December 10, 2001

By Susan McKenzie

It was probably one of the worse kept secrets on Tortola, and possibly throughout the British Virgin Islands. Sailors and divers and kayakers and virtually every one of the few mountain bikers in the country figured out the route that Expedition BVI course would go. Some islanders helped design certain sections, others offered invaluable advice, and many more just looked at the maps and took a really good guess. For the athletes racing the 205 mile-course, however, the route remained a mystery until late Sunday afternoon, when race management unveiled the map.

"It's going to be a hard, hot race, with lots of thorns" says race director Don Mann.

"Pretty much everything around here has thorns," adds race course designer Ian Adamson, who has done the entire course enough times to know. (And in the water, the sea urchins have equally sharp spikes.)

As most islanders already knew, the inaugural EBVI launches Tuesday morning on Lambert Beach, on Tortola's north coast. As their sailboats hover offshore, the 24 teams participating in the race will run down the beach, grab their sea kayaks and hit the surf.

"Lambert is a popular place to surf," says race director Don Mann. "A lot of inexperienced kayakers will probably dump a few times on the way out to the sailboats."

The racers will spend the next few hours in and out the water, either paddling, swimming and coastaleering from Lambert Beach west along Tortola's north coast. Their first taste of coastaleering (a combination of swimming and scrambling along the coast) will come when they reach Brewers Bay, where they will swap their kayaks and paddles for sturdy shoes.

Don Mann says that section of coastaleering could pose a problem to teams. "The rocks are very slick, so it's easy to lose your balance. In some cases, teams may decide to swim, rather than coastaleer. It may be slower, but it's also faster."

In fact, if the surf is too rough, the race organizers may force all the teams to take the slower, safer route and swim the section.

The athletes won't be sticking around Tortola much on that first day. A quick paddle will take them to another British Virgin Island, Jost van Dyke, where they will see dry land for the first time since the start

Not exactly the kind of dry land they might be hoping for, though. The trek across Jost van Dyke will be a nasty slog through thick walls of thorns, spiky brush and aptly-named "Wait-A-Minute" vines, which pull and shred at your clothes, and are difficult to untangle once they wrap around you.

Both Ian Adamson and Don Mann still bear the scars of their most recent hike along Jost van Dyke.

"It's a really, really, really slow trek," says Ian Adamson. "You can get caught up in the vines, and they really scratch you up."

On Jost van Dyke, the teams will coastaleer then rappel off a cliff in the water.

"It's sharp, brittle rock," says Mann. "Really test your footing before you move."

The first day of racing will finish at Foxy's Bar, where racers must participate in what the race staff will only refer to as "a secret activity." (This is the Caribbean after all!)

The top teams may cover the first day's events in ten to twelve hours, which gives them half the day to recover and prepare for Day Two. Teams that check out of CP2 after noon will be moved into the "Adventure" category, and will continue to race on a shortened course. Nevertheless, they will be on the course for several hours more than the lead teams. The race course will be open 24 hours a day, but those teams that finish each day's course in fewer than 24 hours will be able to sleep, eat and strategize.

"We want everyone to enjoy the race," says Adamson. "Creating categories means the top teams can remain challenged, while the slower teams or less experienced teams can still race"

Day Two begins with a yacht regatta, after which the teams will return to their kayaks, and paddle back to their "home away from home" for this reef, race headquarters at the Prospect Reef Resort on Tortola. They spend most of the day either paddling to Tortola or mountain biking on Tortola: a feat which many locals view with no small measure of bemusement. Tortola's roads are steep and narrow, with tight turns and no lane markings. And the U.S. and European teams will also have to remember that BV Islanders drive on the left, a fact that race organizers have not been able to stress enough. "LOOK RIGHT, THEN LEFT!" is the instruction tucked into newsletter and instructions.

The bike course the teams will follow is in fact a course created by former Tour de France cyclist Chris Ghirose, who works at a bike shop on the island. Called the Tour de Tola, the 40 miles course has plenty of uphill and not much shade. Hardcore bikers will have a ball; those less experienced may end up pushing their bikes a fair bit.

The teams take a break from the bikes at the Bomba Shack, one of the BVI's best-known bars. Another island-spiced surprise activity is planned at the Bomba Shack.

The teams leave Tortola and head out to the Norman Island, where another brutal trek awaits.

"Norman Island is covered in prickly pear," says Don Mann. "The spikes cut right through the soles of your shoes, and it feels like really brutal acupuncture." After the hike there's another stop at another bar (this is supposed to be a FUN race, remember), the Billy Bones Bar.

"Billy Bones has probably one of the best burgers in the BVI," admits Mann. From Billy they go to Willy - the Willy T, where yet another surprise activity awaits. But it's a boat - so getting wet may be involved.

Day Three includes two of the most anticipated sections of the race: the underwater navigation and a visit to The Baths on Virgin Gorda. The dive section is the only section with required times. That means that if a team finishes the section ahead of schedule, they will be penalized, not praised.

"So much of the beauty in the BVI is underwater, and we want people to enjoy this dive," says Don Mann. "We don't want them rushing through just to save a few minutes. It's a waste - and it's not safe."

Course designer Ian Adamson is a big fan of the water, and an equally big fan of navigation, so it's no surprise he's included two sections of navigation - one underwater and one above ground, and both on the third day and on Virgin Gorda.

The race wraps up on Friday, which will likely be a shorter day than the previous three. The teams leave Virgin Gorda and head back to the Prospect Reef resort, via Beef Island. By the time they cross the finish line, the teams in the Competitor category will have biked, kayaked, coastaleered, swam and hiked more than 200 miles, across half a dozen of the British Virgin Islands. The winner will take home a cash prize of $60,000 US.