Miami International
Basta
Long trip. 18 hours en route.
Clearing Customs in Sao Paolo
The lovely island of Florianopolis
Those bikes came on the plane just like that -- no box
We have a grande box
The bus to haul all of us and our bikes. Endurance Sports Travel had 618 clients at this event.
The room at the Hotel Lexus, Canasvieras
View from the room
Nice calm ocean
Expo
Transition being built
The EST transport shuttle that took us the 7km from our hotel to the expo. It showed up every 20 minutes. Handy.
Pre-race party
A boat full of fruit to take back to the room
Karina, Adam, Me
Basta & me
Samba band
Samba dancer
Her tattoo says "Born in Samba"
Transition ready
It rained a few times, nothing serious
Assembling the swim out path
Buoys to mark the swim exit point on the beach
Dog is "Cachorro" in Portuguese
Buoys to mark the swim turns. They look big enough, don't they?
Lots of wild dogs on the beach. They looked healthy and well-fed, though.
The marks set. They don't look so big any more.
So calm
Really, quite calm.
Yep, out there you have to swim.
Aw. It'll be fine. See how calm the water is? Warm, too.
Building the swim start area.
Big, American-style houses in this area
Calm. Little ripple of a wave.
Packet pickup
Number 656, checked in.
Thinking about a practice swim
Ok, better do it.
Ready
So calm. And warm, with wetsuit.
Feeling better about everything after testing the water.
EST's fancy hotel option. Nice hotel, but like any other resort anywhere. No Brazil flavor.
One of the hills on this 'flat' run course.
It was steeper than it looks in the pic. Long, too.
The steepest hill, aka The Staircase. Note the guy walking his bike up it.
Feijoada (feshwada)
Lots of bags involved in Ironman
Resting before final check-in
Bikes dropped off in transition the day before.
Bike headed off to spend the night in transition
You have to wear your helmet to get into transition
Volunteers check everything
A volunteer leads each athlete to their bike rack and explains how transition will work on race day.
Basta's volunteer is really tall
#656, ready to go
Changing tent with bike bags hanging on their assigned hooks
4am shuttle ride to the start
Dropping off the special needs run bag
Bodymarking. 656! I really like the pedestals.
Athletes start to arrive and futz with their bikes
Ready to go! Not nervous, just excited.
Well, maybe a wee bit nervous now.
What happened to the calm ocean??
At last, the moment is upon us.
Start! 7am on the nose.
The pack spreads out quickly
Much bigger seas and swell today. Pics don't show it but it's very windy
First one out of the water at the halfway point.
Basta, halfway through the swim. They trot about 100 meters and then back in
Strippers
Getting stripped
And a little rinse
Then it's time to trot off to transition
Changed, helmeted, ready to ride.
Plenty of crowd support
First biker.
Special needs bike handoff is a risky proposition. Many wrecks. Best to stop and get your bag unless you're a pro.
This guy's cassette fell apart and he had to reassemble it.
Adam getting his special needs items from Karina
Quick stop. He had a great ride.
Here comes Basta into special needs. 3:15 into the bike, halfway done.
They take your bike from you before you enter transition.
Done with the bike. Legs deciding if they really want to run after 6.5 hours of riding.
Ok, they'll run.
And run a little faster.
Off for 26.2 miles of running fun.
He's finished the long loop of 13 miles.
He's smiling!
The EST "Spouse House" where we spectators could hang out. It's close to transition on the run course.
Crowd support
The yellow armband says he's finished 1 loop
Now he has a pink band -- finished the second loop. 6 miles to go!
Flying down the finisher's chute
And a leap across the finish line. 13:34:17. Basta is an Ironman!
That's a very cool Ironman towel that finishers got.
Medal, finisher's shirt, towel, picture. It is complete.
Taking the bike home
Next morning. Calm, pretty ocean.
Our lovely hotel
So calm. Wind is gone.
"Sports prohibited in this area." Heh.
Back at the expo to pick up the special needs bag.
Transition broken down already
Cachorro
Very nice restaurant. Great view, great food.
None the worse for wear.
Local fish.
Thick sauce made from the same fish and a starchy tree nut
Our waiter feeding the remains of our meal to the birds.
Large men in speedos like you just don't see around here
A restful day walking down the beach in the lovely little town of Canasvieras.
Ken Glah's dinner party for all clients
Basta & Ken Glah
Churrascaria
We had fun. Brazilian wine is horrible, though. Stick to the Chilean.
Off to the Ironman Party!
Brazilian pro triathlete Ana Borba in line ahead of us at the Ironman Party entrance. She finished 5th.
Lame party. Just a nightclub. Music, bouncers, drinks. Nothing Ironman about it.
Waiting in the cold night air for the shuttle bus. Brr. I haven't seen 2am in ages.
4am. Slept about an hour, then it was back on the shuttle and off to the airport. Next stop, Amazon!
