The Rat Race Trans Andean involves nine days and 1,517km of riding from one side of South America to the other – but apparently anyone can do it. Cyclist finds out how true that really is
Words NICK VAN MEAD Photography JAMES APPLETON
We gather on the beach before dawn for a ceremonial dipping of our rear wheels into the Pacific Ocean. The plan is to cross the continent of South America, riding due east from the coast of Chile to the coast of Argentina, taking in the mountains of the Andes and the vast plains of the Pampas along the way. Understandably, the atmosphere in the hotel last night was one of nervous excitement.
Everyone here is part of the Rat Race Trans Andean event, a nine-day, 1,517km ride that isn’t a race but is instead billed as an ‘extraordinary global adventure for everyday people’. Certainly, it’s a diverse group of 29 riders on the start line, ranging from Marie-Louise, a racing cyclist from England in her twenties, to Scott and Charleen, a couple in their sixties from Tucson, Arizona. Our number includes lawyers and IT specialists, engineers and construction workers, even a former professional footballer and a violinist.
Hardly anyone has experience of multiday adventure riding, and we all spent the previous evening packing, unpacking and repacking our bikes as we tried to work out the best combination of kit for a journey that none of us can really anticipate. Is it true that anyone reasonably fit can cross South America with the right support? We’re about to find out.
Day one: into the mountains
The start is in the coastal resort of Concón, near Valparaíso in Chile. Ahead of us today lies 170km and a vertical mile of climbing to a mountain hostel. After some final words from head of expeditions Abbi Naylor, we’re off. I join up with two old university friends, Gary and Rich, and we soon find ourselves riding with Marie-Louise and her cat 1 race team colleague Laura.
The five of us work well together, riding smoothly and pointing out hazards in the road. Soon we learn to point out only the really big hazards, because it will prove to be a long journey if we have to shout ‘hole!’ every few seconds. Instead, we settle into a rhythm of riding and chatting that makes time fly.
Up ahead we can see the jagged silhouette of the
