Team Wideopenmag’s Chris Hutchens was flying the flag for us out in Lo Barnechea, Chile for the opening round of the 2018 Enduro World Series.
The High Andes and the Chilean resort of Lo Barnechea was the setting for our man Chris Hutchens to open his racing account for 2018. Far removed from winter in Bristol, Chile would be full of hot sun, thin air and the infamous ‘antigrip.’
Photos by Chris Hutchens. Feature image by Sven Martin.
Sunsets where consistent, stunning and hard not to fill your memory card with.
Opening Moves.
Throughout this year, as I travel round the venues that the Enduro World Series takes us, I’ll look to document the journey. It won’t be a detailed look at the results, or describing every trail of the weekend. Let’s be honest, that’s a bit dry. Instead I’ll grab my camera, bearing in mind I’m not a professional photographer, nor do I hold the latest in DSLR technology.
Instead I’ll grab my Canon Powershot SX 260 HS and G7X and provide you with a glimpse of what goes on in and around the racing from my perspective. Heck, if you want a certain angle then let me know but it’s my chance to share with you the trials and tribulations from my eyes and maybe from a few others as well.
High Andes.
First up Le Barneachea, Chile. An hours East of Santiago in the central Andes are the towering hills that provide the backdrop for the first round of the Enduro World Series. Let’s get this party started!
One of the special aspects of racing in a World Series is definitely the people you meet and friends you make. This trip started months ago, working out the logistics, who to travel with (this is key!) and where to stay. Plans chopped and changed before falling into place. James Hall, a friend from Australia, and I teamed up for the entirety of the trip.
Stage 3 was a favourite of mine. It resembled a track at the bottom and finished the first day off nicely.
International Riding Buddies.
We might come from opposite sides of the World but the joys of Whatsapp made things almost seamless. We hit lucky and a friend of James’ put us in touch with Ted Morton. Probably through another friend but I lost count! Ted heads up the BC Enduro Series and was on the case with a truck and accommodation through contacts he had in Chile. Ideal!
After a bus rides through the snow covered English countryside and a couple of flights I touched down in Santiago. Finally I got through immigration control and was warmly welcomed by James, Ted and the full of life Melissa, or Mops as she’s known as. The guys grabbed some Empanadas and we squeezed everything into the back of the truck. The fireman in James came out and he got in amongst it in the near 30 degree heat. The quilted jacket I had left the UK wearing was not performing well in these temperatures.
Stage 2 was rough and long. This is a section about 3 minutes in. It got rougher further down, about 7 km further down.
Into thin air.
Lungs soon started to work twice over as we climbed high in to the Andes. Our base for the week, a hut with some real family history, sat at 2500m in the town of Farellones. It was basic, needed a quick clean but was ideal for the group of non-pros. i.e. it was less than £1000 for the week in most places.
We created our own team and welcomed Charlie Murray to the group the next day. He was a late addition after Tom, another New Zealander had to drop out. Tom broke his hand before the trip. Heal up dude! We were a full commonwealth contingent. All week the table was filled with great cooking and the stories flowed seamlessly from Mops who kept us fully entertained.
Views for days nearing the bottom of stage 4.
Rocky start.
By day the area felt truly remote and utterly baron. The hills, while ski lifts inhabited the landscape, were rocky and vast. It was a place where you felt intimidated by the terrain, the alien nature of the riding and the sheer length of the trails. The longest stage was a staggering 11km and with a drop of over 1800m it was a serious trail. So much so that during my race, despite feeling fit and strong, my arm-pump was excruciating. It forced me to stop. Agony.
Frustration. Embarrassment. These were just some of the words that I thought about when running my bike down the 15-20% gradient trail at the end. There was 100% change I was crashing and I still had a long race, and season, ahead.
By night the place seemed less remote. The city of Santiago glistened and shimmered deep below us in the valley floor. It’s a huge city with more than the population of Scotland living in the Greater Santiago area. Civilisation seemed only a stone’s throw away.
Racing was spread over two days; three stages a day. The accumulation of fatigue from riding day one and the increasing temperatures into day two was a cruel way to increase the magnitude of difficulty on the Sunday. While some uplifting was part of the race the climbs were long and draining.
U21 womens’ winner Ella Connelly hitting some of the local trails before the event kicked off.
Take me higher.
Dan Wolfe however did suggest that the race series should look to go somewhere higher with even longer stages. Thankfully Chris Ball just laughed at this suggestion. The organisers admitted playing down the fact that the tracks were the longest and hardest in EWS history. I like their style.
What a race it was. For me it wasn’t how I hoped to start the season off but I grabbed 70th after battling some on track issues over the weekend. The race win, as I’m sure you know, went to Sam Hill. After watching some of the video footage appear of him from the weekend he was lightening. His speed, looseness and ability to hang it wide open on those trails is awe-inspiring.
Loosening up on that terrain was hard and seemed to be what a lot of people said to me during practice and before the race. Of course everyone got their game face on during the weekend to race and got on with things. Lots of riders battled with punctures, arm pump, mechanicals and more. The tracks were not kind on bikes or bodies.
Cannonball, otherwise known as James Hall riding above the ‘anti grip’ on stage 1.
I saw multiple riders pedalling up the long road to Farellones and Mckay Vezina was helped around by fellow riders after a drivetrain issue. That’s the spirit of enduro. While things are competitive there’s more to it than just racing. Rider’s help each other out, share anecdotes, lessons and stories. I don’t think there’s many sports where there a so few outliers. All GC’s!
With the race finished it was all about the pack up and onward journey to Columbia. That would prove interesting but I’ll leave that until next time. For the time being it was a quick overnight stay in Santiago then off to the airport in the small hours of Monday morning. So much for recovery sleep.
Keep an eye out for Hutch’s adventures from the Enduro World Series’ in Columbia.
Full results from Lo Barnechea can be found on the Enduro World Series website.
Follow Hutch on Instagram for live updates on his travels.
