GoldRush Mother Lode - Racing with Giants at the FINISH

Melissa, Adrian and Mark did their best sprint walk to the finish line.  Melissa was greeted by her husband who had been hanging around race headquarters all day waiting for her team to arrive.  Melissa said the course was absolutely fantastic.  She was just amazed.  Adrian couldn’t believe how undeveloped this entire area remains.  Mark looked fresh and ready to continue.  He jumped at Adrians offer to start back toward San Felipe later this afternoon.

Kayak Lake Mead hobbles to the finish line

Robert, Druce and Amy hobbled to the finish line, a little disappointed by the shortened paddle but mostly disappointed by the poor shape of their feet (covered with blisters).  Amy’s feet were the worst and she came across the finish line in her socks.  They went for a sleep and some food.

Shawii Continues without Kristen

Okay we’ve figured it out with Shawii, they did drive around and ended up at San Carlos with just the two boys.  Kristen has joined us here at the finish.  She is a little beat up but she is still smiling and wants to hear all about what’s going on.  She said her friends and family loved the Internet coverage and lucky for her team being local, many had the chance to meet her at the point she was dropping out.

Details on Shawii and Lucky

Some information on Shawii and I’m trying to get more, but here’s what I know.  They left CP18,  I heard, in a car avoiding the canyon and withdrawing from the race and plans to bike from CP19 to the finish.  We just, however, received a SPOT from that team in the canyon.  Apparently they weren’t clear with our CP Staff and may have entered the canyon as a twosome and the third to meet them at CP19.  I’ll let you know details, but it appears that they are making progress.

Team Lucky seemed missing in action, but we did a bit of SPOT research and it appears there OK punches at the waypoints were just outside of our catch zone.  We’ve revised the catch a little in the canyon and so now the leaderboard shows Lucky progressing through the canyon at a good pace.

Escape from Reality

The Dirty Avocados were thrilled to be at the finish line.   They said the swells were interesting and added a final fun factor as they made their way through the waves and headed to the calm marina and finish line.  They talked about the course and the absolute desolation they felt as they hiked and biked for miles without seeing any signs of civilization.  It’s the great thing about Baja, it’s a total escape.  I didn’t think about work once, said Adam Doti.  The three have left the finish line to find some hot food, dry clothes and a hot shower.

Dirty Avocados Finish 8th

The Dirty Avocados (Adam, Adam and Jen) finished their first ever multiday expedition race.  They were all smiles at the finish and Jen described the course as the best misery she’s ever had.  The Adams agreed that the miles in Baja are somehow longer than anywhere else in the World, Adam Doti said, “When you think you are almost there in the Baja Travesia, you really are only 1/2 way.”  The threesome was greeted by their crew at had a Tecate for breakfast.

Next up, Team Kayak Lake Mead has checked into the final bike leg.  The threesome is surely happy to be off their feet.  Their girl had some of the worst feet in the race and every step was painful. This paddling team is not going to be happy to hear that the paddle is shortened and they will have a 5 k beach run before they reach the paddle.

Team Shawii Withdraws

Mexico’s Team Shawii has withdrawn from the race.  I don’t have the details but they opted to skip the last canyon section and hopped into the car with their crew.  I think one of their team members had some bad feet.  They will skip the canyon and continue from CP19 and head to the finish unranked.

Team Hilarious (minus Christina) is making progress in the bike section. Though they are unranked they are pressing on and approaching the bike to trek transition.

The adventures continue…

Dirty Avocados (Adam, Adam and Jen) are heading to the finish line.  The crew is waiting with cold Tecates at the request of the team.  We expect them to come around the corner of the Marina any minute.

We just received a phone call from the crew of Team SuburbanRush.com who are having car problems.  They were on their way to Checkpoint 19 when their vehicle (remember the coolest crew vehicle featured earlier?) broke down.  We’ve sent our staff to assist them in getting their team gear and bikes to the checkpoint in time to meet their team (don’t worry SuburbanRush.com fans they’ve got plenty of time) and to bring Ron down to work on taking care of the truck.

Eastern Mountain Sports eXXtreme Team Almost Home

The girls of Eastern Mountain Sports eXXtreme team are heading to the finish line.  They have reached the last leg of the race and have a short 2k kayak till they arrive a the finish line.  These are some of the toughest, smartest and athletic girls you might ever meet.  They are coming into a 1st place Women’s and 7th place overall finish completing what is being deemed at the hardest Baja Travesia ever.

Another Sprint Finish

Team Bosi Colombia caught the Dancing Pandas just as the Pandas were contemplating the surf entrance that would take them to the finish line of the 2008 SOLE Baja Travesia.  They were exhausted as they completed the beach run and started the shortened kayak leg.  The Pandas hesitated and were a bit afraid of the surf.  The waves were about 2 footers, but in the darkness and with memories of last year, the waves looked big.They asked if they could portage instead of punching through the waves.

About that time, Team Bosi joined them on the beach.  Together the teams moved the boats a bit North to find the easiest entrance. Bosi Colombia arrived at the take out about 20 seconds ahead of the Pandas and a “sprint” hehe as fast as they can run ensued to the finish.  Bosi edged out the Pandas by 5 seconds.  All the teams cheered each other and it was obvious they enjoyed the head to head racing.