The trip begins in Santa Cruz

The trip begins in Santa Cruz
Adventure with a cause! Starting point: Stansberry Children's Home - Santa Cruz, Boliva

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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Crossing the Border

So if you have tried to follow the GPS tracking you might be a little confused as to what is going on.  Well, this morning everyone went back to the border to official cross into Brasil and they were there for over an hour but it went extremely well, there were no issues crossing and once everyone got things they needed (phone cards, money changed, food, etc.) they headed back to Pedro's house to do some bike maintenance and have lunch.  They then will be heading out to the Paraguay River and will look for a place to stay when they get there.  It will be about a 70 km day so will get a bit of an unplanned "break" from the previously planned back-2-back 200 km days.  They will however have to make up this distance at a later date.

This is what today will look like.


Friday, June 13, 2014

The first 200+ day

UPDATE:

They arrived in Corumba around 7:00 this evening and are with our friend Predro and his family.  They did indeed leave at 5:00 in the morning with the support trailing them until sunrise then again in the evening had the van tailing them until they arrived.  They did 9 hours and 48 minutes cycling and a total of 220km/137 mi.  Here are a few more shots from the day.

Mario joining the group!

Gabriel with part of a meal.  I would like to know more about where this came from.

A little stretch

I believe this is them leaving Bolivia.

Mario, Milton, Pedro and Neto relaxing after a long day.

The schedule will be modified a bit for tomorrow.  The Brazilian border was closed when they arrived so they will have to go back at 8:00 am to do their paperwork.  They had planned another 200 km day but they will do a shorter one tomorrow and they add the extra km's on one of the planned shorter days...confusing, I though so.

END UPDATE



Looks like the group is making great progress so far today. Check out the tracker to see where they are at and when they arrive in Corumba. Here is some of what has been going on today other than cycling.


A good skillet for breakfast. 





Irai's turn to try out a new ride.


If all goes well, our next communication should be from Brasil. Thankfully they are having better cycling weather they we are here in Santa Cruz. 


This is what it looks like today in SC


Thursday, June 12, 2014

End of Day Three and All is Well

I have word that the team made it in to Aguas Calientes around 4:00 this afternoon and other a few flat tires they had a really good trip. It was a gorgeous day and although it was quite windy, it was mostly a tail wind and at times they were doing 38km/h without over-exerting themselves. They are working on getting an internet connection to send the days pics and I will post them as soon as they arrive.
Mario is planning on taking a bus this evening to meet them before they leave in the morning. More on that as it develops.

UPDATE:
So here are the guys starting the morning with the Brazilian national anthem.


Rest stop along the way.


In the end they opted for the bicycles.








Tomorrow they have their first 200+ km day so the plan is to leave as early as 5:00 am to make sure they have enough day light to complete the leg. The support van will run behind them until sunrise. Here is what it looks like on the map.


Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Pozo del Tigre to San Jose de Chiquitos

The group arrived safe and sound around 2:00 in the afternoon to San Jose de Chiquitos.  130 km more and everyone is still feeling good.  They did have to trudge through a good bit of mud to get back to the road in the morning and they needed about an hour to clean out their breaks and tires.



More from day 2.  Thanks Julie for the images.











Tomorrow they head out to Aguas Calientes (the hot springs) so they should have a chance to relax Jacuzzi style upon arrival. They will have roughly 165 km to cover which will be the longest of the first three days.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Day One is in the Books

A few more highlights from day 1.

The Santa Cruz police provided the team with a motorcycle escort to see them safely outside the city limits. It started with one as they left the home and by the end there were about six.  They stopped traffic at all the intersections on the way out of the city to help everyone stay together.

There first stop in Pailon.  Leon rode out in the van so he was able to get some extra footage. 

Don Quito, the support vehicle driver, preparing hot water for some coffee and tea. This will be there mean of preparing food when there are no restaurants around.

Lunch break in Tres Cruces, about 40 km from their final destination for the day.

They arrived in Pozo del Tigre around 4:30 pm and everyone was doing well.  Some friends of Stansberry's provided housing for the evening.  We want to thank all those who have been a part of this project and look forward to sharing the experience over the next few weeks.

And They're Off

The journey begins! At 6:05 am June 10, seven of the eight cyclists left from Stansberry's Children Home on the way to their first stop, Pozo del Tigre. The eighth cyclist, Mario, will be meeting up with them in Aguas Calientes on the third day. If you would like to keep tabs on their progress click on the Real-Time Tracking tab at the top of the blog.