You only ever want your bikes to be carrying people to awesome adventures. It doesn’t matter whether those adventures are happening in their neighborhood or across the sprawling landscapes of Chilean Patagonia, as happened last week as Seven sponsored riders Mike Broderick and Mary McConneloug (Kenda-Seven-NoTubes) won the Trans Andes mountain bike race again.
The Trans-Andes is both a physical and mental challenge. The stunning scenery will not always distract racers from the punishing topography of this section of Patagonia.
Stage 1 stretched from Puerto Pirihueico to Huilo-Huilo threading its way between lakes and volcanoes. Stage 2 went on from Huilo-Huilo to Termas de Coñaripe, before Stage 3 took up the network of technical jeep track, gravel road and single track to Termas de Menetúe. Stage 4 then threaded an out-and-back loop from Menetúe out around Lake Hualalafquén and back to Menetúe with 2250 meters of climbing in between. Stage 5 left Menetúe again and looped East before heading due West for Lake Caburgua and then Pucon, which hosted the start and finish of Stage 6 south to the Villarrica volcano and back.
Mike and Mary managed to win each stage on their way to the overall in the mixed, open category.