Just got off the phone with Graeme Pitts' mom, Leslie Pitts. She just returned from Chile where she acted as "Madre de Equipo" Team Mom for the Western Hemisphere, a.k.a. Team USA, at the Pan Am Championships. Here's her complete race report...

Pan Am Continental Mountain Bike Championships – Santiago, Chile 3/18-22
by Leslie Pitts

Chris Van Dine is clearly King of the Hill in Chile, and now he has the medal to prove it. He might be from the USA, but he is Chile’s adopted gravity son – or “wayon” as he is lovingly called there. He is definitely “el hombre” – bringing home the gold in the competitive Elite category, but his star shines way beyond that. He is single-handedly responsible for bringing the USA gravity riders to this mega-event, and for creating a strong bond between the Chileans and Americans (USA ones, to be specific – we were all Americans at the event). The whole USA Gravity Team was treated like family in warm Chilean style because of his excellent ambassadorship.

Van Dine has spent over a month living and riding in Chile, most recently at La Parva, a ski resort northwest 1 ˝ hours from Santiago. It takes kahones to do that – life there is not easy at best. The area is 11,000 ft. high Andes desert – loose volcanic rubble – some gravity riders’ dream. There are no trees except for an occasional aspen that was planted years ago along the windy road to the resort. Maybe in 2000 years they will grow to be a forest, but for now it is still a harsh, dry environment. In the summer, even though the lifts run for bikers, it is a ghost town. We heard rumor of one small market that is open in the ski season, but the closest supplies are over an hour away down some of the meanest switchbacks ever – each one is numbered (so they can find the carnage easier, I guess) and there is nothing comparable in the states. After making the long trek to civilization, a liter bottle of water costs $5 USD. To call Chile expensive is an understatement. Fortunately for Van Dine, he got OK with the local water, but the rest of the gringo team chose to be cautious in order not to complicate things on race day. It is still incomprehensible how Van Dine manages to find and pay for food.

This South American DH race had a lot of South American soccer match feel to it. Huge attendance by teams, support and fans, and lots of screaming and chanting “Chee-Chee-Chee – Lay-Lay-Lay!!!” and riders boosted on team mates’ shoulders. There is so much national support for their gravity riders, and of course it was easier for them to travel to the event. The only team there with less riders/support staff than USA was Mexico; so it was really appreciated that the Chileans cheered so much for us. Nothing compared, though, to the noise when CVD’s time was finally posted. The Chilean team rushed him, screaming “CHRIS, CHRIS, CHRIS” over and over while they tossed him onto their shoulders in a cloud of moon dust. His hard work paid off, and he is enjoying the position of Elite Champion of the Western Hemisphere of the planet.


Photo by Eduardo de Solminihac (Montenbaik.com)

At the end of the CVD’s run, according to Pitts “the time screen went blank – it seemed frozen, and when it restarted, it kept cycling. It was clear that CVD’s run was incredibly fast, and then Markolf came through with a time that would have put him in 1st. He was the last rider down. The Brazilians went berserk picking Markolf up and generally going insane. Then everyone got quiet while an announcement was made in Spanish (which we couldn’t understand) and the Chileans exploded everywhere – in the middle of it all was some dude in the USA jersey!” It didn’t take long for us to understand that CVD had won the championship.

The USA team was made up of some tried and true luminaries, and some up and coming ones.

Chris Van Dine - 28, of Salt Lake City, UT – Cannondale. CVD is his own man in all the best ways that can be said; to this writer, CVD remains almost as elusive as Josh Bender and couldn’t be reached for more info. It's known he’s heading for The Megavalanche in Peru. All the info that is currently available can be found on numerous pages by Googling him, where you find out quickly that he excels at everything he tries including writing. It IS known that if you are riding Pro DH at an event and his dad is present, watch out for him on the course during practice – he snipes competitors’ lines and reports back to Chris! Check back for a more technical description of this race from Chris the next time he finds a computer some unexpected place in his travels.

Lars Tribus – 37, of Milford, NJ – 5X Masters World Podium, ’03 Masters World Champion. Lars escaped the east coast winter and walked away with 2 podium finishes – 1st in Masters 4X, 2nd in Masters DH, repping Chumba Bicycles, SRAM, Rockshox, Deity and Fly. According to Tribus, “it has been a really cool trip – good to hang with some up and coming riders. We were treated like bros in Chile because of CVD.”

Curtis Keene –29, of Capitola, CA – 2X USA Worlds DH Team member, 2008- 4th National Champs Vermont ,5th at Crankworxs A-line DH, 5th Garbanzo DH, 2002 Semi Pro Nat Champ – repping Specialized, Sram, Rock Shox, Avid, Truvativ, Gamut, Dt Swiss, Chromag, Five Ten shoes, Scott Eyewear, Cane Creek headsets, Trailhead Cyclery, Impact Designs. Keene says that he’s pumped that CVD won for the USA, “even though he’s a Chilean now! Haha!” Pulled a hot 10th place at La Parva with a solid run.

Heikki Hall – 24, living in Durango, CO but originally from Lake Placid, NY. 3rd year Elite, repping E13. “I like Chile a lot – I raced Valparaiso Cerro Abajo 3 weeks ago and got top 15 – even with an unexpected snow storm at the top of the race run – I’ve never been so cold!” Hall placed 30th.

Graeme Pitts – 18, of Nevada City, CA, repping Kirt Voreis AllRide Academy/Santa Cruz Bicycles, Point 1, Framewrap. Pitts suffered an injured wrist after going OTB on Wednesday practice, and arrived in Chile with a broken toe. He was still able to earn his 20 UCI points, coming in 22nd with a solid, conservative run. Lars Tribus said of his week with Pitts “I’m impressed with Graeme’s attitude, approach and focus. He has atomic potential, but he’s still humble.” Note: a few days after arriving home and getting an x-ray, Pitts is in a cast with a non-displaced distal radial fracture. Docs formed the cast around a grip, and gave him clearance to ride. Look for him at Sea Otter in 2 weeks.

Ethan Quehl – 18, of Georgia – ’08 Jr. Ex National Champion DH, repping Hayes Bicycle Group. Quehl did a great job in his first international elite race, getting 13th. Lars Tribus has dubbed Quehl the Toby McGuire/Spiderman of DH. As for Quehl, he is hooked on DH and says “I’m done with XC!” Watch out for him to do some serious damage this year.

Rachel Bauer – 28, of Aspen, CO. Racing 3 years, quickly moving up to pro after 1 year, repping Banshee, POC, Rooly, WTB. Rachel’s credentials – Pro ski racer, 1 of 8 on the Western Elite Ski Team.



“Rachel Bauer is on fire!” said Lars Tribus – “she really scolded the bottom after folding herself!” (on the DH). This earned her a 3rd place podium finish, and she got to stand in the same position again for the MTX.

In her MTX runs, she impressed everyone with her talent and drive. Her gates were so phenomenal that the pro from Ecuador was scared to line up with her, saying “Rachel rides like a guy – if you could see into her helmet, she is vicious!” We all found out though that when the helmet’s off, she’s probably the sweetest gravity rider in the US.

Special mention to Keith Darner, of RPM Yeti, for acting as coach to the USA team.

In retrosopect, the US was the most under-manned team there with 7 riders, but the only team with more riders on the podium for the whole event was Chile – on their home course. It will never be forgotten that they cheered for USA as much as for their own team. By the end of the awards, the US riders and support crew knew the words to the Chilean national anthem (….flores furtados….), and it is beyond words to describe how happy the Chileans were that we went down to share their magical mountain. Thanks Chris Van Dine for bringing the US team to the top of the bottom of the world!