Brazil – Exploration notes

Pleasure that has no end, is one of the first sentence that I read and learnt in Brazil. Landing in Sāo Paulo international airport with my bike had this special flavor of coming back to an unexplored land. I had crossed twice the western part of South America from North to South but I never had the opportunity yet to ride the country/continent: BRAZIL ! The BikingMan route that Vinicius Martins (veteran of IncaDivide 2018 and 2019) was a complete surprise for me.

This sentence was written on the coffee mug that Vini handed me as we were about to head to Taubaté city (1h30 from Sāo Paulo center), the start and finish of the tentative route he had worked on. I couldn’t have imagined the impact it would have on me during this 1.000 kilometers exploration of the most beautiful roads and trails of this country. Accompanied by Breno (veteran from Incadivide race), Boi and Cesar (media crew), we were ready to start our 5 days journey with three different bike configurations: one gravel on 700c wheels, a 29er and one gravel on 650b wheels.

We started riding at 6h35 after eating our early breakfast prepared by the kind owners of our guest house. Getting out from Taubaté, I could already feel the heat on my skin. In January, the temperature in Europe can be freezing. Lucky me, I could be in Brazil at this time of the year, ready to expose my body to temperatures ranging from 16 to 41°C !

A wide and well designed cycling lane got us out from Taubaté in a blink of an eye. The smells of farmlands nearby and the sight of the “Mantiqueira mountain” (the crying mountain), named because of the impressive number of rivers flowing on its slopes, were enough to warm up my legs. Vinicius, who explored thousands of kilometers of Sāo Paulo state and who organizes several Audax brevet, told me the story of the Tupiniquim people who were the local inhabitants of this region back in the 16th century.

Brasil can’t be pictured by foreigners without dreaming of its spectacular Amazon rain forest. Yet, the “Mata Atlântica” (Atlantic Forest) is an ecosystem more dense than the Amazon forest. It is the first environment encountered by the Portuguese explorers 500 years ago. The size, the smells and the atmosphere I discovered, were an unparalleled experience for my European senses. After our first climb, we stopped in the beautiful village of Santo Antônio do Pinhal to taste the famous “pāo de queijo” (bread with cheese) that would become my favorite carry-out food of the journey.

At km 60, we hit the first cobblestone section and it felt like a short Paris-Roubaix experience. We were then surrounded by hundreds of Eucalyptus trees, covering this terrain made of constant Brazilian hills. Sāo Paulo state is ranked second among the main eucalyptus producing states, with more than 2.3 million planted acres. Colorful birds were flying over our heads as we were attacking the never ending hills of the course. It reminded me of a dreadful mixture between Colombian green hills and Portuguese steep ascents of the Algarve mountains. I was literally trying to catch my breath as we were rushing into the first gravel segment on 19/20% gradients. It was a spectacular jungle experience, but brutal. Roots and rocks were fighting over the ground, between two segments of glowing red tracks. Back then, I was thinking it might be paradise of gravel grinding. Quiet “haciendas” of wealthy land owners dotted the green hills and we were often warmly greeted by locals.

The first serious pass of the day, perched at 1.500m altitude brought the thermometer down as we got ready for a long downhill and another long climb up to 1.300m. My 47mm tires (650b wheel-set) were reacting brilliantly on both tarmac and gravel, although Vinicius was definitely faster with his 700c wheels. The following hours were a succession of high highs and some low lows when the rain entered the gravel game we were into. It did help though to clean our faces from the dirt coming from the tires. Surrounded by the fireflies at dusk, we reached a necessary evil: 38 km of flat highway before the village of Igarata. It allowed us to get a good speed momentum, on a large shoulder, and reach our first stop at a lovely and cheap guest house.

The early start was hard. Not because of my sore legs but because Breno had to jump in the media car. His knees were hurting too much, a pain he had been enduring with an incorrect position on the bike, caused by his broken saddle. We kept a high rolling pace with Vini to get away from the highway shoulder and reach the quiet back roads of Guararema. It felt almost like home for Vinicius. He had been organizing several popular Audax brevets starting and finishing from there.

We were then joined by IncaDivide veteran Fred Kastrup, who had planned to ride with us for the next 3 days. With his fresh legs, we smashed our way to Salesópolis by crossing numerous gravel sections and zig-zagging between holes in a heavenly landscape very quiet Brazilian gravel tracks.

Shortly after Salesópolis town, where we had a warm coffee break, we were supposed to follow the “Estradá da Petrobras“; a quiet gravel track which joins the Atlantic coast. I could already feel the breeze of the ocean in my nose. A road patrol stopped us few kilometers away from the start of the track to warn us of a heavy landslide provoked by the recent rains. There was no possibility for us to cross, even by bicycles. In our misfortune, we explored a beautiful alternative forest route (road SP-088) which would join back the main road SP-099. At km 121, a light rain started to fall. We were not particularly tired, but we stopped at Bairro do Cedro village to enjoy one of the best “Açai” smoothie: a Brazilian specialty of frozen mashed fruit of the açaí palm. This is one of the best ultracycling fuel on Earth!

