Team SOLE

Team SOLE amongst a massive, festive finish line. Rock Star status for a night.

It was a premonition in many people's mindsâ... Team SOLE was due for a very big win. We got emails, phone calls, cheers from Brazilians... it was just slapping us in the face. It all means nothing in this sport, when one thousand things A DAY must go right just to survive these events. To ever bank on winning is very taboo. We don't even talk about it.

Travel to Brazil went well. Tom from Calgary, and Aurelio from Madrid. We flew with most of our support team and bike mechanics from Nevada (Colin, Tyler, and Lindsay). Two more native crew from Brazil, and we are a force of 9 ready to do battle against 59 teams, including nearly every top team in the world. This is a very important event.

We were rewarded with two days to aclimatize at the beach side Sheraton, that included hanging out at the world famous Impanema Beach of Rio. This was not rough living. But the stark contrast of expedition racing in the rain forest and rivers of Brazil was never far from our minds. Our focus was were it needed to be.

The race began in the small town of Resende with a short (double kayak) paddle down river at night. It was quite a sight as nearly 60 teams (120 kayaks) took off running to launch boats in the river. We quickly got into a groove and found ourselves toward the front of the floating lights bobbing down river. A short and unimportant 1 hour start.

Section #2 was some fast paced, out of the saddle bike racing. We led the whole field on a 60km mud fest. We'd mentally prepare for a massive 75km mountain trek.

Section #3 was the most massive of the race. It took us to over 2800 meter (8000' for the yanks). They warned us about the cold, but it's Brazil, how could could it be. Well, it got brutal. The picture to the left, Paul's hands are completely numb. It took him 1 minute to unscrew a carabiner every time. No fun. 19 hours nonstop run, a few navigation problems, and we're 1 hour off the lead. Peanuts when your racing for 4 days.

Day 2, currently tied for the lead with Abarth of Spain. 2700M / 8000', 2°C / 35°F and windy. Shocking cold for Brazil. The warm beaches awaited us.

Next we're off to a pitch dark paddle in a watery labyrinth. We nailed it, still 1 hour off the lead. The Spanish had the day light to work with, we essentially had blindfolds on. We next opt for an early and conservative sleep decision. 20 minutes before a monsterous night bike section served us very well. We gained tremendously thereafter. Conditions were nothing short of knarly. Our drive trains were trashed, and terrain was brutal. Karen's fork had blown, so she was without front suspension. We still made great time.

Our first of two mandatory 2 hr sleep zones put us at a small ranch home in the middle of a driving rain storm. $10 got us floor space for a 1 hr sleep and a huge plate of rice, beans and eggs. We are RECHARGED and closing in on the leaders (Team Abarth of Spain, led by a guy we regard as the strongest in the world, Fran). Sleep deprivation and mistakes will from this point forward be absolutely critical.

We next roll into a blistering 22 mile steep, mountainous run, that took us to the scariest section of the race, a night time whitewater kayak section. Class 2 and 3 is normally not enough to weird us out.... except when it's at night. Departing with our Kiwi competitors Merrell, they quickly out paced us due to their smart headlamp situation. We had very little light and it killed us at night. Poor light combined with Tom and Aurelio's boat partially failing and deflating, we had issues. We lost about 30 minutes and had some VERY high stress scenarios. All ended ok and at the end we opted for a 2nd unofficial and conservative sleep decision, another 20 minutes before we make a big bike to the ocean coast.

A typical extravagant Eco Motion start line.

Once again our sleep strategy proved itself well, we caught the leaders. Arriving to the coast with the leaders still in transition, preparing for the the big ocean expedition where we'd go 36 hours without support.

Just 12 minutes behind the leaders we leave into the 3 a.m. darkness, for a large (35 km) paddle crossing to the magical island of Isla Grande (the Hawaiii of Brazil). A novel could be written on just this section alone, but the short of it is to say that we arrived to the island in first place...as if the Spanish had mysteriously been plucked from the ocean, they were nowhere to be seen. We did a 50km island and beach run that was as surreal as it gets. Giant snakes, iguanas, UNBELIEVABLE beaches and brief visits into homes as we ran out of food, relying on the kindness of the locals for survival. It worked out in our favor.

A good sample of the incredible terrain where we actually swam and trekked. We always tried to appreciate the beauty.

We depart the island for the mainland with a 1 hour lead. 6 hours of mind numbing paddling and we are ascending 200 feet up a vertical granite wall before we take our last 2 hour mandatory sleep. This is on a 1km sq island that is something out of a postcard. No words to describe it. A last jaunt on the kayak to the mainland where we meet our crew and a Peugeot Sport Wagon for a 30km auto rally section.

Our brilliant team engineer Tyler was our driver, and we ate every calorie we could as we headed to the top of a 1.5 hour white water section. Fun level of 10. A class 2/3/4 river was just what we needed. Swapping boats to kayaks on the same river, we opted for an agressive and risky portage that gained us at least 45 minutes on the Kiwi's Team Merrell who had been breathing down out backs for some time. Running through a town with kayaks on our heads always brings some strange looks from the locals but we smell the finish line.

A brilliant 5km beach run with a 1km swim was more than meets the eye. Twenty minutes to punch through the surf with all our gear was exhausting. Tom lost his shorts, Karen swallowed half the Atlantic ocean, and we took a hit with time. A 6 hour kayak to the finish remains, and we are looking over our shoulder for the crafty Kiwi's. NO SITE of them yet.

Organized Chaos...Our crack support team blazing us through one of our 10 transition areas. This is a high stress, high speed vital area of adventure racing. We call it hot lava, get in...get out (Nice pancho Lindsay).

We launch into the Atlantic in some dinky 2.5 meter/8 foot single person kayaks and we have the pressure of navigating spot on, into the darkness, with the Kiwis (renouwn for their paddling strength) not far behind. Tom nails the navigation and the teams works together well. Not a BREATH of celebration is allowed until the end. A tiny hickup on our way from the last checkpoint to the finish has our heartrates and paddle strokes at maximum strength, but it was needless. We had done it. Finally we breathe.

A crowd of hundreds, thumping music, giant lights, flowing champagne, flashbulbs by the gagillions and we are NUMB. Team SOLE has landed our biggest win ever. Putting 1 hour over 2nd place and 8 hours over third.

We have just earned a full ride to the world championships taking place in Scotland in May of 2007, along with a few bucks in prize. The honor proved greater than all these. Brazil Ecomotion Pro is a top, world class adventure event, and Team Sole is the winner. The season is not over yet, but we will end in a high.........

An enorrmous thank you to every one of our supporters, family, friends new and old, sponsors, and of course our support crew. Till next time...Go fast, take chances.

The Team

Co-captains— Paul Romero & Karen Lundgren (Big Bear Lake, USA)
Navigators— Tom Zidek (Canmore, Alberta) / Paul Romero
New Guy/Comedian/Work Horse— Aurelio Olivier (Madrid, Spain)

The Support Team

Team Nutrition/Cook— Lindsay Stevens (USA)
Bike Mechanics— Colin Blevins / Tyler Bennett (USA)
Driver / Liaison 1— Cesar "Soup" (Porto Alegre, Brasil)
Driver / Liaison 2— Carlos (Petropolis, Brasil)

Our support team was a well oiled and specialized group. They worked feverishly under tremendous stress, around the clock in some horrid conditions. It is only with their dedication and hard work that we were able to race hard and win.