Tour de la Patagonia

Stage 1: 02/12/2010

Route: San Martin de los Andes to Hua Hum, along the shores of Lago Lacar

Distance: 49 km

Time: 2:31:51

Day 1

As with most South American races I’ve been to, the start resembles a dance party with pulsing music and a chaotic energy. The race was a mass start with 700 people, broken into two start groups: open men followed buy everyone else 15 minutes later. With that many riders, it was a good way to start the field to avoid unnecessary congestion. The controlled start rolled through the picturesque town of San Martin de los Andes, but within minutes turned uphill as the lead motorcycle peeled off. The hill was a wake up call, and all the mixed teams started pushing and towing just minutes into the race. Heidi’s anxiety was high and she started really, really fast. I had some initial pangs of insecurity about my winter season fitness, but we quickly found a rhythm on the first climb and settled into a good race pace. We entered the single track with the top mixed teams and got really excited about the technical terrain Our flow was disrupted when we quickly came across the back of the men’s field. Our clean, unrestricted lines near the front of the pack vanished and the rest of the stage was a video game of passing and dodging traffic. It made for some interesting riding and even more interesting communications. Heidi and I were skirting around people and moving through the field quickly. I have to admit, it does make you feel ultra fast to pass hundreds of people in a bike race. Neither of us speaks much Spanish, so we threw around Spanglish phrases and added lots of “gracias” for good measure. For the most part, all the guys were extremely nice about letting us pass and were somewhat astonished as two female riders ripped by. There are some great athletes in Argentina, but the ratio of male to female racers is still quite disproportionate. Much of my inspiration for racing in South America is to act as a role model and encourage the local female riders to develop their skills and get out on the trails.

For our first ride EVER together, Heidi and I fell into a smooth rhythm quickly. She hammered hard and we communicated about pacing, passing, and strategies to work the course. We worked the drafting, did a little pushing and got to the finish line sandwiched between the 1st and 2nd place mixed teams. At a time of 2:31, the stage was super short for us, but we were laughing and passing tons of people on the sweet singletrack sections that day. Stayed at a picturesque lakeside camp with 700 other racers and our friends from San Martin who are following the race. Their kids even made special flags with our names on them that they waved at the start. After the stage, the bike and body maintenance began. We washed our bikes and bodies in the frigid lake, got a great massage (a gift), the Specialized dealer, Adventure Store, had mechanics on hand to dial in the bikes so we could just relax, drink mate and refuel.

Stage 2

Route: Hua Hum, Argentina into Chile for a brief time and ending in Lago Verde in Argentina

