Rio Olympics : Canoeing

The Lagoa from above.

One last event that I have a ticket for, and a great location, the canoe sprint taking place on the Lagoa, lagoon I guess, basically a large lake separated from Copacabana beach by a narrow strip of land.  Easy for me to get to, downhill then actual cycle paths, and again a cheap seat, for what turns out to be a variety of races across the water.

Mostly it's kayaks, men's doubles and women's singles over various distances... have to say, this is not the greatest spectator sport, it's not really possible to tell who is leading barring the moment they're directly in front of me.  After a while I find a seat high up, having a panoramic view makes things a bit easier.  Odd competition format here, there are lots of heats, which seem largely pointless, everyone in them gets to the semi finals, except the winner who goes straight to the final.  Not that I'll be seeing any finals, they're not 'til tomorrow.

Isaquias Queiroz on his way to winning his semi final.

Well, I get to see one good result for Team GB as Liam Heath and Jon Schofield win their semi in the two hundred metre double kayak - they'll go on to get the silver medal.  The locals have something to cheer too, Isaquias Queiroz wins a semi final too, in the men's single canoe - differing from the kayaks in having an open hull, and propelled Polynesian style with a single bladed paddle.  He'll go on to take the bronze.  Pretty full here in the cheap seats, whether down to support for Queiroz,  or just proximity to the many condominiums surrounding the Lagoa, I don't know.  Nice to have a bit of atmosphere anyway, a fun morning all told in fact.

Doesn't seem too hard!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Rio Olympics : Marathon

Waiting for the runners.

Back to free stuff then, and another event harking back to ancient Greece.  And, more female athletes, does seem I am spending a fair amount of time in Rio watching women in tiny little costumes... well, largely due to timing, honest.  So, I roll downhill on my bike, over cobbles and past the Lapa arches into the centre, just in time to see the field heading south.  That was something of a bonus, my plan is to get to a point on the loop section they'll be running, and indeed, after parking the bike, a short walk gets me to one end of the ten kilometre loop, as evidenced by the fifteen kilometre sign in one direction, and thirty-five kilometres the other way.  Took me twenty minutes or so to get here, so not a long wait for the leaders, a group of eight well ahead of the main pack.

He's watching over things as usual.

Standing here I get to see them go past three times, gives a sense of how the leaders pull further ahead.  I notice more Ethiopian athletes - Mare Dibaba gets bronze for them in the end, gold going to Jemima Sumgong of Kenya.  The GB contingent are a way back, still we can't win everything, and just completing the marathon is impressive enough - it's a hot day for it too, can't say running looks like a lot of fun, and in fact a few of the ladies don't get any further than the medical post a few yards from me. 

The leaders.

The crowd does its best to encourage the runners, particularly the back markers, though I have to say, even at this ideal spot, there isn't much of a crowd.  I feel that this gives the lie to the idea that the locals cannot afford tickets, and this is why there are so many empty seats.  Rather, I think the fact is that Brazilians just aren't that interested in international sport unless it's football, or Brazil has a good chance of winning - or ideally, both.

Well, I've enjoyed cheering on the Olympians of all nations anyway...  shame about the whole cycling through Rio thing, but what can you do.  I can't face riding up the cobbled street I bounced down, so, long way round, drivers who have no idea how to treat cyclists, to be fair I join the locals and ride down one way streets the wrong way, it's just so hard to find a street going the right way.  Have to push for a while, road is closed due to some stupid sports event or other, honestly who do they think they are :).  Back home and my hosts are cooking up churrasco - barbecue essentially - and there are many parts of pig, it is good.

Dixon and Samuels, working hard.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Rio Olympics : Hockey

USA piling on the pressure.

So, wanted to see a team sport and this is as good as any, better still I get to see Team GB play, our women against the USA in fact, should be some rivalry here.  It's at the Deodoro park,  OK then, train it is, I find the central station and buy a return ticket easily enough, time for a beer in fact, website reckons a twenty minute journey so I allow seventy just in case.  Heh, public transport.  I'm sure I get the right platform, but the train seems to be on the wrong line, stopping at every station instead of heading directly to the sport.  Worse, this 'red' line won't even take me all the way there.... OK, I get off at the Engenhão and change, well try to.  Seems the direct 'green' line is... not running? ...or something?  Another red train, in the end I stop at twenty stations rather than the hoped for three, and it takes over an hour.  Still, the stop is actually in the park so... ah, no.  For some reason we don't stop there, but travel on and I have to jog back half a mile, sigh.   Through security, more queues, and finally I'm in, missed twenty minutes, not great when the game only lasts an hour.

