Day 81 - 87. Patagonia continues to impress, and now on foot

Day 81 El Bolson

123km with 1289m of climbing.

Armed with some new earphones that I bought in Bariloche, we left town. Getting out of town however was surprisingly steep. At one point I saw it was a 15% incline. The steepest I've seen in an urban area during this trip.

We had MORE lakes and MORE snow capped mountains and MORE forests and MORE flowers. The drudgery! Not. I love this part of the world, it's really beautiful.

The day went well enough. Having music to listen to during the ride changes the experience quite a bit. Depending on the mood of the music, I found myself looking at the scenery in various ways that I normally wouldn't. Very enjoyable. I also was looking at my bike computer to check the progress a lot less, which is a good sign.

I was thankful that my knee and ankle felt much, much better. The top of my butt where it joins the hips had a bit of an ache, but nothing unusual since recently been using more strength during the day now that I actually have some to use. So a great ride.

After setting up my tent at the campsite and lay down inside it to relax, a cat passed by. I of course called out to it, gave it a pat and then drifted to sleep. I later woke for dinner, and found that the cat had made itself comfortable lying along my back. I found that rather amusing, and some silly jokes was of course made at dinner about waking up to finding a pussy cat on me. The wording wasn't quite exactly that, but close enough! Getting to dinner however in the first place was quite a challenge. That ache in my lower back had locked up into something quite painful, so I had shuffled from the tent to dinner bent over like an old man.

Day 82 National Park Los Alerces

106km with 1233m of climbing. All of which I missed.

I woke to find that any movement shot horrid pains across my back, around to the front of my hips and and flaring pains in my thighs. I haven't experienced this sort of thing in my back for many years. Back then, practicing Tai Chi over time had remedied it.

This meant I wasn't riding, but rather stuck in the truck. Bugger. Early on during this trip, chest infection, bronchitis, asthma and lack of fitness was causing me grief. Then late Peru, Bolivia and early Argentina all had been well. Now in Argentina just before entering Chile for the first time, biomechanicaly my body was beginning to complain from the day after day abuse. My theory is the pains are working their upwards, so within a week or so I'll just have a headache and with nowhere higher to go, they'll disappear!

So the day for me started trying to take the pain while the truck bounced along the unpaved road. It was difficult to take notice of the scenery when the pain kept demanding my attention. The scenery that I did notice however was very beautiful.

At the end of the day we were once again treated to camping lakeside.

Day 83 Futaleufu in Chile!

125km with 1171m of climbing.

A day for me in the truck once again unfortunately. Not that being in the truck is an overall bad experience, it's just not as good or rewarding as being on the bike.

The day was uneventful aside from the border crossing from Argentina into Chile. Chile is quite strict with regards to what can be carried into the country as far as organics are concerned. In general fresh foods cannot cross, anything else such as souvenirs made from timber, feathers and so forth aren't allowed either. Sadly, we lost a part of one of the trucks which had been a bit of fun. We had a cow's skull attached the front, and some wire that in a very artistic way spelt Peru. Attached to the skull was memorabilia we'd found along the way such as women's lingerie, a doll's head (which has a story not for public consumption). It was unceremonially dumped in the border bin.

The border crossing was unusual by the fact that there was nothing there besides the offices for immigration on each side of the border. No stalls, money exchange or anything.

We had a hotel on arriving in town, which in our schedule says for this day we're supposed to be having a bushcamp (just a place with no facilities). On arrival, I'll say that the hotel was very basic and rather run down. It had toilets and showers whereas bushcamps do not, so it was good. Except for the fact that the showers kept running cold, as the pilot lights on the gas heaters were constantly going out.

Given that we were in a hotel in town, this means we're supposed to find our own dinners. There was 1 ATM in town, it accepted Mastercard, but not Visa. Most of us had Visa. Predicament! Thankfully Didier found out that a telephone shop exchanged Argentinian Pesos or USA dollars for Chilean Pesos. A phone shop?! 1 Australian dollar was worth almost 500 Chilean Pesos. The prices are going to take some getting used to.

Day 84 Villa Vanguardia

107km with 1202m of climbing.

Still horrid pains trying to move. Especially after lying down or sitting then trying to stand. So still in the truck. At least we stop for coffee on the way to lunch which is good.

The day was uneventful. More great scenery, more unpaved road.

The camping site however was memorable. We had a bushcamp just outside of town. At the site with us were 2 hitchhikers, 2 playful dogs, a goat that refused to move, and a very cold river fed by glaciers.

