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.

Day 59 - 68. Beauty and the butt ugly beast

Day 59 Santa Maria

Still amongst the shorter, flatter "holiday" riding, we had 78km with only 486m of climbing.

At lunch, we stopped at the beginning the dirt road leading to the Quilmes ruins. Only a few of us opted to ride the climbing dirt road to visit. I wouldn't have forgiven myself for not satisfying my curiosity, as I still had plenty of daylight left to finish the day. The ruins themselves weren't all that spectacular. Aside from the fact they were a bit higher than the valley we'd ridden in from, so there was a nice view. The ruins were basically low walls made of stacked rocks like what we'd previously seen being used as paddock fences up until now. The stall selling cold drinks however was most welcome. 

If anything, I couldn't drop the feeling that the ruins have been restored a little to become a political tool. The information leaflets were all about the indigenous people of the region, and the treatment these people received during colonisation, and nothing about the ruins themselves, or the lifestyles of the people when the place was first built. I found even this fascinating, as it sounds much like a similar story to what is heard back in Australia.

Part of the riding was on very soft gravel which the tyres sink in, and can cause the bike to squirm and even throw you off if not careful. Hard work.

It has been said that in Argentina in the previous years of this trip, people begin to put back on some of the weight they've lost. I can see why. Even in the smaller town of Santa Maria, the ice cream shop was still open during siesta time, and the 1/2kg tub of ice cream was delicious.

Speaking of siesta. In Argentina, siesta is strongly followed. So the shops MIGHT open in the morning, no guarantees there. Then loosely around midday, siesta begins and the place becomes a ghost town. At around 6pm, the shops begin to open again. If you want to go out for dinner, good luck finding a place open before 8pm.

Day 60 Hualfin, the butt ugly side of cycling

122km with 680m of climbing. When this amount of climbing is spread over this distance, may as well call it flat. Long low rolling undulations, hardly enough to slow us down. Instead, it has another dreaded feature, the long straight road. Some of the riders find this difficult due to the lack of changing landscape, and do their best to ride together to at least chat while getting the distance done.

I made it to the lunch spot at 65km, and was suffering catastrophic butt failure. The day after day of sitting on a bike saddle for so many hours, it can go from being sore to quite painful. In my case it was getting so painful I was slowing down, and was no longer able to properly take in my environment, and the legs weren't too keen on moving. Not mistaking it with some other people have been experiencing, which is broken skin from the constant friction when pedalling.

We stayed at a spot which was a little out of the way, yet had hot springs. So our showers consisted of going into a concrete shed, and there was a pipe constantly streaming out nice big volumes of very warm water. Quite nice.

Day 61 San Blas de los Sauces

Still suffering catastrophic butt failure, I opted to recover sitting in the nice, wide, soft, padded seat in the truck. As a result, I missed a 160km flat day.

Day 62 Chilecito

119km with 842km of climbing. A howling beast of a day I won't forget in a hurry. Well, until I meet the famous Patagonian winds later I suspect.

Yes, the day was windy. All day, with headwinds except for a brief 30 second tailwind when meeting a junction between valleys. The day should have been easy given the lack of steep climbing. Instead it felt like we were climbing a moderately steep hill constantly all day. Oh, then add the occasional dust storm which masked the surrounding countryside. In this region, not seeing far wasn't much of a problem as it was more of long wide valleys, with mountains running either side. We'd been seeing this for days, so most of us had stopped taking pictures which is quite surprising, as some are stopping what seems every 100m to take a shot of something.

By the time I reached Chilecito and the beginning of a rest day, I was covered in dust except where my sunglasses had been.

In Chilecito, we were staying in apartments spread over a small property. Quite comfortable. I was sharing with the party animals. Later that night, I was woken by a soon to be squished mosquito. When I came out of my room for a moment, the party animals were still being animals having a party, and they misheard me when I said "There's mozzies in my room man!". They heard "there's an aussie in my room!", which got some chuckles, as the aussie was no longer in the room, and this has been brought up multiple times in the days since.

Day 63 Villa Union

119km and 1240m of climbing. Well, that's what the sheet for the day said. The route was changed however, and so rode the same distance, but climbed 1679m. Nope, not flat. 2 significant climbs rather than having the undulations spread out over the day. 