The crucial penalty corner.

Well, didn't miss any goals anyway, seems to be a close game, hard fought too, the (British!) announcer keeps having to report on our players getting two minute timeouts for 'temper'.  Goalless at half time, but not long into the second half, er, third period, the girls in blue score, woo!  Um, boo I mean, turns out those sneaky Americans are wearing our kit... well, red is better anyway.  We're on the back foot though, the USA keep the ball well, their defence is on form too.  Good spectator sport this, I guess just an accident of history that sports with inflated balls and no sticks conquered the world instead.

Yet another shot of me in an arena.

Not sure I entirely understand the rules, but no big deal, I can see where the goals are.  GB moves forward, and wins a penalty... corner?  Seems to involve most of our team ganging up on a few Americans, I'm not too surprised when a goal results, all square!  It's all GB now, though time is ticking away, can they get another, yes they can!  A great shot from distance, a bit of worry as apparently the ball has to touch one of our sticks within the semicircle for it to count, there's some deliberation but the goal is good.  Just a few minutes of nail biting and it's a result - must confess, while I'm not normally much of one for nationalism, there is something satisfying about beating the USA.

China working one of their many fruitless penalty corners.

I get another match for my money, can't fault the value here.  More ladies, China v. New Zealand, think I'm neutral, haven't quite forgiven the kiwis for their 'paths' yet.  They don't seem to need my full support though, before long the girls, unsurprisingly in all black, start scoring.  Not much of a crowd, a lot of the British and American fans have left, the remaining locals seem to either be cheering on China, or just amusing themselves - one largish group chanting, I'm pretty sure, 'frango, frango', that is, 'chicken, chicken'.  Not sure why.  Meanwhile NZ are scoring more goals, and while the Chinese keep getting penalty corners they can't capitalise on them.  It finishes up 3-0, well that was fun, and at least it is not a long walk to get on the train, I get back to the centre easily enough, and even find a bar with a samba night - well it is Saturday - before trudging up the huge hill to bed.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Rio Olympics : Athletics

Not just track, there is field too.

OK, so this is what the Olympics is really about, events that in many cases would be recognisable to the ancient Greeks who invented the whole thing.  Of course, they'd be confused by the female athletes, and indeed the clothing, but never mind.  Good to make it here, the Engenhão stadium is most impressive, and 'only' an hours ride... not sure what the seating deal is, I got the cheapest ticket but there is no segregation and lots of empty seats, so I just get near the front.  There is one section reserved for athletes' family, so I only sit there for a short while - specifically, while Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson run their respective hurdles races.  Why yes, I have picked a good session to go to...

Johnson-Thompson flying over the hurdles.

It isn't just about the heptathlon of course, there is an awful lot of sport happening, albeit mostly qualifying rounds, heats and so on - well, this is the first session.  There are men throwing the discus, women putting the shot, and various distances being run.  The only race for a medal I see is the women's ten thousand metres, well, it's value for money, not blink and you miss it like the hundred metres.  Good event for Ethiopia this, Almaz Ayana and Tirunesh Dibaba take gold and bronze for them, with Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot getting the silver.  Can't say it's a terribly close race, Ayana finishes fifteen seconds ahead of Cheruiyot, with a new world record time of 29:17.45, and the lead group of six laps the rest of the field, including all three Brits, at least once.

Ayana and Dibaba on their lap of honour.  You can also spot a tracksuited
Johnson-Thompson, waiting for the bar to be raised in the high jump.

Back to the heptathlon for the high jump, this is going to take a while as there are a lot of competitors, and each gets up to three attempts at each height.  Still, the bar inches upwards, Ennis-Hill jumping well, Johnson-Thompson doesn't even bother with lower than 1.80, this is a good event for her.  Slowly the jumpers thin out, the running and so forth elsewhere on the field ends and the crowd is focused on this.  Six athletes remain with the bar at 1.89, Ennis-Hill manages it on the second attempt, Belgian Nafissatou Thiam makes it look easy.  To 1.92, Johnson-Thompson and Thiam sail over, none of the others, including Ennis-Hill, make it.  Then Johnson-Thompson clears 1.95 at the first attempt - a new Olympic record!  It doesn't last long, Thiam equals it, then jumps 1.98!  This is a new world record for the heptathlon, can the British athlete equal it?  Not at the first try... second attempt, the crowd claps along to the run up, and she's over!  More clapping as we try to encourage them over the bar, now at over two metres, but it's not to be, seems fair that they share the new record anyway.  And on the heptathlon points table, Johnson-Thompson leads, with Ennis-Hill not far behind.