The hitchhikers were great characters. 1 of them seemed to be more of a spriritual person, and he said to me that he could see that I lead myself with heart rather than just with my head, and it clearly radiated out, and I should teach those around me and people back home how to do this. An unusual and unique greeting! I was just expecting "hello" or "hola". He then proceeded to play his homemade woodwind thingiemajig, whatchamacallit, dooverlacker.

To complete the story. The dogs were fun, smelly, and had clearly some experience in begging for food.

The goat made some feeble bleating noises during the night, and was dead by the morning.

The river was too cold for me to consider going in. Some did, and all of them survived. I didn't check later to see if their extremities are still attached, so they may have turned black and fallen off by the time you read this.

I was then given some valium to go to sleep with to make the muscles relax and hopefully stop the muscle spasm in my lower back, as painkillers weren't doing the job. Wasn't a big dose, so I noticed my arms relax and I drifted off. 3 hours later when I'd tried to turn over, the pain woke me. Plan B?

Day 85 Glacier Collante

109km with 1244m of climbing. Special mention goes to Adrian (AUS) however. He zoned out and kept pedalling for 35km past our campsite turnoff, and climbed an additional 600m to the next day's lunch spot. Oops! So he had done an additional 70km and found that the next day's climb is quite steep.

More pain, more truck riding, more trees and mountains with snow. I may sound sick of the scenery, absolutely not, but you're probably sick of reading it I suspect! Great coffee on the way to the lunch spot at this beautiful hotel beside the petrol station.

At the lunch spot I decided to go for a walk. A very good thing to do. I slowly stood more upright the further I walked.

On arrival at our campsite, we could see a blue glacier being squeezed between 2 mountains with a drop to a lake. Lee and myself went first to the lake, then walked over a mountain for 3km to get to the proper viewing area of the glacier. The walking further proved it's a good thing for my back, even despite the climbing parts. The glacier was stunning. I want one in my backyard at my next home! There's waterfalls being spat out of the bottom of the ice, then some ice breaks off, falls, and then we could hear the boom as it crashed over rocks to the bottom where there was ice piling up that later melted to run down to the lake. Very addictive to watch.

Later back at camp, I was again lucky enough to have one of our fellow riders who is also a physiotherapist have a look at my back. She advised the muscle in my butt was very tight causing pressure on nerves, resulting in pain appearing in other places. She gave me some stretches which I could feel was very targeted. Hopefully this is what I need to prevent this problem again.

Day 86 Lago Las Torres

78km with 1350m of climbing was the plan.

For me, in the truck again mostly. The day before walking around had restored some confidence that with a little movement and stretches, I could loosen up enough to get on the bike.

I opted out of the morning's ride with the steep unpaved climb, and rode from lunch. So I started with a fun downhill, still on unpaved road, which is my personal favourite. All went well until I was back on undulating paved road. Each time the road began to climb, no matter how easy the gear on the bike I chose, my back tightened and I had pains flashing in my thighs. Soon after I thought riding was a bad idea as it was too soon, Richard turned up in the truck, and I jumped in.

The campsite was very basic. Still it had showers and toilets. The showers however only had cold water. If someone was REALLY keen on having a hot shower, for a measly 2500 pesos you could go to the owner's house for one. There's a business model! Charge for the camping, and then optional extras. 2500 Chilean pesos I should point out however is approximately $5 Australian. We camped beside the lake, again a beautiful place to be. Windy too.

The mountains when we arrived

Overnight the wind continued and it rained. The next morning, snow had fallen on the mountains surrounding the lake. If our campsite had been perhaps 200m higher, we would have had snow rather than rain. Snow would have been preferable so that our tents wouldn't have been packed still wet.

The campsite owner's house with mountain behind 

Was cold overnight, if only it had been that little colder...

Day 87 Coyhaique. Options.

The day's plan was 152km with 1380m of climbing.

My plan was a little different. As soon as breakfast was done, I left camp on foot. I was going to do the truck shuffle. We have 2 trucks. 1st truck to leave in the morning is Didier racing to the lunch spot for the day and setup lunch. The 2nd truck with Richard driving, follows later when the previous night's campsite is all packed away, and any shopping is done. So I kept walking until the 2nd truck caught up. I then got dropped off at lunch where Richard continues on to setup the next campsite. I started walking again until Didier has finished with lunch and catches up.