At this point, my front brake pads were already burnt out. The rookie mistake of not controlling my pads, after the Chaskis expedition from last July, was putting me in a dangerous position. I couldn’t use my front brake correctly. Once on the SP-099 asphalt road, we smashed the pedals on a narrow shoulder for 13 kilometers under a pouring rain to reach a quiet gravel road. It was my first proper Brazilian rain experience. My eyes were crying rain drops and I had to take off my sunglasses to zigzag between holes. Soaked to the bones, we decided to call it a day at Pouso Alto village. We were welcomed by a lady, owner of a very nice bakery, who advised us to sleep in the attic of the building. It was the perfect opportunity to use her water hose to wash our bikes, clothes and shoes and dry everything in our improvised hotel.

The rain had stopped overnight. We woke up very early to eat our spare vegetarian hamburger from last night and left at 5:30 am in the first light of the day. Staying at an altitude close to 1.000m for 50 kilometers, this segment has been a miracle ride. We found ourselves immersed on narrow and splendid tracks. In the heart of such dense vegetation, the sounds of the animals were impressive. I didn’t know that back then, but it has been my favorite experience of this Brazilian recon. Our gravel bikes were dancing on the damaged tracks as we were pushing watts on the hilly terrain. The rewards were numerous with splendid views over deep rivers and inhabited valleys where we could see farmers working.

At the corner of road SP-125, we hit back the asphalt for a windy and fast ride to Ubatuba coastal town. Going down the “Serra de Ubatuba” climb was a very bad idea with no front brake ! It took me a long time to realize the burning smell was coming from it. We were still faster than the cars on that ridiculously steep section. The first views over the Atlantic Ocean gave me the feeling of the sailors ashore who had finally reached the port to set sail. Fortunately, I could fix my front brake pad, in one of the numerous Ubatuba bike shops, and decided to carry some spares…

The coastal road BR-101 offered a large shoulder all the way, where we could enjoy some time-trial sessions as a group. The traffic was busier because of the week-end and summer season. Hopefully, it would be way quieter during the official dates of BikingMan Brazil (June). The coastal views were mostly enjoyable on “Ilha do Prumirim” (Prumirim island), famous for its white sand beaches.

The day ended in the coastal city of Paraty, with its beautiful historic center scattered with churches, cobblestones covered streets and many restaurants. We identified the perfect checkpoint location for the BikingMan event, with a lovely guest house just by the entrance of the old town.

At daybreak, my body could hear the monster calling of Brazil’s most difficult climb: Paraty! With a peak altitude of 1.500m, this climb has one dreadful segment of 9km with an 11% average gradient. During our slow ascent, we could hear the cars’ engines yelling afar and observe the abandoned hubcaps on the side of the road. It was hard work on the asphalt part. On the cobblestones one, however, the gradients softened to allow us to pace and recover. At the top, I shivered for the first time and we smashed the long descent until km 36 for our first coffee stop, in a wonderful touristic restaurant with delicious dishes (and desserts). It was providence that we got to refuel seriously as the next series of successive challenges was known to be brutal.

The Paraty pass marked the natural border of the Atlantic forest. We then entered an area with open green hills and not a single meter of flat roads. Our legs devoured percentages all afternoon in a setting that would look like Switzerland, if it wasn’t for the heat! Some ridge roads allowed us to enjoy breathtaking view over the country/continent. Our progress was slow. It felt as if Brazil was absorbing us and we were just exploring a very tiny part of the these lands. The super fast descents on the cobblestones, gave to Vinicius the opportunity to show his ability to brake later than me!

The night ended up winning its war against the day. At km 175, under the dim lighting of our bike lights, Vinicius revealed the last surprise of the day. We turned left on a gravel shortcut which would take us to Resende town. With 4.000m of elevation gain in the bank, we entered into a final fury ride with Vini and smashed that 20 km long gravel segment. Surrounded by a delusional sound background, it was one of my most exciting night gravel experiences. Our stupid decision to burn our thighs to reach our hotel in the evening was a boon because we arrived just before the closing of the last pizzeria in town…

The first 25 kilometers were a fast spin on another highway shoulder. We were electrified by the challenge ahead of us; the highest climb of Brazil: “Garganta do Registro“. After leaving the highway, we slowly started climbing for almost 50km non-stop. My experience of the very long Andean climbs did help to stay patient and not burn energy unnecessarily. At 1.700m, a thin drizzle soaked us completely and we stopped for a few minutes in one of the shops, before the turn to the secret gravel road to the top of the climb.

We pushed until the entrance to Itatiaia National Park with not a single soul around. The mist took over the surrounding jungle and we could hear the vegetation feeding on the humid air. The air became scarcer as the gravel track deteriorated. The view from the summit sign at 2.450m above sea level was a blessing. But we didn’t make any old bones and rode down as fast as we could to reach the sea level and a gigantic restaurant to refuel.

A short 20km highway shoulder allowed us to spin to Cruzeiro town and follow the final short but steep gravel hills away from the main highway. We then cruised the last 5km in town on the same cycling lane we had taken at the start. But this time, we had ridden 980km and climbed 15.500m on one of the most beautiful route I had ever explored. Our stop for the night was at the same guest house and we couldn’t reach the Subway fast-food nearby in time before it closed.

Legs were completely destroyed by the steep hills of the course. I could already say that Brazil had taken my breath away and definitely won its place in the BikingMan series.

#bikingmanBrazil