Look it up if you would like, but in the difficulty level used by rides such as Tour de France, my bike computer later calculated this day as difficulty level 1. Level 4 is the least difficult, through to level 1. There is 1 level above level 1 which is "HC" which apparently means "Hors Category", or in english means outside category, but I prefer to think it stands for Holy Crap.

Not that it wasn't enjoyable. The first climb was on dirt road, and in some parts very steep, which now I'm capable of getting through them, I'm finding I enjoy the achievement. Not only that, when at the start of the day we see on our sheets how much climbing we have to do, it's nice to get them done in big chunks rather than having the climbing drag throughout the day.

During the first climb I rode with Tamsin from the UK, but once descending the other side into a long valley. She's a good consistent climber, and more cautious when going downhill, especially when the road is not sealed. I waited for her to catch up once during the first descent, but after that I was enjoying the rough road continuously going downhill too much to hit the brakes.

Once starting the second climb, I encountered Christine and Yolande. There were some thorns on the road, and there I was coming round the corner when Yolande was holding the spare tube. So I pulled over to help out. Not that I minded, although unfortunately for me this also won me the llama mascot for the day.

Looking back down the valley during the 2nd climb of the day

A reminder about the llama. The llama is our little toy mascot that a rider keeps with them for the day, and is passed from rider to rider. Usually the person who gains the llama has done a "llama moment" that everyone remembers. The challenge then is to keep note of what everyone gets up to, so that there's a story to tell with it the next day about what happened. Whoever does the best llama moment, wins the llama. So we all enjoy some of the stories we hear, until that moment when we get it!

Camping beside a petrol station that night was quite good. It had wifi, and the shop attached was open, so there was coffee, drinks, ice cream and toilets. Luxurious.

Day 64 San Jose de Jachal

A 143km 886 day. Although for me it was shorter, I only got through 73km. I started having a lot of coughing fits after going through the dust on the way to Chilecito, and was getting worse so decided to back off. I certainly didn't want a repeat performance of what happened during the first month of this trip, which back then had landed me in a private hospital for treatment.

Day 65 Tocota

116km and 1806m of climbing. This climbing was constant, and done through the entire day.

Richard takes a photo of the lake and the visible again snow capped mountains

Compared to the other days, 116km doesn't seem so tough. However, at perhaps half way through, the road became unpaved. There were a few who suspected the last part of the day will take too long, and opted to go in the truck to get to camp. Not so silly in hindsight.

At first, quite a few of us were saying that the surface wasn't too bad, remembering how bad it can get after riding in Bolivia. Oops, instant jinx. After we'd taken the time to even dare thinking that the surface was ok, it wasn't ok anymore. It became the dreaded loose gravel and sand. The energy sapping, wheel sinking and spinning, bike kicking and squirming, tough to ride through stuff. But wait, there's more. Then the wind turned from being a cross wind, to headwind.

There were parts that couldn't be ridden it was so soft, there many trails of footprints beside tyre tracks.

With perhaps 20km to go, I hit the wall. No fuel left in the tank. What was I to do though? No phone reception, the trucks had already passed and gone to the campsite. So the afternoon became as much a mental challenge as it was a physical one. I finally reached the campsite just before 6:30. A long day on the bike, when we left the hotel that morning just after 8.

That night we celebrated Adrian's (UK) birthday. He does enjoy beer, so with a little inspiration, a fake cake was made where first there were some beer cans taped together, then coated in icing. When Adrian went to cut the cake...POP! Geyser of beer. Awesome. That can was quickly recovered and put to its intended use. Then the real cake came out.

The campsite was a surprise, as we camped beside a police station. The police station was in the middle of nowhere. Apparently the police at this spot are more concerned about making sure people don't damage or hurt the flora or fauna. So we had a cold shower, toilet and soft grass to put the tents on, and surrounded by paddocks with horses with the sound of the wind through the poplar trees to fall asleep to.

Day 66 Barreal

129km with 695m of climbing. I hadn't fully recovered from the previous day, so I made it to lunch after riding 86km, with the first part of it being on the dirt road from yesterday, but at least it was downhill and the surface seemed a little more solid.

Just before lunch however, we had secretly agreed to all meet together. Didier, the crew member who is the medic, truck driver, supplier of lunch and all round good guy didn't know we were about to celebrate his birthday. So when everyone had caught up, as a group we armed ourselves with silly party hats, horns, rattles and then rode around the corner making as much noise as we could to where Didier was wondering where everyone was. Complete with Richard in the 2nd truck with the fire engine siren and lights going. The 2 trucks are old fire engines, not sure if I'd mentioned that previously? Didier broke out with a big grin, so that worked.

