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Cyanosis ARWC 2009

Monday, 26 October 2009 14:50

Cyanosis ARWC 2009, Information Bulleton #4

Race Discription & Technical Data for ARWC 2009

Race information provided to all participating teams at ARWC 2009

Dear racers,

After an exhausting Summer, we managed to prepare the longest ever
Adventure Race in Portugal. The complete route, including all
checkpoints, will be over 900 km and we are glad we decided to explore
Lusitanea and present you with such a challenge! The landscape is
beautiful, the terrain is tricky and in some parts physically demanding, in
others it’s a complete “nightmare” and your resilience will be tested to
the limits.

However, we designed the race to allow all the Teams to reach the finish
line and enjoy the journey over the Land of Light. For the winners we
promise the challenge of the year, with a very demanding course with
increasing difficulty towards the end. This difficulties varies along the
way from Physical at the beginning to Technical at the end. We expect a
strong fight all over the race with places varying depending on the
strategy for the Bonus CP collection and for the rest stops.
Like in the previous editions of Estoril Portugal XPD the race is
designed to offer you the best territory we have for Adventure Race in
the Lusitanea area and to help you to discover many of our natural and
cultural heritage, ranging from the Jurassic era to the Palaeolithic,
Roman, Arabic, Medieval and Modern times. This edition will have
Check Points in Dinosaurs Monuments, in Stone Age Sanctuaries, in
Roman Gold Mines, in Moorish Fortresses, in Templar strongholds, in
Medieval Bridges, Churches and Castles and in the new Wind Power
Generators.

Wild life will surround you all over the territory; paddling with eagles and
vultures, biking with wild boars and bulls, hiking with deer and snakes
will make this expedition really natural. The race will pass many Natural
Parks and protected areas which implies an “eco friendly” attitude from
the racers and organizers to minimize any negative impacts to the
ecosystems.

Again the main question all teams should address in this race is
Management: How can we manage to do it all? The race is planned to
give the “trophy” to the faultless options; thus good judgement, focus
and teamwork will be decisive to overcome the challenges of the course.
Sleep and rest stops will be crucial to assure good judgement in route
choice and strategic decisions. The weather conditions are also a crucial
factor which we took in consideration for the route layout. For instance,
sunny days will speed you in some places and almost dehydrate you in
others; this implies the need of a careful choice and decision in all
occasions, specially in the mountains. Fortunately, you will find always
simple solutions, like small country roads which will speed you up to the
next Transition Zone (the cut offs with shortcuts are an example of that
principle).

The equipment requirements are balanced between safety and comfort
and the organisation will not force you to carry heavy packs unless it will
be strictly necessary. Climbing gear and wet suits will be carried just in
the sections required and they will be picked and dropped in specific
places all along the way. The recommended places to sleep are the
Assistance Areas but you will find many comfortable places all along the
way, namely in some of the transition zones. For the meals we
recommend to explore the flavours of the Portuguese “cuisine” as you
will cross many small villages with typical taverns and pastry shops.
Most important at this time is to prepare for the challenge and after
analysing the data presented in the ARWC Portugal 2009 Provisional
Technical Data Sheet, you can find all the results extracted from our visit
trips and testing. The average speed estimated for the whole race is 8,4
km/h, which in our opinion allows any of the top World Teams to
complete the full race (CP’s and bonus CP’s), nevertheless the
technicalities involved in navigation, particularly at night, will require
acute precision and focus which implies the teams would need to rest
several times along the way to minimise the errors. Because time
management is so crucial, there will be some compulsory stops to allow
some race protocols regarding Sport Ident data collection, Press Flash
Interviews, GPS System downloads and battery check and Medical
Checks.

From the data is possible to verify that around 39% of the predicted
time, the teams will be walking /running, 41% biking, 18% paddling and
1% skating which indicates that attention should be paid to the feet and
their condition along the route. You will step over a large variety of
surfaces: cross streams or lakes (both with sweet and salted water), sand,
mud and rocky trails will also be present along the way with all the
known hazards and consequences to the racers feet. Prevention and
good preparation is always the key to have a successful race.
Other interesting data extracted from the race statistics are the maximum
speeds for Mountain Biking, 11,75 km\h, for Roller-Blade\ TRIKKE,
21,7 km\h, for Trekking 5,5 km\h and for Paddling 6,3 km\h. The
longest section has 160 km and it’s a MTB section and the shortest is an
easy 5,3 km trekking section. Mountain biking has the largest share of
the 907 km with more than 57 % (MTB and O-MTB) of the total racing
distance.

The maps that will be used this year are from the Portuguese Military
Maps (1:25 000) and we will use the scale 1:50 000 for the paddling
sections. We will use also Orienteering maps for more precise navigation.
Examples of the map legend will be send to the teams along with an
extract of similar areas in the three formats we will be using (1:20 000,
1:25 000 and 1:50 000).

The final piece of information released is the race scheme that gives you
the full picture of the route and identifies the sequence of the sections
and the location of the Transition /Assistance along the five stages of

the race.

Table 1 - Technical data for the maximum speed/ minimum duration
The Assistance Areas were placed to allow the teams to recover well and
plan the next Stages with some comfort. In all four locations the teams
can find showers, places to rest and some facilities to help their logistics.

Table 2 - Assistance data and suggested times.
The Race Cut’s were design to protect the teams with difficulties and can
in certain circumstances be used to safeguard the race from severe

weather changes re-routing the teams.