Brasil First Day of Filming: "Surf & Turf"

Today was pretty dam cool. I drove over the mountain range from Centro to Lagoa da Conceição and met up with my 2 camera operators Weslei Vianna and Sydney Pihiero. Wes is actually staying at the the Surf house we filmed at. My host for the day was Luiz Stadler and his wife Lucy. They were absolutely awesome and we had a blast!! After showing me around the surf house, a whole group of us went to a secret surf spot, where the waves were crappy but the comradery was killer. I discovered that my Skins short sleeve top not only "improves power and endurance", but also acts as an amazing rash gaurd while surfing...double bonus!

Between my broken Spanish and the Brazilians broken English, we had no trouble communicating all day. It was probably much like a cycling peleton, where an Italian rider and an American rider are having a conversation in Spanish.

After surfing we headed back to Lagoa da Conceição to grab a bite to eat. Luis insisted we all go to this place called "O Barba Negra". This is a MUST EAT restaurant. We had all kinds of amazing seafood that you'll have to wait for the show to see. But, I'll say they served us this dish called Camarón en Moranga, which is served in a pumpkin and is going to make Thanksgiving a whole new experience. Tomorrow is an off day from filming and I need to put my bike together so I be blogging to you!

Caio!

ROOKIE MANEUVER

No matter how seasoned a traveler you may think you are, it doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes. I’d like to think I’m a veteran of international travel, but that doesn’t automatically make you impervious to blunders.

It never dawned on me to check if I needed a Visa for Brasil!!! A classic rookie maneuver. I made a huge mistake writing off the entirety of Latin America as this dynamic and free flowing appendage to domestic travel. I mean after all, I make my home in Miami, a place loaded with Brazilians, Argentinians, Colombians, Chileans….flying in and out all day, every day. Well, I found out otherwise, when I wasn’t allowed to board the plane headed for Sao Paulo a few days ago. Then, when I showed up at the Consulate to get a visa, I was informed it’s a 2 business day wait!!! I was very fortunate, and the Consulate was very nice when they made an exception to let my sorry butt through. But still, it was an easily avoidable blunder had I simply checked out the situation online.

What’s funny about the whole situation is when I spoke to several people about it, they told me they never said anything because they assumed I knew. They made that assumption based on my frequent international travels. The simple lesson to learn here, which applies to endurance sports as well, is stick to your basic checklist! I remember almost exactly a year ago, reading Johan Bruyneel’s book and he said exactly that. He said the main thing he does with his riders is keep them doing the very basic things we forget about (like eating and drinking). Endurance sports, travel, business, learning…this lesson is applicable everywhere you turn. Needless to say, I am in Florianopolis a day late and a little wiser.

O, and one more thing...everyone down here was quick to tell my why U.S. citizens pay $130 for our visa and wait 2 days. It's because the Brasil's government is treating U.S. citizens the same way we treat Brasilians. It's hard to argue with the logic, even if it only hurts tourism in the end.

The video was shot along the beach of Baia Norte in the Centro district of Florianopolis.