The TransAndes Challenge bike race proved to be a memorable event for Squamish's Neal Kindree. But, unfortunately for him, they weren't all positive memories.
Kindree and his riding partner Marty Lazarski managed to conquer the TransAndes on Saturday (Jan. 29), finishing third in the five-day Chilean bike race. But on the evening of the final stage Kindree fell victim to a robbery.
"It was my misfortune that some sneaky thieves made off with my backpack on the evening of the final stage," he told The Chief in an email. "My pack contained two cameras, some cycling clothes, a helmet, IPod, wallet, cash and passport."
Needless to say, the theft has left Kindree without identification and he's now stranded in South America for the time being.
"I have postponed my flights, taken an overnight bus to Santiago and am now trying to get something sorted out with the Canadian embassy in order to fly home," he said. "It's an expensive mess that I hope to be clear of soon."
Despite the way the trip ended, Kindree said he thoroughly enjoyed the race.
"The race was great," he said. "It went better than expected and Marty Lazarski and I finished third overall after six stages. We had no mechanical problems and would like to give a shout out to Giant Canada for supplying us with bikes and gear for the race."
Kindree and Lazraski had a solid race, finishing no lower than third out of seven men's duos during the various stages of the six-day event. The final two days saw the team post the second-fastest time on both days, ending up just under 38 minutes back of the second-place riders.
The team of American Jason Sager and German Benjamin Sontag finished first in the open men's division, with a time of 19 hours, three minutes, 43 seconds. Chile's Javier Puschel and Switzerland's Simon Zahnd placed second with a time of 20:08:16, with Kindree and Lazarski posting a time of 20:46:07.
The race saw 33 teams compete through six different stages ranging from 60 to 100 kilometres per day. The course traversed through the Andes mountain range and passed six volcanoes and 10 lakes.
Kindree wrote that he hopes to return to Canadian soil as soon as possible and plans to race in Phoenix later this month. He also plans to participate in the spring series in Langley as well as several other races around the province and locally.
For more information and the full results from the TransAndes Challenge, visit www.transandeschallenge.com.
