Eurochallenge 2012
Wednesday May 2, 2012
Following is my report on the week leading up to and including the race. It's a work in progress and will change daily. For anyone thinking of doing the race next year use this as your reference as I find out what works and what doesn't.
Coming from the west coast of North America there's an eight hour time change. It took me four days to adjust to this so either arrive just a few days previous to the race before your body realizes what's going on or give it a week and see some of Spain and France as I did.
I flew United at a cost of $1300. I booked the flight about 10 days before leaving and there were still seats available on each of the three legs - either it's a low travel time of the year or there really is a recession going on.
I rented a BMW 116 from Hertz at the Madrid airport. Cost was $ Luckily this vehicle was cheap on fuel as I wasn't ready for the highway tolls which amounted to about 40 euros each way for the drive to France. The tolls cost more than the diesel. This small car was ideal for travel and more specifically parking. The on street parking is crowded and some of the hotel parking spots (most of which charge 10 + euros / day for a spot) required work to get into.
I stayed at a variety of hotels from an 18 € / night pension in Villajoyosa, the race sponsored Allon Hotel (212 € for 4 nights) and two paradors (don't ask €).
Thanks to Daryl of Think for arranging a boat and paddle for me. The race site listed boats from 60 € for the two days of the race and 120 € for the week. Think, Epic and Fenn boats were available. If you're thinking of doing the race next year the first thing to do would be to reserve a boat and paddle. The hotel and flight and car weren't such a priority.
Spain is taking some getting used to as I'm having trouble finding a few things. Food for example. More to come.......
Wednesday May 2, 2012
Following is my report on the week leading up to and including the race. It's a work in progress and will change daily. For anyone thinking of doing the race next year use this as your reference as I find out what works and what doesn't.
Coming from the west coast of North America there's an eight hour time change. It took me four days to adjust to this so either arrive just a few days previous to the race before your body realizes what's going on or give it a week and see some of Spain and France as I did.
I flew United at a cost of $1300. I booked the flight about 10 days before leaving and there were still seats available on each of the three legs - either it's a low travel time of the year or there really is a recession going on.
I rented a BMW 116 from Hertz at the Madrid airport. Cost was $ Luckily this vehicle was cheap on fuel as I wasn't ready for the highway tolls which amounted to about 40 euros each way for the drive to France. The tolls cost more than the diesel. This small car was ideal for travel and more specifically parking. The on street parking is crowded and some of the hotel parking spots (most of which charge 10 + euros / day for a spot) required work to get into.
I stayed at a variety of hotels from an 18 € / night pension in Villajoyosa, the race sponsored Allon Hotel (212 € for 4 nights) and two paradors (don't ask €).
Thanks to Daryl of Think for arranging a boat and paddle for me. The race site listed boats from 60 € for the two days of the race and 120 € for the week. Think, Epic and Fenn boats were available. If you're thinking of doing the race next year the first thing to do would be to reserve a boat and paddle. The hotel and flight and car weren't such a priority.
Spain is taking some getting used to as I'm having trouble finding a few things. Food for example. More to come.......
No comments:
Post a Comment