Rock formations before reaching Barreal

Day 67 Uspallata. Should be prounced "oo-spa-yata", I prefer to say "you splat a"

112km and 808m of climbing.

This was just the day I needed both mentally and physically. We had far more paved road than was expected, the climb was barely noticeable with a single hump up, then downhill the rest of the day. The unpaved road was a much better surface than expected, with few soft spots.

During the climb before the unpaved part, I was able to ride with Malcolm and Tamsin side by side across the road as there was so little traffic. Quite good chatting away and eating up the distance so easily even though we were still climbing thanks to some help from a tailwind.

Once the top was reached, it wasn't long before the paved surface returned and a nice downhill started complete with a strong tailwind. Most of the time at this part I was happily moving along at 50km/h with no effort at all.

The town where we were camping was my kind of town. Not so big that everything becomes an inconvenience, but just big enough to have the essentials and still be pleasant. It was a Sunday, and beside our campsite there was a horse riding competition, and a road bicycle race going through town, so it had a festive atmosphere to the place. It also had a place to get coffee and ice cream. When riding back from the cafe to the campsite, one of the racers on a bike had gone in front of me, so the crowd on either side of the road first saw a racer go past, then another cyclist approach with a name plate on the front of the bike, but then became a little confused when they saw it was a mountain bike, and the rider was wearing casual t shirt and shorts (I'd already changed from the battle clothes and had a shower). A bit of fun.

Day 68 Mendoza. First impressions don't always last

111km and 1270m of climbing.

The first 30km was all up. Not too steep at between 3-6% incline (briefly I saw 12% just before the top), with the last 16km of climbing on unpaved surface. Thankfully, very few soft patches that cause the wheels to  sink and squirm to the side.

With the climb and lunch done however, there was the most beautiful downhill. A descent of 2000m. Starting at 3000m above sea level, there were over 300 curves on this unpaved road that was in good condition. All amongst proper rocky mountains, and the wind pushing clouds up the side. During the descent I saw a herd of Guanacos (type of llama) and a falcon who took off from a rock just above me as I passed. This is what I had in mind before coming here, of what it's like to ride amongst the mountains.

Let the fun begin!

Once the descent from the proper mountains was done, the downhill wasn't finished. The surface became paved and kept dropping to the plain where Mendoza is. Nice curved road that I happily carved up the corners on at over 50km/h.

The road eventually flattened out and for 30km perhaps, there was a headwind and even the look of rain. The air was misty below the clouds, but never felt a rain drop.

Once reaching the edge of town however, not so good. Didier meets Malcolm and myself with the news that 2 people riding a motorbike had pushed Ghilly over when she was riding, and tried to steal her bike, with 1 of them displaying what looked like a gun. I heard later that Ghilly was convinced the gun was fake, which goes along with what they did when she refused to let go of her bike. Rather than properly threatening to shoot, they were hitting her with it. Either way you look at it though, not good. She yelled out enough that the locals all came out, and the 2 idiots left empty handed. She had a scrape to the knee, but otherwise she later seemed ok and she had continued riding from the incident to the campsite.

Malcolm and I also saw a motorbike rider lying on the road after having an accident, with people around him. This was on the same road that Ghilly had her moment.

Welcome to Mendoza!

We later heard that the road we first used should be avoided. Experience prompts me to agree.

Our campsite was right out on the edge of the city. When visiting the city, it looks very western, with the typical Spanish touch of a plaza in the middle. The Plaza Independencia is quite large, with trees and fountains. As far as cities go, it's quite beautiful. The coffee I later found to be excellent.

Day 54 - 58. Holidays, coffee and vineyards

Day 54 Quebrada de Humahuaca

First, no photos in this post. The internet connection where I am is not much better than 2 cups connected by a piece of string. Let your imagination fill the gaps this time.

118km and 541m of climbing. In other words reasonably flat and uneventful day just eating up some distance.

For a good portion of the morning we experienced a headwind, which any cyclist will tell you makes things immensely more difficult. Mostly mentally, as the eyes tell you it's easy, yet there's this invisible hand pushing back.