So I managed to fit in 15km of walking for the day, and my back felt a lot better for it. Temporarily at least until I sit for any length of time. The day was cold, wet and windy, which is what Patagonian Chile does, that's its job. I was fine as I could wear heavier clothing. So I loved being at walking pace, seeing more detail and listening to music. Meanwhile those who were riding and hadn't brought clothes suitable for cold wet weather had difficulty with hypothermia. Sometimes sleet fell, but snow would have been preferable, as it would have been dry.

I would have much preferred to be riding the bike, that's what I came on this trip to do. However, it looks like for a little while at least my cycling trip has become a walking trip, which is fine by me. I really enjoyed the day. The weather added character to the landscape that is Patagonia, and it feels right.

There's only 3 weeks left to go for this trip, and still so much to look forward to. Of all the places that we've seen so far, it is Patagonia that I would choose to visit again.

Day 75 - 80. Patagonia blows a welcome kiss, and are we in Northern Europe?

Day 75 Las Lajas. Patagonia shows what it's famous for by blowing a welcome kiss.

161km with 1265 of climbing. Just numbers.

The day started with being woken at perhaps 4:30am by the sound of the wind. Quite soothing to fall back to sleep with.

When we left camp, the first hint that this day was going to be different was when we were riding at 45km/h along the flat with very little effort at all. Thanks to a tailwind. At one point I found myself rolling along at 67km/h along a flat section without pedalling. Totally due to the wind. So at a guess, the wind may have been gusting anywhere between 80-90km/h.

There were 2 hills to climb, and during the climb, when the wind gusted, I found I accelerated up from 14km/h up to 24km/h. Doing this speed at the incline of 4% is very unusual for me, I normally wouldn't be able to sustain it for long at all.

Even when there was a tailwind, there was always an element of cross wind. This made the bike want to suddenly turn when the wind gusted, and had us all leaning at what appeared to be an unnatural angle into the wind, only to quickly straighten when the gust settled down.

After lunch, the road turned from south to west. Given the wind was coming from the north west, this meant a headwind and a cross wind. Very early after the turn, there was a bridge that had its railing resonating with the wind. So it was twisting and making this horrible sound, I wouldn't want to be nearby when that piece of metal finally lets go and flies horizontally across the road!

The final 25km/h was very difficult riding into the wind. It was lifting a lot of dirt and sometimes small rocks, so we rode through a dust storm. Those little rocks sting when they hit! I heard of 3 people who fell due to the cross wind. I found myself sometimes having to push hard to even go at 8km/h. The effort required to push through after battling to keep control of the bike all day meant I ran out of energy, and the final few km was very difficult and slow.

When arriving at the campsite, I was told that I should have a look in a mirror before having a shower. I was covered in dust, and had an excellent free dirt treatment on my face, except for where my sunglasses were.

I was very glad we were at a campsite. It was new, and the showers were excellent. In past years, the campsite didn't exist, so the groups made a bushcamp a little out of town. Showering using the usual single water bottle would have been difficult to get all the dirt off!

Day 76 Alumine. A welcome change.

131km with 1516m of climbing. Well, that was the plan. We went a little further to find a campsite that was still open, so it was really 138km.

A chilly start, and thankfully the wind was absent. In 2010, this stage was their windiest day to the point where they could no longer ride and had to hide and hold on to their bikes so that they didn't fly away. So we had packed our tents, had breakfast and left early, and was riding at 7am.

We started riding through the usual pampas, which is like a flat plain with patches of grass and low shrubs. To be honest I was getting far too used to it. We climbed for just over 50km to reach lunch. During the climb and as we entered the mountains, the scenery dramatically changed. We saw forests of unusual trees called Monkey-Puzzle tree that have a very distinctive shape.

Not only that, when we reached the lunch spot, the trees had these white lines on the same side of their trunks. Same with the road signs. The day before's wind had been very strong as well in this region, apparently resulting in the snow falling almost horizontally. The owner of the nearby restaurant said it would have been impossible to ride through the area the day before. Most of us were glad to see the restaurant beside the lunch spot, as we could get decent coffee before continuing on 300m higher to finish 1000m climb to the top. The top by the way had patchy snow. It made a nice change, and very beautiful.

Malcolm near the top of the climb amongst snow, SNOW!

