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Pre-Race Logistics
Friday, April 28, 2000

Some might argue that for both the organizers and the teams of the Raid Gauloises the most stressful part of the race comes before the race begins. Once it starts everyone gets down to the task of completing the course quickly, safely and successfully. Before the event, comes days of sorting gear, testing and packing.

	Team Dusk2Dawn

For Team Dusk2Dawn, things are no different. The past few days have been spent having the gear checked by officials, running around Kathmandu scouting for missing gear and crating up gear to be shipped to various locations in Nepal and Tibet. Adventure racers will often go to extremes to keep their equipment as light as possible: razor blades for knives, spoons for shovels, and rear bike lights for strobes were some substitutions that were rejected by officials.

Many teams have already been penalized over three hours for missing items that could not be found in Kathmandu. Fortunate for Team Dusk2Dawn, team member Mike Snow was able to barter a shovel from a worker at a local construction site and avoid any time penalties.

Earlier this week, all 69 teams congregated at a conference hall for a technical briefing. Organizers handed out maps and described the course in detail. This surprised many teams since the course is often kept secret until the race begins.

Competitors will start off trekking at a grueling elevation of 4310 meters. Three kilometers later, they will quickly transition to mountain biking. Teams will then ride 85km over a mountain to the next trekking section, and each team will be allowed one horse to help carry gear at the high elevation of 5150 meters at which they will travel.

Following the trek, competitors will scream down the mountains on the bikes for over 117km. Halfway through this ride, organizers will enforce a dark zone due to dangerous, sheer 500-meter drop offs. It will be important for teams to make it through this area before nightfall or they will be forced to wait until daybreak.

After the long ride, teams will trek 7km to the white water swimming section. Teams will swim down class IV rapids 23km to the next trekking section. This section will take the competitors 86km back over high mountains that reach 3149 meters.

Following the trek, teams will canoe 120 km and then raft 110km to the canyoneering section. This section will then be followed by another 50km rafting section. Teams will then trek 85km over another mountain range to the last biking section. This biking section will be a fast, flat 138km ride through scorching temperatures along the Indian border. Teams will then sprint on foot 4km to the finish line. Overall, the race covers over 800km.

Tomorrow, teams will fly off to Tibet where they will camp until the beginning of the race. This will help competitors acclimatize in the high altitude.

— Lynn Snow, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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