It was enjoyable still, and this time I had Richard (one of the crew) riding beside me. He noticed with my downhill bike, my pedalling position wasn't as good as it could be. He asked me if my legs get sore, which my response was "always". This is a good thing, as it means something can be done to make me faster!

The end result was the seat was moved forward and up. The difference was significant. More power for the climbs!

Day 55 Yala. A day to make the eyes water

So we had a 151km day with 421m of climbing. Looking at the profile, it was almost entirely all downhill. It was dropping off the 3500m high altiplano down by more than 2000m. My kind of day!

The day starts with a VERY cold start at bushcamp. So we wake with one of the trucks having some upbeat music being played as we settled in for breakfast. Next thing I knew people were having a dance party as the sun rose. Some people may be overall grumpy and sluggish, but that morning was a rather enjoyable and amusing experience. As I was walking past the kitchen benches, Kirsten suggested I move (as in dance with the music), my answer was that of course I'm moving, I'm walking! Wilbert throws in "that's man talk". Hehe, too right. Dancing is a spectator sport.

The riding first thing in the morning was cold and fast. Most of the time moving along anywhere between 30-40km/h. By the time we'd reached the lunch spot, we'd descended enough for it to become warm enough to shed all the jackets, arm and leg warmers.

From lunch onwards, it should have been more of the same fast easy pace. It sure as hell wasn't. The wind howled through the valley. It would have been faster and easier to turn around and climb back up the road with the wind behind me. On the same sort of slopes where we were travelling at up to 40km/h downhill, we were pushing hard into the wind at between 10-15km/h. Good mental exercise in advance of reaching Patagonia.

The day ended upon reaching a rather nice campsite. Complete with cafe. So I sat with Paul, Babette and James drinking coffee and having ice cream while learning of their riding experiences in other places. Nice.

Day 56 Salta

122km with 1296m of climbing.

The ride to Salta shows a hint of the days to come. The crew and some other riders who have seen this area before describe these areas as beautiful and easy to ride. Very much a holiday. Ok, in a sense we are on holidays for the entire trip, but it's mostly hard work!

The ride was very enjoyable going through the Argentinian countryside. In many ways it felt like home with the sort of hills and trees. The rural areas were clearly far wealthier than the places we've seen in Peru and Bolivia.

After lunch we rode a side road which was like riding through a national park. Weaving road up and down hills. A great way to travel.

I was also really beginning to notice the huge increase in leg strength thanks to the improved riding position and the product of a lot of riding to get this far. I'm not having to spin my way up all the climbs, but rather leave the bike in a taller gear and muscle my way up which is much faster if the endurance lasts!

At Salta we had 2 rest days waiting for us at a campsite. Some opted to rest in hotels at their own cost. I chose to camp.

That night we celebrated reaching half way to Ushuaia with a barbeque. It was a looooong and great night. I finally stumbled to my tent at 4am.

Day 57 Quebrada del Conchas

96km and 519m of climbing. So in the grand scheme of things, pretty flat.

The day was easy with mostly a gentle downhill all day with the occasional hill. It felt so easy that I kept expecting something to happen like a huge headwind to even things out. Instead, we gained a tailwind.

We arrived at a private property, and the owner lets the group camp each year Bike Dreams comes through. A nice place with some open areas and huge cactus plants. Plenty of midges too. Scratch scratch scratch...

Day 58 Cafayate

94km with 940m of climbing. Essentially a gentle uphill all day, with the occasional bonus bump.

We spent most of the day riding through a canyon, full of cliffs baring their red and yellow bands of colour.

There were a couple of stops along the way, where there are natural amphitheatres in the cliffside. In the one at our lunch spot, Paul (Australia) played his harmonica to take advantage of the acoustics. It's a tourist attraction there, so there was already a guitarist busker who plays to the tourists. After Paul had played for a little while, the guitarist joined in for an impromptu jam session, followed by a song by Pink Floyd. A very enjoyable lunch!

Cafayate is an area known for their vineyards, and the place is beautiful. Better still, on arriving in town, there were multiple heladerias (ice cream shops). I had to sample from a couple of them!

Day 46 - 53. Tough days, spectacular scenery and perhaps some decent coffee to be had soon.

Day 46 Altiplano (bus crash)

Loooong day with 146km which was relatively flat with only 416m of climbing over the whole day.

This is the altiplano, or in english high altitude flat plain.

