Across Andes
into the depths of Patagonia
The Recap
photos by Across Andes, Sami and Sebastian Samek
Writing by me
Meanwhile I want to let it pass. I also want to write down this journey because it was not just about the 15h or more pedalling, there was much more than that and would love to share it with y'all.
A nubi, us somebody new to something, as much as I have discovered most of the world on two wheels and had bike toured, travel and raced around the globe, this time everything was totally different and at the same time very similar. And there it was after 4 editions that I promised Mariano, owner of Across Andes to come, I was here in what they call nearly the end of the world, Coyhaique, the heart of Patagonia.
The preparation started way back, after a broken sacrum and the first injury ever, followed by a snow storm in Turkey that stopped the adventure of the year early than expected, I was more than nervous for this, I felt like the more I was getting ready and I was prepared the more nervous I was, this actually have happen more times.
I trained and sticked to nearly every single day of coaching, my coach has been so patience with my travels and changes every day that I don't even know how much I can thank for this journey, but in this ultra racing is not only about being "fit" is also about how you deal with things, how you pack your clothes, how you fuel for more than 12h, water, the screen of the bike computer, the lights, the charging system, the socks, the gloves, the helmet, and it goes on. List and excels of gear, plans, hours and route, I got in, veeeery deep in this and together with my partner, coach and my sports medical doctor we had plans, or a plan.
On Thursday 8th I was flying to Chile and prior to that I spent 2 weeks in Girona as the winter in the Alps came earlier than expected, therefore I also talked about the opportunity to do some check ups. After my accident my hip was still not with 100% flexibility and mobility, I didn't felt it on the bike but I did other times, decided at that point to do a MRI, prior a 1000km race and a 3 week trip to the other side of the world i don't know if this was a good idea or a bad. Got the result and even do it was better than expected it was limited on what was coming next. I had liquid on the joint in my hip and this was blocking me the mobility where long term could cause a stress fracture, great for it no? But still I wanted to give it all.
Arriving in Santiago with some rain and a bit more fresh than expected, this time of the year for them is spring and normally is between 15-25 degrees celsius. I came here early as I joined forces with Pedal Grava, a women's group in Santiago that organises all kinds of rides for women and The W collective. We had an absolute blast on Sunday with more than 35 women from all over Chile and a few internationals!
COYHAIQUE
On our first ride with a few participants we experienced the 4 seasons in one day, the sentence of every single local in this area.
After some good days in Santiago, some social rides, checking out the city and bike shops Tuesday came, the belly nerves came together into the plane over Balmaceda, the closest airport to Coyhaique. What can I say, I think what everybody experienced in the first step out of the plane is like the Ice Man into his cold water dip, literally. So all your thoughts were: this is gonna be a cold cold ride. I came early not just to "acclimatise" but to also have time and experience the area a little bit more.
On our first ride with a few participants we experienced the 4 seasons in one day, the sentence of every single local in this area. The sunshine, the snow, the rain and the wind, all together it came and the wind was proper strong gusts pulling us sometimes out of your line. And the next few days didn't change much.
The organisation of the race was very nice, most of the things happen in a place called Patagonia bikers, the mecca here for the mtb and some nice cabins next to the river. The pre race talk was more healed inside due to the weather, of course, but everything was on time and nicely set up. After the talk, it was game on. I took one of the cabs here in town and headed straight to the supermarket to buy my last item, the kitchen gloves, a very waterproof glove on a very bright yellow, but who knows at that point this could be a life saver.
The set up is complete, I was planning to take all my food and try to just stop a very briefly time over each checkpoint and supply spot, but at 11 in the night I was on anxiety thinking that my bike was way to heavy and I went down to take half of it out and only leave the first 450km of food and some extras in case. Was it a good decision? I can't tell yet but I did it.
It was 4.30am when my alarm went on, I liked the idea of taking some time in the morning, I didn't slept much, i was so, like so so so nervous than even the porridge was hard to eat and the coffee cold on the table was not going down, I can't remember the last time i was like this. In previous races I slept very well, I ate and enjoyed the time, but maybe as I said this time “I was ready”.
I quickly changed, turned on my tracker and rolled down the cold morning into the start point. Everybody had all their clothes on, you could see big eyes and deep looks on most of the faces, I didn't even emerge into the crowd but instead stayed as I came in.
3,2,1.... lets go go go!
As The race rolled out of Patagonia bikers we went straight up a 8-10% hill which made the group spread out on the long roads looking at the sunrise over some fluffy clouds that at the moment didn't seem to be rain, we enjoyed some time and chats between little groups that were passing each other or passing them.