Yes I'm Australian, snow has novelty factor

I had been so surprised that we could get coffee at lunch, I forgot to restock on energy bars. With 50km to go, I once again ran out of energy. I began to dream consistently of having a mars chocolate bar, maybe even 3. So it was a very tough and slow ride to the finish. To remedy this uncomfortable feeling, I found that our campsite was near the centre of town. In the town, there was very good coffee, ice cream and they even made milkshakes. So I had all 3. Life is very good.

A very beautiful day thanks to the forest of a different type of tree, snow, fascinating rock formations, a great view over a lake with snow capped mountains in the background.

Day 77 Junin de los Andes

110km, was supposed to be 120km, but we rode 10km extra the day before getting to an unscheduled campsite. 1144m of climbing.

The ride consisted of following a river downstream. So you would expect the road to go consistently downhill. Well, overall it did, but it snaked up and down a hillside and following the hillside terrain, so it was a lot of up and down. It was quite nice to be amongst the trees for so long.

At one stage I saw a deer on the side of the road just staring at me. Once I passed it, I found the deer happily trotting along behind me. This is when I got that stupid song from the movie "The sound of music" in my head that has the words "A doe, a deer, a female deer...". That song is so annoying, it sticks in the mind so well. It's stuck in your mind now isn't it? Go on, try and forget it. Not working is it? Some people later stopped and found the deer liked to be patted, clearly used to people.

The unpaved surface was good. Still, it almost caught me out on one corner where I went into a corner and my front tyre let go. I managed to straighten up and use a bit more of the road before I fell. Turned out 2 others had a similar situation and fell. Christine later found herself in hospital as a precaution to make sure she was ok. She had soft tissue damage to her shoulder, a common injury for us cyclists (or broken collarbones).

The day was going well until after lunch where I scored a puncture. I went to put the spare tube in, only to find a puncture in that one as well, this was from all the time it had spent rattling around in my saddle bag. Better still, the patches I'd bought back in Peru were low quality, so difficult and messy to apply. The dirt tyres I had on are very tight on the wheel. So after putting in a whole bunch of effort to change the tube twice, do some patching and pump the tyre a few times with a tiny little pump giving my chest and arms an Arnold Schwarzenegger grade workout, I'd lost an hour and a half. Normally a simple change of a tube takes 5 minutes.

Still, the time spent on the side of the road was a welcome relief, as left knee was still reminding me it wasn't happy. Furthermore, my left ankle was also shouting at me quite loudly as well. I must have been keeping my leg at a strange angle trying to nurse my knee, resulting in a strained ankle.

Day 78 Ruta de 7 lagos

I bowed out of riding this day due to my left leg didn't want to come out and play. I figured if I kept going, next to go would be my hip!

So I missed a short 90km day with 987m of climbing.

Still, an enjoyable day. The scenery is still showing trees and yellow flowers and snow capped mountains. The local architecture has become noticeably Northern European, the type with the steep roof and being made of timber. This is both for shops and houses. I would gladly live in the cabin style houses here.

Further along we saw the unspectacular yet somehow still  fascinating stream that splits. One side flows to the Atlantic Ocean, the other side flows to the Pacific Ocean.

On arrival to our campsite however...oh wow. Just stunning. We camped on the side of a lake. Of course surrounded by mountains. There the luxuries of a small shop, showers, toilets, fireplaces and even kayaks for those inclined to go for a paddle. A very beautiful place to stay. I found standing knee deep in the cold lake for a little while brought some relief to both my knee and ankle.

Later that night, I opened my tent and found a clear sky full of stars. Was quite nice to listen to music for a little while and drift back to sleep. It was cool enough in this place not to have mosquitoes at night this time of year.

Day 79 Villa la Angostura

Even though I wasn't limping around so much when walking, I had this day in the truck as well to allow some recovery.

The day starts with the usual pack tents, breakfast, load trucks then begin the ride. Except for those of us in Richard's truck. We started in a more civilised way, by going to the small shop lakeside and enjoying a coffee and a chat before heading off.

The day was short. 61km on unpaved road through forest. Nothing quite as stunning as the previous days, it felt like we could be almost anywhere in the world, but still nice.

On arrival at our campsite, most of us of course soon invaded the town to see what was there. Oh the shops that sell both chocolate and ice cream! I wasn't stuffing around, and got 1/2kg of ice cream, 4 flavours. 2 other guys bought 1/4kg, and talked of how back home a single ice cream cone was enough. Then only an hour later those same people got ANOTHER 1/4kg of ice cream. Nice try guys!

Day 80 San Carlos de Bariloche

Back on the bike for a 86km ride with 746m of climbing.

