FROM DIRT ISSUE 147 – MAY 2014
Words by Steve Jones. Photo by Steve Jones
Dirt: Andes Pacifico or EWS Nevados du Chillan. Which is tougher and why?Montenbaik: Definitely the Andes Pacifico (AP) is tougher, actually each day of AP is like one day of and EWS. With AP we wanted to make a race of four days that was worth the long travel to Chile and we didn’t want it that at the end of the race that somebody felt that didn’t ride enough. For the EWS we have to keep it in the same standards of an EWS or a normal Montenbaik Enduro race that we put together.
High speed internet, high density swimming pools, boutique bike shops and with EWS and AP now permanent fixtures in the calendar is Chile the new destination?We have been dreaming for many years since we created Montenbaik.com to put Chile on the map of the MTB world. Now with the AP and EWS that are accessible for more riders Chile is becoming a clear destination. This year many teams and brands came to do videos, training camps, etc. because the type of landscape, trails and grip that we have are definitely different to other places. Also the Chilean infrastructure like highways, transport, security and internet is pretty much the same as in Europe or North America, so that helps.
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each of the team members.Nacho ‘Captain’ Barbosa, strengths: He is the most organised and he is the planner of the team. thanks to him things run smoothly. Weaknesses: Moody! Matias ‘Sin-diesel Del Solar, strengths: He is the most professional with everything that he does, and he’s a 3x Olympic sailor. Weaknesses: He has the tendency to run out of diesel in his car. Eduardo ‘Large’ de Solminihac, strengths: He is the social man, he is the one who does all the networking for Montenbaik. Weakness: He lives on another planet.
What is your interpretation of a 45minute climb?If Matias says 45 minutes climb, it could be 90 minutes climb at normal pace, If Nacho Says 45 minutes climb it could be a 20 minutes climb at Matias pace…
Highlights and low points of Andes Pacifico?The highlights of the AP was definitely the vibe of the riders. It was a big family of riders having good and hard times riding their bikes on awesome trails. The low points was the heat during the race, it is something that people coming from a winter climate had a hard time getting used to.
You guys are the key members but there are several other sub–crews for the event?Yes we have some amazing members on our team. In total the team was around 70 people that worked through the four days of the event. But, we have to give lots of credit to Sarita Donoso and Natalia Covacevic, they made everything run smoothly in the camps. They organised all the 36 drivers and vehicles, the kitchen, toilets, transports of all the camp etc. Also the trail guys Pierre Plaza and Pedro Barros marked out (and took the tape down) on all the 150km of trails… they did an awesome job.