We stayed together for the most part, and throughout the day I was riding with a group. It worked out that we took turns at the front to push through the wind, including myself.

Lunch was protected from the wind in a building that had hot baths should we have chosen to indulge. I was too eager to keep going, like most of us.

With land this flat, even at a respectable 30km/h, the scenery changes very slowly. I know my room mate Lee was not looking forward to this day because it's such a slogging it out grind, even though he's one of the strongest riders. He prefers to be challenged and see faster changes in the terrain.

Towards the end of the day I was riding with 5 other people. I let slip that with the ground being so flat, we'll have a great view of the night sky, so then I said "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with S". I was referring to seeing many stars later that night. Yet somehow that became a game between us as we rode to camp. When the letter S came up again, Malcolm volunteered the answer "subsistence farmers" to which I volunteered a quick 2 word expletive in return. Kevin added he couldn't have said it any better himself (my expletive, not Malcom's answer) which got a chuckle or 2. What an unexpected way to finish the ride. Playing I spy.

The camp site is called bus crash because there was a bus crash there some years ago, and the shell of the bus is still at the side of the road as a memorial to those who died.

The site had mud brick buildings that weren't finished and didn't have a roof on any of them. Someone in our group had taken the time to mark out signs to be like a hotel, such as the lobby, dining room, free wifi ( and a few other signs marking out who had claimed a particular spot. A nice touch.

Day 47 Meteorite Crater!

A much shorter day of 83km and 483m of climbing. Not that the numbers meant much. This is where we saw our first example of Bolivian dirt roads. ROUGH. Sandy and corrugated. Quite often the locals drive beside the road and create their own much smoother track, but also often quite sandy.

So the day still presented a challenge. This was also a very good day to have dual suspension like how I do with my bike, and also Fred and Adrian Moye also have dual suspension. Still, sometimes the corrugations are spaced in such a way that it causes both wheels to lift at the same time which can be quite unsettling. Go over them too fast, and it can become too difficult to even focus to see where to go.

Still, despite the adventurous ride, we were treated to camping beside a meteorite crater. Best guesstimates of the crater were between 600m and 1km wide, and 30m deep. A special place to visit.

Taking a photo of Ilkka taking a photo of the crater

Not only that, some of the locals have recognised the tourist potential of the place, and over the last year they'd started building a visitor's centre. So we had toilets, and they even stocked up on beer for us which was appreciated and we bought quite a few!

Camping here was not one of the things I knew to expect, so what a pleasant surprise. I've never had the opportunity to see a crater, let alone camp beside one.

Day 48 Tahua

Again a short day of 73km with 509m of climbing. Again, not that the numbers meant much. A tough day with some of the climbs being through deep soft sand.

At one stage I was climbing up the hill riding sideways. My back wheel out to the side spinning in the sand. That takes a LOT of energy and effort!

In the later part of the day we all rode together at a group, stopping at each dirt road intersection as it could get confusing with so many ways to go. The directions list was a full page. So Wilbert led the way.

Yes, we even get to ride around a volcano!

The scenery was regularly changing and enjoyable. Especially when we reached the top of the last hill. It was then that we could see the huge Salar de Uyuni. The world's largest salt flat.

The first view of Salar de Uyuni

When we dropped down to our lakeside camp site, it was just fantastic. Soft grassy ground to put our tents on, and the view of the salt flat.

That night we had the coldest night (I think it was anyhow) that we had yet when camping. I normally keep my camelbak (backpack with a 3L water bladder) with me in the tent. Not only did the tube to the mouthpiece freeze, but also a crust of ice inside the bladder itself. Best guesses was it reached -10C that night. Not that I minded, I had the right tent and sleeping bag for the job.

Day 49 Salar de Uyuni

So on this day we had 102km of riding, with 0m of climbing. Nada, zilch. Dead flat.

After taking the short track to the edge of the salt flat, there was a little bit of shallow water to ride through, then we were on the salt.

Normally salt flats have the reputation of not only being flat, but also smooth. The ride to lunch at the Isla del Pescado was rough. Very rough. So Yolande who has a cyclocross bike which really is a mildly adapted road bike, she had a very tough time.

After lunch however, we were following the traffic tracks to the hotel near the edge of the salt flat, so the last 60km of riding was much better.

Yup, I'd say that's flat!

