with one leg. I chatted with the other women who finished ahead of me and congratulated them. I found my friend Danny at the finish and found out that he had a head on collision with a car during the race and was badly bruised. Thankfully, he was relatively unscathed, but very sore. As I was waiting with him in the medical room, chaos broke loose and it turns out that a well-known local racer was receiving CPR at the finish line. They rushed him to the hospital and unfortunately, he did not survive the day. I talked with some people who knew him and he was a healthy athlete and local hero. He had taken part in every Iron Biker race since the beginning. The sad story left me remembering my friend Nigel who was killed while racing alongside my team in an adventure race. It made me appreciate the endurance community and the people I spend my time with. It was also another shot to the arm to remind me to enjoy every moment that I get to ride, regardless of my placing.
Day 2, Race Mode
The night before the 2nd stage, I was awake listening to the tropical rains pounding outside my window. Even with earplugs, the noise was deafening and I didn’t sleep that well. Daylight savings time was also that night, so there went another hour of sleep. You must also add into the equation that Brazilians are pretty relaxed and casual people. It’s a great atmosphere for hanging out, but it means that everything takes a bit longer and does not provide the best pre-race preparation. We rarely started eating dinner before 9 pm and were usually slightly later than I would have liked arriving at the race venue. However, all that seemed to be irrelevant for me on Day 2. At 55 km, this stage was slightly shorter than the previous day, but had the same amount of climbing. The rain had ceased by the morning and cooled the temperatures to a very pleasant 28 C (82 F). The same pounding disco music, the same swell of 1000 riders filled up the ancient cobblestone town square of Ouro Preto. This town was the center of the gold industry in the 1600 and one of the first cities in Brazil. It is rumored to have been bigger than Paris during its’ peak. Once again the road turned uphill right at the start and we quickly exited the cobblestones and rode onto the dirt. Despite the rain, the muddy trails were surprisingly tacky and the riding was superb. This stage was more technical and a ton of fun. I’m sure it felt better to me because of the cooler temperatures and the fact that I finally got some riding time in the day before to wake up my jet lagged legs. I felt more like my racing self and was excited when I came across the 2nd and 3rd place women climbing up a muddy hill around 15 km. I rode patiently behind them in granny gear for a while just to watch their riding style and effort levels. I was feeling good and soon able to pass the Brazilian girl who had finished 10 minutes faster than me the previous day. Sandra, the Italian was still in front of me. She had won the previous day and was also the defending champion from last year. At approximately 35 km, I was able to get in front of her and start developing a gap. I was taking more chances on the descents and had a couple of crashes cornering on slick leaves and riding in mud ruts. The terrain was spectacular and even had a rocky section that reminded me of Moab again. I must admit, I was having so much fun riding my new 2009 Era. It’s super light on the climbs and so fast descending. I was a bit sad that I scratched the top tube of this beauty on one of my crashes. But it’s just a cosmetic blemish to go along with the one I also received on my own elbow.
By around 48 km, I had opened at least a few minutes lead on Sandra and had only short distance to the finish line. Then, I felt that horrible squishy feeling in my rear tire. I quickly went to work changing the flat and had been stopped for a few minutes when my friend Danny came by. He graciously stopped to help me out and actually let me take his rear wheel. In the meantime, Sandra had passed me back and was no longer in sight by the time I got rolling again. I had lost about 5 minutes and was not sure that 7 km would be enough to catch her back, but I was going to try. I did my own little time trial for the last portion of the race, but was not able to move back into 2nd place for the day. I finished 3rd for the day, but just 2 ½ minutes behind the leader, Louise Kobin and only 1 minute behind the overall race leader, Sandra Klomp. I finished 4th overall and definitely felt redemption for my performance the previous stage. It was much more exciting to be part of the race mix on this day instead of in survival mode. I was also really impressed to see the high level of competition in the women’s category.
The overall experience was well worth it for me. I experienced a new country and very friendly and vivacious cycling community and some ripping mountain bike trails. Thanks a ton to Specialized and Red Bull for sending me over there. Thanks also to Danny and Marcel from Pedal Power for taking such good care of me in Brazil.
Next stop, Crosstoberfest, the local cyclocross races this weekend in Idaho.
For full results and race information on Iron Biker:
http://ironbiker.com.br/resultado.htm