Fireflies: Biking the Andes to combat cancer
You are not here to ride for yourself you are here to ride for the children. And that can give you all the power.“With these words, Alan Weschler opened the Fireflies Patagonia bike raid last year, arguably the hardest gravel bike event on the planet.
Now coming up on its fifth year, Fireflies Patagonia raises money for respective Chilean and British children's cancer charities Vivir Más Feliz and Bloodwise. The raid ( it's not a race) sends cyclists on a helter- skelter ride over Chilean volcanoes and mountain ranges, through glacial rivers and monkey puzzle forests, from the shore of Frutillar in the Chilean Lake District to the lava slopes of Corralco in the Araucanía region.
Over eight days, Fireflies riders cover more than 1000km of gravel roads and single track on either side of the Andean spine between Argentina and Chile. Dressed in their distinctive red jerseys, the riders climb over three times the height of Everest from sea level. Last year, the event culminated with a punishing final day's ride going from Santiago to the Valle Nevado ski resort, situated at 3000 meters. This year the event in Patagonia will be held March 4 – 11.
The idea first began in 2001 when famed Blade Runner film director Ridely Scott created the original version in the Alps to raise money for British cancer charity Bloodwise. The concept was later exported to the United States in 2007, and in 2015 a Fireflies event was started in New Zealand. But the solidarity of the riders who always wait for the slower members (sometimes even helping literally push them uphill) is present in all Fireflie rides, as is the motto linking the gruelling bike event to the charities: "For those who suffer; we ride."
Weschler i s the general manager of the Vivir más Feliz foundation. Fireflies Patagonia sponsored riders have helped his foundation raise almost one-third of the US$3.5 million needed to open a new regional children's cancer center in the southern Chilean city of Temuco. “You are showing all the people,” Weschler told the Fireflies participants at the start of last year's raid, “that the sport can be collaborative.” Raising his glass he added, “Fireflies are something that gives light.”
For info on Fireflies Patagonia 2021, visit www. firefliespatagonia.com