Hey Syd,
I’m all registered for the Andes Pacifico race this year and came across your blog. Do you have any tips on how a Midwesterner who didn’t know any Spanish can maximize the fun on the trip? My whole goal is to come home in one piece (and prob last place), but sounds like the first couple of days are pretty rough. Would they still be brutal if going at a non race pace? What was the biggest drop u encountered? Any other tips?
Thanks,
Kris

Celebrating the views on Day 3 of Andes-Pacifico.

Hi Kris,

Thanks for your question.

First the easy one — language barrier won’t be a problem! Most of the racers last year were Americans/Europeans/Brazilians or South Americans who spoke pretty good English. Most of the staff speak excellent English and the race meetings are always in English. My boyfriend and I are bilingual but none of the other Americans/Brits spoke a drop of Spanish and they got along fine.

As for the race itself, I’m not going to lie to you, the trails are really challenging. AP does a really job with shuttles so for most people the challenge is technical, not physical. The fourth day involved a brutal hike-a-bike last year but other than that, and the fact that the heat can be challenging, the transitions are not horrible.

The biggest challenge for me was the steepness of the terrain. The Andes are really steep mountains and the Chileans can’t be bothered with things like bench cuts, so straight down you go. Realistically, most of these trails were built by cows, anyway. It’s also very loose “dirt” (gravel?) so it can be hard to find traction in the corners. The Chileans call it “anti-grip.” Manmade features like drops aren’t really the issue here. There are a few rock drops on the first day but they aren’t that big (less than 3 ft, i think), although they are a little challenging because the landings are so loose. Mainly the hard part is the steepness and the looseness!

My biggest advice would be to calibrate your expectations, understand that it’s going to be challenging and don’t worry if you aren’t able to ride everything. And then have fun! The views are freaking incredible, the food is A+++ and the race promotors are amazing at taking care of every little thing. It was seriously one of the best race experiences of my life.

As for preparation, just ride the steepest, nastiest things you can find. And if you are getting to Chile in time before the race, I highly recommend heading up to La Parva (where the first day takes place) for a practice day to get an idea of the terrain. If you aren’t able to do that, just take Day 1 REALLY easy. A lot of people got hurt on the first day because they weren’t used to the terrain and went balls out because it was a race. Don’t do that.

Feel free to hit me up with any more questions and keep this open as a line of communication going up to race. I know a lot of bike people in Santiago so happy to put you in touch if you need anything. The race organizers are also really good about hooking people up so definitely ask them if you need a ride from the airport or anything!

Also, I’m jealous, would love to heading down there again this year!

Cheers,
Syd

And here’s another blog post about Andes Pacifico if you’re interested!