In France

I'm at the Aveyron Adventure Race and settling into the French way of adventure racing again.
Each country has its own way of going about organising things and pre-race here so far has been very relaxed. If I were at a 3 day non-stop race at home in the UK the night before the race would be busy, busy, busy and grabbing a bite to eat would be something to do between other tasks.  Not so in France, where eating has a much more important role in the race organisation!
All of the organisers sat down for a meal together for a couple of hours last night and we will be looking over the race maps later with the organiser, over lunch of course! Races here often have their own catering team to feed the race staff as well, and the social side of the organisation is one of the most pleasant aspects of covering a race here.
As I don't speak French the dinner time conversation passes me by, but luckily Anne-Marie Dunhill is here to translate and look after the visiting international media. I do still have to do the 'secondary translation' before publication as 'French English' AR terms are often more of a direct translation. At the moment the 'Technical Verifications' are taking place - that is the gear checks.
A few others as follows; 'security' is safety (it's not making sure the bikes are locked), 'Orientation' is navigation, VTT is mountain biking etc. etc. International AR translation is all part of the SleepMonsters service!
Another social aspect of this race is that teams here have a support crew, and these will camp with the organisers at  transitions. (Race camps too are part of the French AR tradition.) Supported races are rare these days, but they are much more popular in France and it adds another dimension to the race as we will be catching with news of the teams through their supporters and meeting them along the way.
It's going to be an enjoyable week here in beautiful scenery of Aveyron.