The fourth of a series of Andes Pacifico race dispatches from our man on the ground Gary Perkin.

Today we do battle with the sun.

After an epic crossing of the Andes on day three, fatigue levels were high on the morning of day four. The aches and pains added up but despite that, the riders were in good spirits.

After an hour or so shuttle across the Cordillera de la Costa - the coastal range - temperatures dropped and the moisture levels increased much to the relief of riders who have endured 30+ celsius conditions every day since the start of the race. The added bonus of all the extra sea air is that it adds so much more grip to the trails - and that raised spirits further.

Palm trees and morning rituals with Mark.

A couple of hike-a-bikes, three more flowy (yet still) scrabbly trails later and we arrived at the new camp at La Ligua. The swimming pool and cold beer on tap more than made up for any small hiccups that came up throughout the day's riding!

The carrot on the stick.

Mark Scott
" [I'm] Riding well, just making some silly mistakes, going off track here and there. Overall its going pretty well - I’m in the mix with the times, I think I won a stage. Definitely on the sharp end. Last day tomorrow, see what we can do ... battle for second I guess."

Birks for Bryceland.

Josh Bryceland
"Steady day today .. I struggled for motivation after the incidents yesterday so I just enjoyed the riding. And even the crowds - a few locals showed up to cheer us on which was great. The last stage of the day finished in this sick gully which was unreal. Another wicked day!"

Iago Garay
"Yeah another really good day in the Andes. Today was the same a last years day 4 ... so it was nice to compare times to last and see that I’d managed to find a bit of pace and also a bit more flow. Last year i struggled a lot - so I’m stoked with that. I think i have secured 5th overall and lets see how we go tomorrow... maybe chase down 4th. We’ll see."

Jaime Hill
"Day 4 was ... oh my god it seems so long ago ... yeah yesterday was pretty rowdy, it had some steep sections, i really enjoyed that. I stayed relatively crash & mechanical free. So i was able to claw my way back to third - which i was pumped about. It was another big day but I’m looking forward to more fun on Day 5."

On to day five —and time to vamos a la playa!