Argentina to Chile and Back: 6 Times
Buenas,
This week in San Martin de los Andes has been an awesome week of rest, training and the time honored tradition of having the locals show off their home trails. I’ve had a sweet cabin all to myself and the opportunity to catch up on sleep and emails. Every day consists of a lazy morning drinking coffee and communicating with the world, then some bike training in the morning, a group ride in the afternoon and home made cooking in the evening. Yesterday I did a great workout and rode up to the base of the ski area called Chapelco. There was a dusting of snow on the top of the mountain. I did two 20 minute sub-lactate threshold intervals with the Kings of Leon in my ears for motivation. In the afternoon, I did a 2nd workout with the local riders during siesta. It was a mixture of ages from 15 to 45 and a huge variety of downhill and XC bikes from brands I have never heard of to carbon Enduros. 
The ride was a complete maze of cow tracks, hand built jump trails and dirt roads. There is a complex network of trails here that are shared by the cyclist, the local Mapuche, horses and hikers. It seems to work pretty well. It’s sort of like the streets in the town. There are no stop signs, stop lights or any sort of traffic controlling measures. However, the flow seems to work and everyone just moves fluidly around each other in cars, on bikes, on horseback and on foot. I have not seen one altercation yet. It’s the mellow South American vibe, I guess.
The other day also included a trip to the local fire station to check out their equipment, say hello and see how the emergency services function here. The fire community is a family just like cycling. You can go anywhere in the world and have an instant connection due to a shared passion.
This weekend I went to Chile for a marathon mountain bike race around the volcano in Osorno. It seems every town has their local volcano. There were supposed to be a bunch of riders from San Martin heading over there, but the weather forecast was for high winds, rain and 40 degree F temps. Most people bailed, but my coach put this on the training schedule so I begged a ride from some locals and went for a good dose of suffering. I figure that’s why I’m over here anyway, so I might as well get in as much training as possible. We drove for 5 hrs, stayed in the Bates Motel, stood in the rain for 3 hrs, then they cancelled the race! To top it off our normal 5 hour drive home took 8, as we were stopped at the border for no apparent reason. It wasn’t a total loss though as I did plenty of EMT studying in the car. It’s a good thing I’m doing all of this riding because this area is famous for three of my favorite things: red wine, beef and chocolate!
Reba
Final Report: Trans Andes
The adventure of the Trans Andes stage race has come to a close. Jenny has left to head back to Colorado and I have been chilling in a cozy cabin in San Martin de los Andes with the Specialized dealer and his friends. The damp stench is finally washed out of my clothes and sleeping bag and the Era is all tuned up and shiny again. I’m relishing in long, hot showers and casual mornings where I can eat my food at a relaxed pace. The 6 days in the Patagonian wilderness were a fantastic experience and the riding was the best I’ve done in a multi-day stage race. The organization really did serve up some of the best trails they have to offer. In contrast to the thousands of racers in the Cape Epic, the small, multi-national field in this race made for a homey feeling around camp and the ability to get to know some very interesting people from around the world. We all bonded in our suffering and compared stories each night at camp.
Jenny and I got through the week with a pretty clean slate. Jenny had a flat on day one and a mechanical problem with her hub on day 5, but nothing that was race ending. We both went through a set of brake pads each and did the changes and maintenance on our own. Well, we did have a little help from Mike Broderick, our camp neighbor! We each had one rough day physically, but this was also nothing that was race ending. For early season miles, we were both really happy with how our legs performed and how quickly we slipped into pedaling again.
I was really happy that Jenny and I ended up being compatible race partners and camping companions. I can relate to her Kiwi sense of humor and we both have the racing maturity to get through multiple day events. It takes a lot of planning, patience, teamwork and self-preservation to come out the other end of one of these events unscathed. I am a little scathed from a high speed gravel crash on day 6, but otherwise all that remains from the race are some great memories and hopefully some killer fitness.
We both went into this race with the intention of some awesome early season training and a bit of adventure. We got both. Although some of the route information seemed inaccurate, courses changed during the event and my odometer died on day 5, we rode somewhere around 500km this week and an estimated 30,000 ft of climbing in approximately 25 hours of racing. Not bad for 6 days of training in January! I have no idea how we finished in the overall rankings. The race results that are posted do not add up, so it’s difficult to tell. I can tell you that only 18 teams finished day 5, including us, so technically less than ½ the field completed the whole course. It was not an easy task and I feel really good about our achievement. The Virgo in me would really love to see accurate race results and exact mileages and be able to compare our performance against the other athletes, but I’m practicing my patience and just chalking it up to a great travel and training experience.