The hotel was made of blocks of salt. So definitely a novelty factor there. Later in the afternoon there were rally cars roaring past doing a training run. This is what I was expecting to see!

Hotel made of salt

It was great with most of us sitting outside watching the sunset until the sun dipped below the horizon and the temperature plummeted. At this altitude like everywhere else, the sun may be warm, but the air is always cool. On  the salt flat even more so, as the salt doesn't warm up as much, but rather bounces the sun's rays back off. We've been spending quite a lot of time at over 3500m above sea level, and I'd been riding the whole day with arm and leg warmers on. My bike computer in the middle of the day may say the temperature was 30C, but that's because the sun was on it. Cover up, and still feel not too warm, and not have to bother with sunscreen for the covered areas.

Dinner in the hotel was by candle light given the lack of lights.

Day 50 Uyuni

What's this? Only 35km?! Anyone would think we're on holidays!

So we start the morning with an almost 7km long time trial. I tried warming up and had ridden an extra 8km before my turn (so I rode 43km in total for the day), but asthma still kicked in when I started. Pity! The time trial was fun and something different.

Once off the salt, we had the usual dirt road full of sand and corrugations to Uyuni.

The hotel was quite comfortable, and a small group of us visited the nearby train graveyard. The trains were left to rust when there was no further use for them when the local mining industry collapsed partly due to mineral depletion in the 1940s.

Day 51 Atocha

A 103km day with 689m of climbing.

Once again deep sand on the roads, and corrugations. Acceptance of the surface is sinking in, and just appreciating the day for what it is.

The scenery was clearly showing more mountainous country rather than the usual flat altiplano. The deep red and purple colours in the rocks towards the end of the day was quite spectacular.

Kevin and Graeme admiring the change in landscape

For the last part of the ride, quite a few of us took the option of riding on the river bed rather than the road. The river bed was by far a better surface, and a bit of fun too before arriving in the mining town of Atocha.

Christine and myself about to cross the river again and reach Atocha

Day 52 Tupiza. Thanks Bolivia!

109km with a more mountainous 1541m of climbing.

No doubt about it, a very tough day.

At first, after following the river bed again and crossing through water with soft silt, the climbs were gentle enough. The road weaved around and over the rolling hills at first. So I got the feeling I was riding in a big playground. Probably not the best way to describe it, but that's how it felt and the word playground came to mind when I was riding it.

Then the road got serious.

STEEP in parts. Up to 14% incline. This is still on sandy corrugated dirt road don't forget. The climbs got more brutal approaching lunch.

At lunch Susana asked me if I was hitting the wall (running out of energy) yet. I replied I was close. She mentioned that most of the other people were feeling the same way.

There was still 1 last climb before a downhill. Another steep climb, at one point I measured 10% incline. It was one of those climbs where I saw a corner way up and decided that must be the top, then when reaching that corner, see another corner way up again. That happened 3 times.

The downhill wasn't too bad, had to be careful with the corrugations, and once again when it flattened out a little, opted for the river bed.

Riding along the river bed was fun, and the scenery changed noticeably until I thought I was in roadrunner (the cartoon) country complete with tall skinny red rocks and canyons.

The day may have been tough, yet the scenery throughout the day did not disappoint. So exhausting, sore and enjoyable would be a way to summarise the day.

So in Tupiza we had a rest day, and our final stay in Bolivia.

Day 53 La Quiaca Argentina. Hello Argentina! I hear that in your cafes you have real coffee! If so, we'll get along fine.

A 93km day with 1296m of climbing.

It starts with a gentle downhill, so a good speed to warm up with and watch the scenery go by. I should mention we start and finish this day on beautiful, smooth new sealed road. So out of character compared to what I'd seen up until then in Bolivia, except for the first 2 or 3 days in to Bolivia from Peru.

At one point we went through a dark tunnel which was unnerving as I didn't have any lights on my bike, and going from bright daylight to dark tunnel meant at first I was guessing where I was going. Lucky for most of us, no potholes or surprises.

After perhaps 35km of cruising, it turned uphill for a 7% incline climb for roughly the next 10km to reach 600m higher. Climbing on paved road is SO much easier! I also discovered that since my previous climbs on sealed road, I was noticably stronger in the legs and so faster at climbing.

Lunch was at the top, then for the rest of the day there was just rolling hills all the way to the Bolivia/Argentina border. Crossing the border was uneventful, and our hotel was just on the other side.

