The world's craziest race
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ALEX: I'm just downhill from the start of one of the most dangerous bike races in the world. This is the Cerro Abajar bike race in Valparaiso, Chile. It's a crazy, bone rattling ride, 2km from hilltop to the sea. The best mountain bike riders in the world aren't the only ones on show here - the city of Valparaiso is too - and the ones to make this race so unique are the fans, all 15,000 of them. More than 70 riders from 15 countries and this year, for the first time, there's a wild card in the pack...
MITCH: Holy shit, look how many stairs there are.
ALEX: ..a young Aussie called Mitch Delfs...
MITCH: It's like a kilometre of stairs.
ALEX: ..and he has no idea what he's in for. Mitch, be honest - are you freaking out a bit?
MITCH: I'd say a bit, a bit nervous, actually. Totally out of my element. I don't really do anything to do with streets, I'm more dirt, so. I'm just taking it in, actually. Well if you crash, you'll get hurt.
ALEX: Mitch grew up in Margaret River, In WA, so he's more comfortable on a bush track than a city street. He first saddled up his mountain bike at the age of 14 and now, at 23, he travels the world as a professional rider. Why you do what you do? Why?
MITCH: To get the free trips to cool places.
ALEX: There's no doubt Valparaiso is pretty cool. Weird and exotic too. It was settled by the Spanish 500 years ago. These days, it's home to the Chilean navy and some of the most amazing street art you're ever likely see.
VICTOR: Citizens of Valpo have a very special character. They're very joyful, very extroverted. They have their own way of doing things and that shows in how the streets are laid out, how the buildings are made, everything. That's what makes the race special, really.
ALEX: Those dogs barking - are they going to be there?
MITCH: Part of the crowd, I'd say.
VICTOR: Yeah, they're part of the crowd. Exactly. There's gonna be barking and cheering and screaming and yelling and heckling and everything.
ALEX: This is Mitch's first look at the course and his guide is the man who designed it, Victor Heresmann.
ALEX: What sport of speed are you going to get down here, do you reckon?
MITCH: I don't know, it depends on what they do with this. If they go straight a little bit, you'll be going nearly 100 kays, I reckon.
ALEX: There's just some dogs behind us here.
JUSTIN: You might get that on your race run.
ALEX: That could happen during a race?
JUSTIN: There's videos of guys going down with helmet cams and they have dogs just running in front of them down the stairs, so there's a good chance you might have a dog.
ALEX: And it's not just dogs that bite. Even being on the sidelines comes at a risk. Justin Schroth is a former rider turned cameraman. While he was shooting last year's race, this happened.
JUSTIN: One of my friends was coming down and he ended up hitting the handrail, crashing, tumbling and I turned around to shoot up the stairs and two guys came around, just in practice, and at the last second, I guess the guy hit the hand rail with his handlebars, clipped them, turns into the crowd and I'm the first one he hits at full speed. I took, I think, a handlebar or something to the chest, the camera got smashed into my face, I had a black eye. I don't remember who hit me or what he looked like. I just know that he was big because he knocked me right off my feet.
ALEX: What is your biggest fear?
MITCH: Biggest fear is probably just dying, you know. I don't want to get hurt, I don't want to be in hospital here. I just want to, like, do the race and then once that race is finished and I'm alive, I'll be stoked. I'll just have a few beers and that'll be sweet.
ALEX: It's race day. Just a few hours to set up the course, run the race then pull it all down again.
VICTOR: It blends in with the rest of the city because it actually has to blend in. That's why we only have the course open for a few hours, because we don't want to disrupt people's lives more than absolutely necessary.
ALEX: This year, Adolfo Almarza is the sentimental favourite, the local hero and without doubt, the gutsiest rider in the race. In an accident 13 years ago he lost both legs. This wasn't Adolfo's year.
MITCH: It's actually crazy for him to ride a bike with no legs. For him to hit a jump that big and land that hard, I think it's just too much and he just exploded. Luckily, he crashed in the dirt otherwise things could have gone south pretty quick. Hopefully he's all right.
ALEX: Adolfo was battered and bruised but other than that, OK. And soon enough, it was Mitch's turn. For a first-timer, Mitch was fast. As rider after rider finished, he briefly dreamt of a podium finish... ..but local knowledge won out. Quickest on the day was Chilean,
Mauricio Acuna. In the end, of 70 who raced Mitch placed 9th. Not too bad for a beginner.
MITCH: The people here are amazing, like, I've never had anything like that before. They're, like, tapping you on the back as you're going down stairs. Everyone's, like, trying to get a better look at you, so they're all dominising closer to you. It's just crazy. You just hope they get out of the way. But, yeah, definitely an experience and glad I did it.
