108 |MAY 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au
justmanaged.Thisguyiscrazy.
Thetrailcontinuesuparocky
climb to a breathtaking view of the
hills of Corupá. The feeling of
freedom is immense. Breno pulls out
some branches of arnica that grows in
the area. He kneads them between his
fingers and makes a paste that he
applies under his pants. In his fall,
our man hurt his buttocks.
On the fence of an isolated farm, a
big tarantula observes us. Then the
motorcycles rush into the darkness of
alabyrinth of vegetation. After two
hours the riders are spread all over
the place. The whole race looks like a
mess. Several motorcycles cross a
suspension bridge and make it shake.
Unbalanced, the last rider is thrown
into the river, 10 metres below.
Marquinho’s motorcycle is
swallowed by the water. It looks bad
for the poor Honda 250 Tornado (a
kind of Brazilian XR) but, only
slightly bruised, he finds the strength
tofliphisbikeontoitshandlebar.
Withthesparkplugout,greywater
pukes out everywhere. Finally, it’s
brought to life again, albeit backfiring
badly.
Further downstream, the river is
shallower. A local, wet up to his
chest, pushes a boat that carries
motorcycles by the dozen. Engines
off, the yarns are going well on the
frail craft. A friendship is created
among riders from all over the
country. Better than social media. As
the last competitors straggle in, a
tractor arrives with broken bikes and
riders in the trailer. Looking at their
faces, it looks like they’ll be back. In
2020, there could be 4000 guys ready to
ruin themselves for two bananas as a
trophy. It seems that off-road riders’
passionflowersinmud.Gotsomethingtosayaboutthisyarn?
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More images and info at adbmag.com.au1
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HAPPENING I BANANALAMA
MAIN. Sheer luxury, a Suzuki DR-Z400 is
more than most locals can afford- The swing bridge took a hammering
2. A tractor load of trail tragics arrive
back in town with tears of joy - No snags in bread here mate, this is
cebu being grilled over hot cools
Corupá is in the state of Santa Catarina, in
the southern region of Brazil, surrounded
by the mountains of the Serra do Mar
ranges and battered by waterfalls. The
region has about 13,000 inhabitants
spread over 407 square kilometres and
thousands of off-road riders have beenmeeting there once a year since 2004 to
race weird and unsuitable bikes. If the
concept sounds familiar, think Dirt Quake
in the U.S. or our Dust Hustle.
The muddy loop is about 55km long but
the ATVs now run separately for safety
reasons and travel 70km. It takes aboutfour hours to fi nish the lap, depending on
rain, with a refuel point around halfway.
Despite the laidback atmosphere, the
event is well organized with four-wheel-
drives and medics posted at strategic
intervals. Depending on your ability in
Portuguese, you can fi nd out more at
http://www.bananalama.com.brBANANALAMA CENTRAL