GS Trophy update 4

Daily update by Costa Mouzouris. Pics: Costa Mouzouris. 

Day three of the GS Trophy was hard on Team Canada.

Day three ends with 30 km of deep sand. The stuff in this photo isn’t the deep stuff.

We first had to deal with customs officials at the Mozambique border crossing, which was a mass of confusion, documentation, rubber stamps and one official completely oblivious to 40 riders as well as support staff waiting in line while he played computer games.

There were two special tests and the team scored well but dropped back down to fifth overall, losing one position.

The fact that they rode at all in the day’s special tests is incredible as the entire team suffered injury due to crashes. None of the injuries were serious but the guys are going to have a tough time sleeping tonight.

I did my part and took one for the team by lending my bike to Brian Keily, who damaged the transmission on his bike after taking a nasty spill on a paved road to avoid an oncoming car (making the same mistake Pat Horan did the day before).

To add insult to injury (literally) the day ended with a 30 km stretch of deep sand on the way to the day’s camp located in Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique.

This stretch was almost the death of me, as it was the most difficult riding I’ve ever done. Ever.

I managed to fall about a half-dozen times, all cushioned by the soft sand, but I bumped my noggin on one fall and decided to call it quits after seeing double for about five minutes. We agreed that the team should continue, as each member would be awarded five points for arriving (journalists were not scored in this special test).

As I waited for the chase truck to pick me up, someone came by and told me I was just four kilometres from our destination, so I hopped back on and rode in, feeling quite fulfilled that I made the distance.

We’ve got to ride nine more kilometres of this sandy hell tomorrow. I, too, will have a tough time sleeping tonight.

Oh, as for the scoring, Team UK is in first position, followed by Team Germany and Team Nordic, who are tied for second place. Stay tuned.