GeneXus on the Andes
A team of six people from GeneXus Consulting, Artech and GeneXus USA set out on the adventure of crossing the Andes by bike. In this interview, Juan Emilio Gabito shares with the GeneXus Community some photos and anecdotes of the trip. Among exciting, adrenaline-filled experiences, they always felt confident that teamwork would allow them to conquer all challenges.
How did you come up with the idea?
Crossing the Andes was an idea that I had in mind since mid 2009, and when I came back from my holidays in 2010 I had already made a decision. It became the greatest objective of the year: to cross the Andes by bike.
The first person I told the idea to was Guillermo González, because I was sure that as soon as he heard it he would be on board. Then I found out that Gonzalo Losada had bought a bicycle, so I talked to him about the project and five minutes later he was on board too. A few hours later I published a comment on Facebook announcing that this year we would be crossing the mountains, and Federico Azzato, Anya Wainberg and Carolina Torrado answered right away. At that time they didn’t have their own bicycles that could be used for the adventure, but they joined the group anyway and we welcomed them gladly to the team, which would be later on called "The Insanes". Throughout the year we trained by climbing some hills and biking along some roads. Also, we made plans for the trip in several insane meetings, in which we made arrangements for lodging, circuits, logo, name and a lot more.
The team is made up of 6 really insane people: Carito, Annie, Guille, Fede, Gonza and me.
Turquoise waters, vertical walls and very cold rain
We set out on Sunday, December 5th at 7 a.m., Montevideo time, from Tres Cruces terminal to Buenos Aires. In the capital of Argentina we picked up the Hyundai H1 truck that we had rented and loaded the six bikes and bags of five members, because Carolina would join us a couple of days later.
There we started the odyssey of driving over 1,500 kms to the city of San Martín de los Andes, located in a beautiful valley in the mountain range. This city was the starting point of the expedition. From there we pedaled to the border crossing point with Chile, in the area known as Hua Hum. That night we slept in tents in a rustic camping site located at the mountain side, close to a river of turquoise waters near the Nonthué Lake.
The following morning we started our journey to Chile, crossing the border point, taking a barge under the rain to cross the Pirihueico Lake and then cycling again to our second destination: the Chichintahué cabins on the Neltume Lake. That was a very interesting day because we entered the Valdivian rainforest and it rained for most of the day.
Our following destination was the Coñaripe community. That part was the hardest because it involved almost vertical climbs of several kilometers long, cold wind that went through our clothes and the worst of all elements: rain that poured from the beginning. Those were 40 kms of very harsh conditions that put us on the verge of hypothermia. When we reached our destination, we immediately took hot showers because we couldn't feel our feet and we could barely stand upright from being cold and wet for so long.
The next day, the weather improved quite a lot and we started biking to Pucón.
Then we stayed several days in Pucón to enjoy the sports activities that were held nearby. We practiced hydrospeed, visited the natural hot springs and the best of all was that we climbed the Villarrica volcano, which is 2890 mts high and still active.
From Pucón we went to Puesco, which is 60 kms away. There we spent the night in a beautiful cabin next to a river of freezing, clear waters. Getting into that river was a relief because some of us were suffering tendinitis or swelling of the joints in our knees or ankles, and the cold water felt really soothing.
From Puesco we started the last biking part.
The plan was to cross the border to Argentina and bike as far as we could. Then we would load everything in the truck and go to Junín the los Andes, the last city in our trip; however, those plans were changed. Outside Puesco we faced a climb of about 8 kms long that offered some of the most spectacular views of the trip. After that, we went down to the border crossing point near the Lanín volcano, 1000 mts higher than Villarica, and which is expected to become active in January 2011.
From Puesco to Junín we covered a distance of 90 kms, and this was the longest biking day that the team had to face. Of course, the long paved road was a huge help because it allowed us to reach high speeds. It also offered slopes of several kilometers long in which we traveled at 68 kms per hour, which is a lot for a mountain bike.
We used the last day in Junín to visit the Huechulafquen Lake, a huge lake of turquoise waters that offers an impressive sight of multi-colored mountains. It was heaven.
A dream come true
This journey was a dream come true. We spent almost a year making plans for the trip, and being able to do it was wonderful. Also, we confirmed that our team has a synergy that allows us to face the biggest challenges, and that we remain united in all situations.
Being able to make a trip like this is a dream come true for any fan of adventure sports, because you are in a wonderful place surrounded by people whom you have the pride and pleasure of calling friends and work mates.