At a point after the first 60 km which passed really really fast on time we had a quick stop towards a left hand on the first tiny glimpse of road, here's when the group of girls got very close to each other, me, Lucy Castillejos and Isidora Solari where together, and race was on. It was quite fun to share those pushy climbs and fast descents until a point I couldn't continue without doing a pee and had to say see you later, but they didn't stop as this race was not just about fast or strong, was a lot about how you deal with your clothes on the cold, and I had just got a Rapha bib short with clip on the back on the last minute because I wanted to be fast and efficient on the toilette situation.
Meanwhile the metres on the bike computer were rising, the landscape was also changing and soon we were going to be on one of the highest spots of the race at the Trapananda national park and its highest peak Cerro punta del monte. There was a mix of side and tail winds but as you zoom out the map you could see that turn into the headwind and open space where from there 25km were left already for CP01.
At a certain point my feet were sore because I put on big thick socks, another great learning, with also my new Fizik gorotex shoes, and I think just before the first drops of rain came through I decided to change them and add also my rain pants. With this I think I had 20-25 min already stopping, the time goes so fast when you calculate this. Our goal at this point was still catching the ferry the next day.
I came in CP01 at I think 5.30pm, at this point I saw Lucy already ready to roll and Isidora inside just ordering her second plate of food. I was like on a one day race, but the difference was they had pasta to eat and I decided to sit down and eat that pasta on 0,5 seconds or as fast as I could.
Filled up my bottles and camelback, added carbs, hydration tablets, stamped by card, chitchated to some people, convinced Isidora to come to Traka and off I went back on the bike.
The rain and it's drops where bigger, and the "worst" was about to come, I didn't stop from there to villa Mañihuales where I saw over the dot everybody on the front part of the race stopped there, besides Lucy, she kept going and at some point I decided to call her just to say that doing that at night was not safe. She did turn around and found some cabins with a wood stove where I could nicely share. And there we were, I got Ferrero Rocher as a little treat, she ordered pizza and we were drying all the stuff while trying to understand the next steps. When Sebastian, her partner rolled in he was absolutely soaked, he got the biggest and hardest racing and wind, was so crazy the sound over the cabin. We set an alarm by 6am with some hope that it will stop, and at 4am we saw the first girl move. I couldn't sleep, I was anxious, my HR was high, I was thinking on million plans, ideas and ways to do this race, but nothing sort of felt into place. We left later than expected with a snack of pizza and a few cookies on the belly, full "waterproof" gear, a bag of chips and a broken emergency blanket on my feet to protect from the water coming from the pants, we embarked our journey into the Carretera Austral and towards the north part of the race.
It was soaking wet, when we found a shelter and saw some bikes just before villa Amengual town, km 356 of the race. We stopped, took our clothes very fast, dried them on another wood stove, took lunch, breakfast and all we could eat. I was shivering at this point, on the last small downhill I struggle to generate any kind of heat and my body was in low temperature, even inside next to the stove was so hard to get on any kind of temperature for me. I was not staying dry on the bottom and that was tough, at a point the place told me there was one room left, I took it, I said I will wait here and when is better I will go but I cannot make it again under the rain. So I let my friends go...
Lucy took nearly 9 hours to the next town and then tackled the night to make it La junta. I don't know if I could have done 9 hours without being dry... I was still undecided if scratching or not, I wanted to wait, try and rest and continue, but things didn't look good for any change. And therefore after putting A, B, C options and reading them over and over again, I decided to stop.
When they picked me up, my whole body calmed down, my HR was low and I could feel that I could finally close my eyes and sleep, even though I was looking at the landscape from the car because I couldn't lift my head over on the bike. That sense of release that I've never experienced before, it was nice and sad at the same time, my head, heart and mind had all kinds of emotions but at the same time I was safe and dry.
As this first ultra didn't go as planned I had the eager for more and I felt that I didn't give it all for sure, but I took the entire beautiful trip to Chile as a learning, a truly adventure meeting new people, discovering new cultures and landscapes, where everything ended with a beautiful horse ride with a truly gaucho.
At the end of the story this events/ races (still not sure how we should call them) are not just to compete against others but they offer a experience of lifetime, somewhere that maybe you wouldn't go or cycle if it was not thanks to the event itself, the people you meet on the road that help you out, offer food a home and a heat, the others who you cross every here and there over the entire course, it all has a beautiful meaning and I feel that's why we keep going back to them, over and over again.