Distance: Approximately 70 km broken into two stages

Time: 3:59:02

This stage was 12 hours of logistics and travel for four hours of racing. The pre-dawn start was a neutral 16 km rollout to the ferry launch for a 90 minute ride across Lago Pirehueico. The entire ferry was jammed with bikes and athletes trying to stay warm and snoozing before the start of the real racing. After disembarking, we lined up for another mass start, this time with the top 50% of the field. It was a high speed roadie start on sketchy gravel roads with about 350 people jockeying for position. We’d been up for 6 hours already and people were jonesing to get on their bikes and pedal fast. The group was moving along rapidly at about 40 km per hour and Heidi and I were just mainlining position and being super alert. Rocks were flying around and the traction was a bit like surfing around the corners. Add into the mix, occasional bridges with broken boards, tire sized slots, no guard rails and you have a recipe for disaster. About 15 minutes into the race, we’d already had numerous close calls when the crash happened. A couple of riders near Heidi got squirrely, touched tires and took out about 5 other racers, including Heidi. I was in front of here, but heard the mayhem and pulled to the side to see if she was involved. Hundreds of other racers and most of the field flew by and when the dust cleared, I could see Heidi’s red Specialized kit rolling towards me. She was upright, but not uninjured. We rode on and began working to pass people back and get onto a train for this mostly dirt road stage. Her elbow and knee were dripping blood, her team kit was torn and there was blood on her race number. She’s incredibly tough, so we just kept riding and worked through the field. We never regained our position with the top peleton, but we got through the first part of the stage in decent position. This is where the South American culture came in. The 70 km stage was broken into two separate race sections with a mandatory 90 minute break in the town of Liquine so racers could have the traditional giant mid-day meal. It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen and I’m not sure why we did not just keep riding, but it was part of the rules. People were splayed across a park area, buying plates of pasta, eating chips and socializing. I used the opportunity to clean Heidi’s wounds with my Adventure Medical Kit and take stock of our situation. She was bruised and her shorts and jersey pockets were full of gravel. Most of her injuries were not threatening, but the cut on her elbow was deep, wide and would require stitches. However, she could continue the stage. Some of the other riders in the crash were not so lucky. There were multiple injuries including a broken hand, ribs and shoulder dislocation. I cleaned her up as best as I could and put butterfly bandages on the wound to keep it from stretching wider. We wrapped it and then put her arm warmer over the injury to keep the bandages in place. The second stage for the day was about 40 km, mostly uphill. Heidi and I did really well with the multi hour climb and finished this stage just behind the top mixed team. Our camp spot was another beautiful lakeside setting on Lago Verde with volcanic rock and black sand beaches. Our group of friends all went to work on Heidi’s arm cleaning while we waited for the doctor who would be able to stitch her up to arrive. We had some really qualified mountain guides and outdoor professionals among our group and we did a decent job of getting it clean and prepped for her stitches. Heidi never once flinched as we scrubbed and pulled at her skin. She got three stitches from the doctor and the green light to race for the last stage.

Stage 3

Distance: 67 km

Time: 2:45:17

Stage 3 started in reverse order of placing in groups of 25 teams at 5 minute intervals. We were ranked 23rd in the overall, so we started with the last and fastest group. The start was a beach run through the black sand and out to the road. The small start group was a joy for about 10 minutes. That’s when we started catching the slower groups and for about 90 minutes, we again spent our time working through the field and eventually passing about 650 people of varying skill levels. It was a fairly wide dirt road, but packed side-to-side with racers and also sprinkled with those sketchy broken bridges just to keep you on your toes. We spent most of this stage again practicing our Spanglish words for passing. Heidi took a few risks and threaded the needle a couple of times. The dust from being behind so many racers was gathering in our lungs and on our faces. You can see from the photos how much Argentine dust we were really eating. After most of the passing was done, we fell into a good peleton of about 4 teams for a long road section. It was difficult to try to get the group to work together and swap leads. In fact, it was impossible, so Heidi and I just sat on the back of the train for about 30 minutes to eat and recover. One all the uphill rollers, each team would split from the group and begin towing and pushing their teammate. Heidi and I were doing the same. We had a great rhythm down and I was more than happy to do the towing. She thanked me about a billion times for helping her out. I finally had to cut her off and tell her that I am the one who should be thanking her. I came to Argentina for some hard training and these uphill pulls and sitting with my face in the wind is exactly what I wanted to be doing. Those efforts will absolutely pay off in the height of the season in July and August. Once the road turned downhill, Heidi and I cranked into the big gears and dropped our little peleton. We rode the rest of the stage alone and finished with about 5 km of fun single track as icing on the cake. I let Heidi lead for this last part because she rips on descents and because she had been breathing my dust all day. I have a great mental image just before the finish of her riding in her bright red Specialized jersey through a giant field of purple wildflowers. I took a mental picture and was sad to see the race come to a close. We had a great time riding together and an even better time connecting with the cycling community down there. I will miss hearing “vamos Chicas, vamos!!!” when I’m riding.

I was super inspired by the level of riders down there and also the strength of the women’s and mixed fields. We made some great friends and I’m already making plans to go back down there to help organize Argentina’s first 24-hour mountain bike race! Stay tuned for details.

Overall Result

Time: 9:16:10

Placing: 1st Open Women, 23rd Overall