I am in Rio for business and have been challenged by my work schedule to even get into the gym to use a stationary bike for training over the past week. So you can imagine how excited I was this morning to find the Ciclovia Zona Sul bike shop across the street from my hotel in Copacabana, complete with low-end rental bikes.  Since I had to miss our team training ride today I looked for the hardest ride I could manage in this city of 6.3 million souls (and seemingly double that amount of vehicles).  My quest led me to Corcovado, home of the famous Cristo Redentor statue which along with the beautiful beaches here is such a well-known, must-see landmark. So I hopped on one of Rio’s tremendous bike paths and found my way to the 7 km slog uphill on my extremely heaving and rusty rental bike, complete with flat pedals.

Overall it turned out to be a great climbing workout and obviously a popular one given all of the cyclists I encountered on the route. If you are ever in Rio I recommend this ride, followed up by a dip in the ocean and a post-ride caipirinha. I tracked my ride using DeLorme’s inReach satellite communicator and tracker, which we will use during the RAAM.  The route can be seen here: https://share.delorme.com/DavidViens  DOL Dave V

Posted by TeamGBF on Monday, April 15th, 2013 @ 10:19AM
Categories: RAAM