The first part of the day consisted of riding alongside lakes, protected from any wind by the trees. The 2 days off the bike had clearly been beneficial, and I felt very strong. Yolande commented on how much taller gears I now use with a lower cadence during the climbs. I was happily riding with some of the stronger riders, stop, take a photo, then catch up again. Keeping in mind however that on this day we didn't have timing, so everyone was taking a more relaxed pace.

Lunch was on the side of the lake, and looking across the lake we could see Bariloche. As soon as we left lunch and crested the next hill, there was a headwind. Not the same howling, throw you off the bike type of wind that we had 5 days before, but still enough to slow us down. The good thing was that we soon turned to follow the lake around, so the wind then became a tailwind. So the last 25km into Bariloche was easy and fast, where we could keep up with traffic.

As for Bariloche itself. It feels very Northern European. More timber buildings with a steep roof. There are huge shops entirely dedicated to chocolate. I'd hate to count how many calories are available here. It's a pretty place beside a lake. Here we have a rest day. Will I give in to temptation? Yes. Just a little.

Day 69 - 74. Volcanoes, but where's the earth shattering kaboom?

Day 69 San Carlos

140km with 999m of climbing.

Wilbert who has been leading the group since Quito is leaving us, and co-director Rob joins us after his scouting ride through North America. Wilbert parted with the comment "from here, leave your sunglasses in your blue tag bags (occasional luggage), and umbrellas in your white tag bags (camping gear bags)". Up until now we've had fine weather every day since day 1. The occasional cloud cover, a brief shower or 2, and high altitude chill is something we've had to deal with, but no real rainy days. As we head south, and especially when we hop over to the western side of the Andes in Chile, we should expect plenty of rain. Oh, and wind, lots and lots of wind. The sort where if it's behind you, you can happily cruise along the road at 50km/h without pedalling.

We leave with a cloudy morning, and scattered light spray of rain. A nice ride still through the many, many km of vineyards and orchards that surround Mendoza. Every day now the wind is making its presence known, and is a real factor with how the difficult the ride is. Not that we have the howling winds that in previous years have had people hiding behind boulders, and crawling along the road. We have those sort of winds to look forward to later. This day, the wind was gentle enough.

Looking at the map, we use the famous Ruta 40 for a little while, then ride a loop off to the side before rejoining the main road. It adds some distance and a climb, yet it also gets us on a quieter road for the majority of the day, and more scenery.

An enjoyable and otherwise uneventful day.

Day 70 Ruta 40 bushcamp

118km with 1177m of climbing, mostly on unpaved road with 18% of the road being paved.

The day consists of plenty of snow capped mountains and enjoyable scenery. It feels odd to still be so warm with days reaching 30 degrees Celsius or more, yet what seems only a few hundred metres higher, there's snow.

All was going well until my bike starting to make scraping sounds when pedalling after some especially bumpy parts of the road. At one stage it became difficult to pedal and had a notchy feel to it. I was thinking to myself the bottom bracket (the area where the crank goes through the frame) was history and imagined what was left of the bearing rattling around and fragments jamming everything up. This would have posed a problem, as it was a part I was expecting to last the duration of the trip, and so had no spares. I could carry spares for every possible part that could break or wear out, but that would amount to taking 2 bikes! I've found, most parts for my bike cannot be found in South America such as seals for the rear suspension. Oh the joy!

With the scraping sound making it sound like I was doing damage to the bike, I made it to lunch and ended my ride there. So I covered only 62km.

Later at camp, Richard had a look and found it was actually the screws that hold the guide plate and roller that keeps the chain from bouncing off the bike on the bumpy parts that had come loose. Tightened them up, all was well. Hmm...maybe not. He then had a look at the rest of the bike, and found that with me having to raise my downhill bike seat up to the height for cross country riding, there was so little seat post left in the frame that it was dangerous, and had the potential to snap the post, or crack the frame. This had already happened to Johnathan's bike where he'd cracked the frame. So the same solution was applied, a strap running from the seat post to the front of the frame to stop the bending force and stress on the frame where the seat post is.

Johnathan's and my bike with frame saving straps. My bike is the one at the front with the blue strap.

This photo was taken a day later in Malargüe.

A little about the camping spot. The name seems so bland. Ruta 40. Just a campsite beside a main road it seems. In reality it was one of the most beautiful places we've stayed at so far. A quiet dirt road, with our campsite up on a hill looking over the flat plains, snow capped mountains and volcanoes. After dinner at sunset, there was a thunderstorm in the distance that was great to watch before drifting off to sleep. A special place.