I would recommend this race, but would caution anyone interested to come with the intention of being self sufficient with bike maintenance, camping comforts, route finding and bring plenty of travel and race experience. This is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world and getting to see it on your bike is the best way to travel.
I have two more weeks here of training and racing. The next stop is the Tour de la Patagonia, a 3-day stage race in this same area! I have created a set of photos on Flickr for all to see as well.
Cheers
Reba
Stage 5 in the words of Jenny Smith
In the words of Jenny Smith,
Stage Five of the Trans Andes challenge was held today in Huilo Huilo national reserve. The stage was shortened and changed from the original route because of the weather and difficulty of the riding. It was a good idea to change it as we woke to rain and started in the rain, but maybe some details where missed due to the last minute decision to alter the course. Such as course marking and sufficent marsheling. So while we where riding we came upon, yesterdays course, todays original course, todays modified course and tomorrows course.
It created a good dose of chaos! Riders ended up everywhere from here to Argentina. Literally.
Rebecca is a survivor and an adventure racer so for better or worse we THINK we rode the correct course and our predicted 3 hours took 5 hours 30. We are worked over, so are our bikes, and equipment.
With such a late finish its been very hectic to try and get everything in order for the last day tomorrow.
Tomorrow we hope to cross into Argentina with our top ten position still in place. We believe we are in 9th. Fingers crossed for us all. Here are some funny pictures to showcase what our race has been like.
Cheers
Reba
Whirlwind Weekend
The last six days have been incredibly busy. I have been backcountry skiing, packing for South America, and even made a day trip to Chicago from Idaho, and don’t forget the layover in LA too! I am finally on the road for Argentina and sat down in the airport to catch up. We spent three days in a cabin with a great group of friends skiing and relaxing. Outside of Stanley, ID is Copper Mountain which had a great safe snowpack, and some incredible skiing. Even though it wasn’t cycling, hiking up mountains all day is still great exercise, and a good way to get my mind off of racing for a bit. I’ll post all my photos to Flickr, and keep this post simple.
When we returned back from skiing, it was time to load up the bag once again for a whirlwind day of travel. I left at the crack of dawn for a day of power meetings at SRAM with the higher ups of the company. It was great to put some names to faces and discuss our future together. They have been incredibly helplful over the years and am excited to continue down the road with them.
When I returned at a lovely 1am the same day, due to inclement weather. I love that term…which usually means, “Ms. Rusch, we apologize, but we are going to have to bus you home instead of fly.” I ran to bed and crammed as much sleep as I could into five hours. It was time to head off to Argentina.
So here I sit, bags are checked, bikes are shipped, and I am off to South America for what is sure to be an epic adventure. Stay tuned for pictures and results of the racing as the scenery down there is going to be insane!
Last Minute Planning
I am a busy lady right now! Planning a trip with two races to South America is nothing I am new to, but for some reason it never gets any easier. This time I will be racing in two separate stage races in Argentina, which if you get the chance to visit, take it. The intensity of the weather and the rugged landscape are a photographers dream, and I am stoked to get to race down here again.
Last time I was in this area of the world was for the 1999 Eco Challenge when I raced with the first 3 woman 1 man team to ever place in the top 10 for an adventure race. We were 4th overall among a bunch of mostly male teams. I was really green as an adventure racer at that time and put this team together myself with the best adventure racers in the US. It was the beginning of my AR career. I remember the Argentina locals cheering for us at the finish and calling us “las diosas” (the goddesses!) This part of the world is still one of my favorite places I have ever been. It’s great to be returning for such a long trip, on a bike this time, but still representing female athletes and racing with other strong women.
I will be competing in the TransAndes Challenge which is a five day stage race from Chile to Argentina on some of the most beautiful singletrack in the world. Jenny Smith, an endurance athlete from the USA, who is also an Xterra athlete will be pushing the pace for us. Racing with her will make a great training race for both of us. The race starts in the town of Pucon, which is one the larger dormant volcanoes in the area.
The Tour of Patagonia is the second race on the agenda, and is a three day race back to Chile. I will racing with a journalist, who by all means is not slow! Heidi Volpe is a freelance journalist and mtb athlete from the USA, that will be writing a story for both Outside Online, and hopefully for other publications as well.
Although I leave next Wednesday for South America, I have quite the full schedule for this week. Between training and packing, as well as organizing the movie tour, I am going to a two day backcountry skiing retreat for Greg’s birthday. A cabin in the Sawtooths and doing some hiking will be a great way to have a nice active weekend. Then on Monday I do a 12 hour whirlwind business day in Chicago to visit SRAM. I always like getting back to Illinois since I grew up in that area.
I’ll keep you posted on the events leading into the race!
Cheers
Reba