2019 Santa Cruz Andes Pacifico: Day 5
About this time every year, photo-snapper Gary Perkin picks up a camera and departs his Cape Town home to chase Santa Cruz riders around the world. See more of Gary's photos here and read dispatches from last year's Andes Pacifico here. |
The fifth and final of a series of Andes Pacifico race dispatches from our man on the ground, Gary Perkin.
Andes Pacifico Day 5
As the saying goes - all good things must come to an end … and Day Five of Andes Pacifico marks the end of our journey from the high Andes in La Parva down to the Pacific Ocean in Cachagua.
After four huge back-to-back days, the organizers made some changes to the stages - skipping the second stage of the day - and merging the last two into one stage for an awesome finale to close out the 2019 edition of the race. But not before a 1.8km and 520m vert hike-a-bike to remind you that just because its the last day doesn’t mean it’s going to be a cruise to the beach.
The first stage of the day in Valle Hermoso was another new one to the race 6km and 909m descent to shake out the cobwebs from the week - it was definitely one of the freshest tracks we rode during the week.
A quick shuttle to Zapallar and that hike-a-bike later and we were standing 600m above sea level looking down on the Pacific Ocean and the inversion layer from the cold water. It was then we knew that we were just one long, fun, flowy trail from the end and a swim in the ocean before the end of race party!
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Women's overall podium Laura Battista (2nd), Flo Espineira (1st), Pauline Diefenthaler (3rd) during the fifth and final day of the 2019 Andes Pacifico.
Laura Battista (2nd Overall)
"I don’t really know what to say .. I think if you’re dreaming of long descents it’s the place to come. I always want to ride longer and longer descents - and this is exactly what you get here in Chile. Fast, flowy, technical - all the things you can imagine you get in this race. The scenery, the people, the food is all just wonderful. And you get a 4x4 experience."
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Sam Dale, Josh Lewis, Romain Paulhan and Iago Garay on the last hike-a-bike of the race.
Sam Dale (4th Overall)
"A big ol’ week in Chile. I’m definitely feeling it at the moment - I’ve got a bit of a cold after all of it. But as an experience it was unbelievable to be honest - the crew we had out there was ace. They made it all very enjoyable - even though we are all knackered now. The event itself was insane - I’ve never ridden downhill so much in just 5 days before. The terrain was unbelievable - it was like being on Mars some days, then other days we were deep in the bush - like in the Australian Outback. The food, the people, the riding, the experience, the weather - all of it was great. Hopefully, I’ll recover in time for it next year - because it was a good do that and I’d love to do it again."
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Iago Garay (8th Overall)
"The sixth year of Andes-Pacifico done. Very stoked. It was a really good week as always with a good crew. The Chileans took really good care of us as always. I’m pretty excited for the rest of the season because I felt this week was a good test to see how the training has been going. Bummed I was a little bit asleep the first day and lost a lot of time. But on the other hand, I feel I was able to put in some of my strongest performances in the Andes Pacifico so far - even though the results are not as good as before - but the level was insane. So I’m super happy."
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Josh Lewis (12th Overall)
"What mint week man. Just looking back at it it seems like such a long time, but then it seems like it went so fast at the same time. None of us had any big mechanicals all week, no big crashes - I wasn’t expecting that really - I thought we’d all have a few issues along the way. We got lost a few times - but everyone did. The vibes are so good in the camp, everyone was just joking and chilling together - its a proper good experience. I’m thankful for everyone that helped me - I had such a good time - the drivers, the organizers. It’s not an easy thing to pull all that together - so big appreciation. I loved every minute and can’t wait to do it again. Big love."
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Until next year... No Pisco, No Disco!