I was home for just two weeks after Miami OCR before heading to Brazil. I was absolutely drained when I came home from the long bout of intense training and racing, and thus all I did during my first week was recover. For week 2 I was back training, both in the gym and I got one great day on the water: sunny, windy (25-30knots), big-ish waves, fresh snow on the mountains, and yes... T'was a bit chilly too. 7 degrees plus wind chill meant extreme pain in the hands once the thawing process began onshore. Knowing that I was coming to Brazil a few days later, I couldn't really complain about anything!
On February 14th I flew to Rio, via Toronto and San Paolo. Once in Rio, I was picked up by Davidson, the taxi driver who all of us windsurfers use to shuttle us back and forth to Buzios. I had met him in 2006 and he was my tour guide then for a day in Rio, so it was great to be met by a familiar and friendly face at the airport. A very long day of traveling, but well worth it! Following the 3 hour drive, we arrived to Bimba's Windsurf Club in Buzios, aka... Paradise!
The next morning, bright and early (about 5am my time) I was on the water with the training group. Marina from Spain, Bryony from the UK, Laura from Italy, Jazmin from Argentina, a few Brazilian youth guys, and myself. Windy and warm, it was a nice start to my training in Brazil. The next 4 days were quite windy, tiring all of us out. To vary it up in training we did some destination sails - sailing around 4 different islands, to a secret surf spot that you can only get to by boat and of course the usual board handling drills.
Week two saw a change in weather (stifling hot and little breeze) and our training group shrank as some left to go back home for a bit, while some of the guys had a competition to attend. We trained early in the morning, guys and girls together for some pumping sessions. Alex, the Spanish coach was creative in his drills and made it really quite fun for us - as we did match racing with/against the guys and other good drills. Short and intense sessions were great cause the crazy heat made all of us quite slow and lazy on land. On top of the on water training, it was quite challenging to fit in gym and cardio training in the heat, but when the day was all done, bedtime was incredibly welcoming.
I've had a few days off and a bunch of us went sightseeing around the Buzios peninsula with a rented "Bugre". There are so many beautiful spots and beaches to explore here, leaving no doubt to why it is the weekend destination of the rich of Rio. Geriba beach, the beach directly on the opposite side of the peninsula to where we sail from has been pumping with waves. Many days after sailing we'd go there for a surf. We've had several group dinners - either freshly caught fish by Bimba's (the Brazilian windsurfer's) brother or just meat Brazilian style. Good times! Attached are a bunch of pics. None of sailing though. Hard to take those myself :)I can't believe it's already been two weeks of training here, with two more to go before I head home. Time is flying...
Nikola
Dear Nikola,
ReplyDeleteNice to read a Buzios Lover!
I am curious about your driver and i would like to have his number. I guess that he has a large Van or Car to carry your surf? how much you pay for the trip?
Richard
reocreux.r -at- gmail.com
Once in Rio, I was picked up by Davidson, the taxi driver who all of us windsurfers use to shuttle us back and forth to Buzios. I had met him in 2006 and he was my tour guide then for a day in Rio, so it was great to be met by a familiar and friendly face at the airport.