Rio de Janiero arrival.

We left Sao Paulo on 27 April, and had a solid five days of cycling to get to Rio de Janeiro.  With over 450 kilometers and 4300 metres of elevation gain and loss, our bodies weren't keen on doing too much walking.  The very heavily laden tandem bicycle was enough to keep our muscles strong. And tired.

Most days through that journey we did still walk to some degree though.  But there wasn't much about it that was very fast.  Instead, it was solid, and mainly for tourist reasons, as we visited some nice parks and gardens, and also the second largest Catholic church in the world.  Who'd have thought that was in Aparecida, a rather small city in Brazil.

One night was spent at a roadside hotel, and in the morning after a good sleep, we made a decent and solid effort hill climb, for the beautiful vistas of the surrounding mountains.  So our legs certainly weren't idle.

With the heavy bike stowed away in the underground garage of the apartment building we are staying at here in Rio, our minds again turned to walking, and preparation for the five long events we have in Europe.

Two days ago we cycled a 70km loop with no baggage here in the city, taking in the sights of the metropolis and the famous Copacabana beach.  We also made a steep hill climb up sugarloaf, which was ideal for stengthening the quads and calves.

Yesterday, we completed a flat walk of almost 30km, from our apartment home in Grajau to the main uban area of Rio and back.  We visited the docks, science museum, naval museum, many churches, important old buildings, and some market squares.

We even managed to find a couple of things we needed at the flea market, rummaging around in piles of all sorts laid out on the ground by different vendors.

Many parks and gardens in that walk too, the highlight of which was Praca da Republica – Campo de Santana.  It is home to about 200 cats.  And they are all friendly.  So they got a lot of love from us!

We still have a very big hill to climb here in Rio, and have a 20km flat and fast walk planned as well.  But with the continental centurion now less than two weeks away, that will be all.  It's time to freshen up, and it's always a battle to find the right volume and intensity to maintain the fitness and strength, whilst also allowing the body to feel fresh and energised.  We've been at these ultras for nearly 20 years now, but still don't have a fool-proof recipe for getting that final taper right.