Ennis-Hill launching herself at the bar.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Rio Olympics : Beach Volleyball

Cuba!  Cuba!

Ask anyone to name a quintessentially Brazilian sport and they'll probably say... football.  But then, everybody plays football, and it's not like I haven't seen my share of games.  So here I am instead on Copacabana beach for the beach volleyball - it doesn't get much more Brazilian, surely.  Good to see the beach, it's a Rio landmark after all, and I've figured out how to get a vaguely cycle-friendly route from google onto my GPS, all good.  Time for a not too expensive beer on the beach, and then sport.

The arena is a temporary structure built on the beach itself, seems solid enough, I'm sure the random nut and bolt I find near my seat are nothing to worry about.  Good view from here, and four games to watch, men first as Latvia take on Cuba, that seem pretty evenly matched, and there's clearly a lot of skill in this game, for all the jokes about the bikini-clad female players.  The Latvians throw away a lead in the first set, then raise their game to take the second, but it seems to tire them, Cuba winning the third set, and the match, convincingly.

What the crowd are here for.

It's the main event next, Brazil's women v. the USA, the arena is filling up, although there are still a lot of empty seats.  Good atmosphere though, the crowd sings along with the band, chants 'paredão' (block) when appropriate, and we all do a Mexican wave or two.  And it's close, the locals are the favourites in every sense, but the norteamericanas are putting up a good fight.  But the Brazilians are too strong for them in the end and Larissa and Talita win in straight sets, much to the delight of the home crowd.  Many of whom leave soon after, for all that there are two games remaining.

And the band played...

Poland and Holland in the men's competition first, both seem pretty good despite their countries not being famed for beach culture - I suspect being a nation of tall people, as the Dutch certainly are, helps with this.  And the Poles are pretty good too, thinking about it they like their handball in eastern Europe, guess it's not that different.  It finishes up two sets to one in favour of the Dutch.  Last up, more ladies, Germany v. Canada, this is pretty one sided as the Germans are very good.  It's another straight sets win, goes down well with what remains of the local crowd - Germany seems to be a popular country over here, a legacy of waves of immigrants who helped build this rainbow nation, and did things like found breweries.  I particularly like the restaurant chain whose name means 'the German's house', which displays a sign 'since 1945'.

It's another 'in the venue' selfie.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Rio Olympics : Shooting

Air rifle qualification.

Right, sport that I have paid actual money to watch, admittedly not much, forty reais in fact.  An early start, and a long ride to the Deodoro Olympic park... hum, maybe should have looked at accommodation near here, it's nice and a lot of sport is happening, never mind.  I wander into the shooting centre, people are practicing with various weapons, and there is qualification in the men's 10m air rifle.  No Brits involved here, I track down two of the leaders, Vladimir Maslennikov of Russia and Italian Niccolò Campriani, and watch for a while.  It's oddly hypnotic, the men stand quite motionless, just the occasional 'thut'  indicating a shot, while big screens show the scores which gradually climb higher as the event progresses.

Edward Ling taking a shot.

Out into the open air, where there are some big stands for spectators viewing the men's trap, now this is what I am here for really, as we have Team GB involvement, Edward Ling is shooting now in fact, again it's a qualifying round.  He's doing well, currently in third place... very little margin for error here, each round involves twenty-five targets, and it's common for even one of the lower ranked sportsmen to hit all twenty-five.  Ed has a chance to go top, but a clay that breaks on the way up seems to put him off, one miss and third is as good as he can do.  Enough to get to the final this afternoon though.

Bronze medal, can''t be bad.

Back indoors, the medal ceremony for the air rifle competition is happening, seems that Campriani won.  Not sure my cheap ticket lets me see this but nobody checks... I love the Italian national anthem, so upbeat.  A couple of hours to kill, time for a wander about the Olympic park, people of all nations are here, drinking overpriced beer.  I watch some swimming on a big screen, teams from one of the sponsors exhort passers by to play keepy-uppy - which it seems, many random Brasileiros can do pretty well.

Good to see the Union Flag.  It's even the right way up!