No photo can really do this place justice. To truly appreciate it, you'd need to see a huge photo with a panormamic angle of view. Better still, just visit.

Day 71 Malargüe

131km and oh so flat 494m of climbing. 84% paved.

After my initial slow start so not to provoke the usual choking with asthma, I found myself happily passing other riders until the paved section. I have an unfair advantage with the dual suspension. The bike soaks up the heaviest part of the bumps, so easier to pedal on the rough roads. I felt quite strong on this day as well.

Once on the paved road, with the tail wind I found even in the top gear I wasn't straining and needed more gears. So gradually other riders that I'd previously passed with taller gearing were passing me.

At the end of the day, I arrived within an hour of the leaders and ahead of the mid pack. This surprised a few people including myself. Malcolm suggested I had a rocket attached to my bike. He normally arrives before me. This comment about the rocket I found amusing the next day, because there was Malcolm contemplating changing the height of his seat. Coincidence after I'd been changing my seat height? Perhaps, but a less amusing way to think about it.

Day 72 Buta Billon

115km with 916m of climbing.

An enjoyable and unventful ride mostly. The day started with a climb that continued for just over 40km, and climbed over 600m. Back home in Australia, this would seem huge, but riding it here seemed like just another climb, and stretched out over a longer distance.

The day seemed ok enough, except after lunch where my left knee started to get pains as I pedalled. I was hoping that it was just one of those pains that develop over a day, and after a good sleep, the next day it will be fine.

Day 73 Barrancas

101km with 1208m of climbing. Well, that was the course.

My day was 13km and 500m of climbing.

That bothersome knee that was bothering me the day before, seemed ok enough in the morning. First we started with paved road, and most of rode together in a peloton at a reasonable pace. I was feeling quite strong, and moved to near the front of the group. On a couple of the short climbs I was quite happy to leave the bike in a taller gear, and use some strength to climb rather than dropping to an easier gear and pedalling faster. I have found that I keep up with the group much easier this way. It's a balance between pedalling too fast and running out of breath and feeling the heartrate go too high, or pedalling too hard with too high a gear causing the muscles to burn out.

Once the road became unpaved and bumpy, on the first climb I began to get sharp pains in my knee. Bugger. My ride was done so early in the day. Richard was yet to pass with his truck, so I went to the side of the road, put my bike upside down and sat so that some sun warmed rocks were pressing behind my knee which gave some comfort.

I didn't have to wait long and I was picked up. Kirsten commented it had been a long while since I'd been in the truck with them, enjoyed the day listening to music. It wasn't all bad, but still frustrating.

On this day we crossed over to the region of Patagonia. Famous for its strong, strong winds. Along with forests, glaciers and in some towns good chocolate. I think we'll get along fine, except for those days where there's a headwind, which I believe is most days! Hmm.

On arrival at our campsite, I was lucky to get an opinion on my knee as I'm riding with many professionals. A few of them happen to be physiotherapists, and one was kind and curious enough to find out what the problem was. The opinion was inflamed tendons, and tight hips and calves pulling my knee in an unbalanced way. I was shown some stretches, and my knee was taped up.

Day 74 Chos Malal. No earth shattering kaboom? No rumbles?

94km and 1424m of climbing and 8% paved. Although on this day there was an alternate route available which was longer and flatter, and known to be windier.

Not entirely confident in my knee, although feeling ok at first, I left early in the morning to get as much distance done to test how far I could go, and if all wasn't well, still have the option to be picked up before Didier passed in the lunch truck.

This was another day of climbing straight from the start. Once it became unpaved, in parts it became quite steep. I measured 11% incline at one stage, (further on someone briefly measured 15% which translates to bloody steep especially on dirt). My knee was being co-operative, although I was being kind by being slow in easier gears.

However by 13km I could see the truck approaching and I had to make a decision. My knee was giving some dull warning pains, so I decided on getting in the truck. If I'd continued and things had gotten worse, there would have been no way out besides riding or walking.

Still, the scenery was very enjoyable. Getting up close and personal beside a volcano (not active at this moment) along with a long cooled lava flow was a new experience. Again, the snow was not much higher above us.

After 6 days riding since Mendoza, we have a rest day waiting for us in Chos Malal. We only have single rest days from here onwards until the end of the ride in 6 weeks time.