Weather or Not?

The days leading up to any of our epic tours are always busy, but launching a new project is sheer pandemonium.  The last week in Rio was a blitz of shopping sprees, welding bike racks and trying to figure out where to find 3000 energy bars and 1200L of electrolytes without paying the gringo price.  The group is still forming, but it’s truly dynamic.  At camp people speak to each other in French, German, Spanish, English and we all struggle with Portuguese.  There is a good mix of experience and those who are still green.  The starting line was an opportunity to reunite with some old friends and meet the newcomers.  A sense of community amongst us is essential to the success of the tour and the foundation has already been set.  Every person here is making positive contributions to the greater good of the group, the staff are hard working and the clients are quick to help with loading bags, fixing bikes and most importantly supporting each other through the daily challenges.  The first three days have been very difficult, to be honest I was concerned that they may be too hard for being so early in the tour.  But together they have faced the rains, the winds, the hills and all achieved their personal best.  A fantastic start.

The next four riding stages take us through Guaruja, the holiday destination for the rich Paulistas, day two we pass a crazy festival in Iguape, then we have a series ferry boats to take us island hopping until Cananeia which was one of the first ports of call for the Portuguese colonialists, where we will spend our next rest day.