So, the trap final, just six competitors, and now they only get to use one of the two shotgun barrels.  Ed starts very strongly, but then misses twice, before recovering to finish equal fourth with Egyptian Ahmed Kamar.  The format however is that all medals are decided with head to head rounds...  So, first he faces a shoot-off (no sniggering please) against Kamar, then after winning that, the bronze medal match against Czech David Kostelecky.  It's nail biting stuff, my nerves are in shreds, no idea how Ed keeps cool but he does, taking the medal in style.  Then the gold medal match, ending in another tense shoot-off, as Josip Glasnovic takes the gold for Croatia, the silver going to another Italian, Giovanni Pellielo.  Great to see a Brit on the podium for the medals ceremony, I won't see many of these as they tend to attract premium prices.  Then back to Santa Teresa, it's a long, long ride, next time I come out here it'll be on the train.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Rio Olympics : Road Cycling

Local riders are of course popular.

This counts as travelling yeah?  Well, I have come a long way to watch the games, may as well write about them too.  So, what would be good, let me see...  Yes, the cycling is a pretty obvious pick, not least it is free.  Time to find a viewing spot then - ideally you want an uphill section, well I am already up a hill - in fact, part of the course is not that far away, off I ride then, along the railway line towards the Corcovado.  The road then turns uphill, even without luggage it is a slog up, I climb up to the top of the funicular which I guess replaced the old line.  It's a superb ride from here, contouring around the hill with fantastic views of the city, the sea and various islands.

Blurry Chris Froome.

I want to stop and take photos, but it'll keep - the race has started now.  Not much longer and I get to  the course, and yes, an uphill section.  Bit of a shame I now wait two hours for the riders..  hadn't realised there was an earlier hilly bit they went around four times.  Well, could be worse, and I get to practice my Portuguese - by chatting to the police, who want to know all about me, ho hum.  They say my Portuguese is very good, can't say I am convinced.  Finally, riders... it's the men today, I spot some Team GB shirts, not convinced by the grey colour scheme.  Moving bikes are hard to photograph, and being in a wood doesn't help, still they go past three times so plenty of chances - nor that I make much of them.  Never mind, I spot Geraint Thomas near the front on the third circuit, and actually run behind Chris Froome, awesome.  Adam Yates is not far behind, just a shame none of them manage a medal.

Copacabana.

Next day it's the women's turn, I plan to be at the same spot but a puncture puts paid to that, I limp back to base, fix it, and ride off again, now with tools and spare tube just in case.  To Copacabana Beach, further along the route so they won't be there for a while.  In fact I get there early enough to spend an hour riding up and down the course, lovely smooth tarmac, the sea on one side and hills the other, most cool.  Back in time to see the riders go past, Lizzie Armistead is near the front, she places fifth in the end, the results somewhat overshadowed by a nasty crash for Dutch rider Annemiek Van Vleuten, leading at the time, on her way down from the Vista Chinesa.  Seems she is recovering well.  For my part, I fight my way back through crazy Rio traffic and up the massive hill, time for a well deserved beer or two.

The women.  Well, some of them.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Off on my bike : Muriaé to Rio

A long day, didn't really appreciate the scenery.

Just three more days.  Keep moving.  I managed some chicken soup last night, and a bit of breakfast, can't face any more solid food though.  Need energy of course, sugary coffee and bottles of fizzy pop will do.  Keep moving.  Not able to pay much attention to the surroundings, or take photos, it takes all I've got just to push the pedals.  Long day, nearly seventy miles and hilly.  Puncture, sigh, OK fix it.  Keep moving.  Night falls, don't want to ride in the dark, if there was a hotel I'd stop, but no, lights on, make it all the way to Além Paraíba, and through it, must be a hotel, yes, just as the main road leaves town.  Stomach feels... better, I have a burger and a beer, then bed.  Two more days.

Itaipava brewery.  Can't have too many breweries.

Definitely feeling less sick, but still weak and tired, my body needs a rest, not more biking.  But no help for it, there are more hills to climb.  Seems like a day full of them, the afternoon is pretty much one big hill, well it is scenic at least.  Destination is Itaipava - turns out the beer of the same name is brewed ten miles north of town.  Heavy traffic on the road in, not seeing any hotels, reach the centre, still nothing, try to ask for directions but get the usual stream of gibberish.  See some signs for pousadas, but following them seems to lead out of town and uphill.  Not liking this place.  People at the bus station try to help, one shows me a map, OK, that will do, I head off.  See a pousada sign, ask at the pizza place next door, no it's a shop, but wow he speaks English.

Why didn't I have flags?

Hotels here very expensive he says, go to Petrópolis instead, only five kilometres away.  He reckons a hundred and eighty reais here, more like eighty there.  Hmm.  But when I find his suggested hotel on the GPS, it is fully ten miles off, as the crow flies.  So, back to the bus driver suggestion, it's not too far away.  Of course, it's a love motel... I have passed a lot of these, some like this on the edge of a town, many a few miles outside, I've avoided them, my requirement to stay a whole night with nearby bars and eateries not really being what they're for.  But, it's nice enough, you can tell women stay here and not just truckers, actual hot water, even shampoo!  They do want a hundred and fifty reais, but I beat them down to one hundred.  Then, back to the pizza place, worth it just to speak English, I also get a special price pizza and beer, stomach feels like it can cope.  Things aren't so bad.

All downhill from here.  Sort of.

Last day.  LAST DAY!  Nothing can stop me now, certainly not more massive hill, up to over a thousand metres this morning.  Near the top I meet more crazy cyclists, two Brazilian guys who have also ridden across the country to reach the Olympics, we cross the high point together, very cool.  Then a mad plummet down to near sea level, somehow my cheap bike's plastic brakes cope.  Pizza guy last night said the last thirty kilometres into Rio would be dangerous and made shooting gestures, hum.  In fact it seems fine, barring the bits of more or less motorway, don't enjoy those much.  Then up to my accommodation, and yes I mean up, turns out to be at an elevation of some one hundred and fifty metres, perched on a near vertical slope, in fact the road it's on is also the old railway line heading to the Cristo Redentor statue.  Getting there involves crazy steep climbs, also numerous false starts as the turn I hope to take proves impossible as I'm either on an elevated road, or in a tunnel.  But I get there, oh wow I actually did it.  At some point a retrospective of this largely insane adventure may happen - first though, the little matter of the Olympic Games!

Sunset in Rio!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Off on my bike : Governador Valadores to Muriaé

Ubaporanga.

After a big breakfast (so much cake) I continue south, quickly getting back onto the BR-116, which I've been following for maybe a thousand miles now.  Seems to be kind of a Brazilian Route 66 - I've seen t-shirts on sale - except, whereas in the US Route 66 sees little traffic these days thanks to the modern interstate highways, here this is still the main road, hence all the lorries.

I see signs saying 'before building beside the highway, call the department of transport' - wonder if that applies to all the little plantations I see along the road?  Seems to be mainly sugar cane here,  and there are stalls by the roadside selling 'sopa de cana' - cane soup, can't say it appeals much.  There is also 'Cachaça', a local spirit made from the cane, you can get this in supermarkets here too, in 500ml plastic bottles for five reais or so.  Apparently.

As is often the case, a nice view from my pousada.

Destination today, Ubaporanga, crazy name, but a nice little place, though I struggle to find a hotel, eventually track one down a few hundred metres south on the BR-116.  Is nice, a real wooden bed, and a big buffet dinner at the restaurant next door.  Sadly though, either that or the water has, hmm, unfortunate consequences, I don't sleep well and decide on a day off, well, don't want to arrive in Rio early.  Gives me a chance to spend a few hours investigating sports to watch anyway.  Hockey?  Shooting?  Greco-Roman wrestling?  So much to choose from...

It's a miracle!

My guts feel somewhat better as I ride out of Ubaporanga, but I'm not on top form, don't think I've got a lot of energy from the food I've eaten over the last few days.  Well no help for it, on I ride, back into mountainous country, though the road does a decent job of staying flat.  I climb up to eight hundred metres or so, not a problem over a day, although my pace isn't great.  And, the gear lever for the front derailleur is getting stiffer, maybe the cable stretching?  Hard on my left thumb anyway, but then towards the end of the day, I strain to push the thing and it snaps clean off.  Oops.  So, only five gears now, well, it's enough.  I reach São João do Manhuaçu, destination for the day, it has a single hotel a good two miles past the town proper, OK they have salgados so I'm not hungry but no beer.  Hell, my stomach could use a night off anyway...

This ain't no physiological breakdown... actually, yes, it kind of is.

Sadly, even with no beer consumed I spend much of the night on the toilet, not good.  Feel weak and nauseous all next day, but keep riding somehow.  I recall Kipling's words:
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
Well, after many visits to the banheiro, there sure isn't much in me.  Destination tonight, Muriaé, not going to do much here except sleep, hopefully.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.