Let's see what Argentina offers.

Day 42 - 45. Pleasant surprises and a not so pleasant reminder

Day 42 Hotel Titicaca

A short day, and quite cold. The coldest day of riding yet. Even compared to riding through the high altitude National Park Huascaran back on day 21.

So we had 75km and 845m of climbing. The climbing was done in lumps, which I've begun to appreciate just getting a climb done and then on to a flat or downhill part rather than a long drawn out gentle climb.

Woke in the morning to find the surrounding mountains covered in snow. Quite pretty. Left the hotel and straight into a climb. As usual when there's an immediate climb and no warm up, asthma kicked in and I had to let it settle down, which it did after perhaps 5km. By then of course my fellow riders had disappeared. No matter, I had a peaceful ride.

At the top of the climb, the scenery was beautiful with the mountains and Lake Titicaca both to the north and south of the spit of land I had climbed. As the road weaved its way to the water crossing, I guessed this is how it would look to ride through the Scottish highlands with its terrain, water and climate. Not that I'd know, I've yet to go there, but it still didn't stop me hoping to catch a glimpse of Nessie (Loch Ness monster) in the water.

I made it to lunch and the water crossing in good time despite the annoying asthma at the beginning, I was only a minute or 2 behind Tamsin. Some of us hid in the trunk during the lunch break to try and warm up. Even Ilkka from Finland had arm warmers and was sitting in the truck. I need to say no more than that!

The water crossing. Oh boy. The lunch truck went on one err...umm..ferry? No. Raft? Better. Collection of drift wood! There it is. A collection of drift wood with a small outboard engine on the back. Watching the truck go out first rocking across the water was rather amusing. Then it was our turn. The...I still have difficulty calling it a ferry, but ferrying was its function. It contorted and twisted with the small waves so that the front was twisting one way, and the back the other way. The little engine made very slow progress across the water.

The wobbly raft. I'm faking confidence in our fate, standing to the left in the grey and red jacket.

With the crossing safely done, we had another climb then some easy rolling hills to this fantastic on the side of the lake.

The hotel is worth mentioning as it was unlike any other place we've visited up until then.

It's a place you'd imagine wedding receptions, or a place to stay for weekends away. It had a playground which some of us big kids enjoyed, a pool (covered over this time), the rooms were comfortable, a nice big lounge area with fireplace with views of the huge lake, llamas grazing nearby and views of the snow capped mountains. Put this altogether I had a feeling of immense satisfaction staying there. In my rather jovial state, I then said yes to 1 beer which somehow never became empty no matter how much I had, which later magically transformed into 2 shots of whisky.

The hotel, complete with UFO on top of the slippery slide on the left of the photo 

One of the many views from the hotel. Photos cannot give this place justice.

Day 43 La Paz

Another relatively short day. 80km with 408m of climbing making it rather flat. Except for the 400m or so of descent into the city to finish the day.

The ride to lunch was uneventful. I was up at the front behind Paul and Babette for the first 25km or so, on the way to lunch until my achilles' heel appeared in the form of a climb, and the rest of the group who apparently had been following 300m behind me caught up. So I joined them to save some energy by letting the riders in the front push through the wind.

I rode with the group for perhaps another 10km before deciding on a snack break and some peace. There are advantages riding in the group. It's easier due to the lack of wind resistance when riding behind someone. There's also safety, as drivers are less inclined to try and squeeze past, but rather pass properly like they do with other vehicles. The downside in my view is there's no peace. There's also a lot of concentrating on the riders around you to make sure you keep a safe distance, and so less noticing the environment.

The lunch stop was good with 2 benches were put side by side and a ping pong net set over the top. So there were all us gringos setting up a picnic beside a petrol station playing ping pong. Not something the local drivers see every day.

After lunch we later grouped together to ride into the large city of La Paz. The downhill into the city had a dangerous road surface where each lane sometimes was at a slightly different level. It was steep enough for us on bikes to reach around 70km/h, so if we weren't careful changing lanes we would have fallen. That has happened in previous years of this trip. We all got through without a scratch.

Looking down on the city of La Paz before the descent

We then had 2 rest days waiting for us.

During the rest days I tried to do as little as possible. Although I still had to hunt down some road tyres to replace the overly soft and puncture prone tyres I'd been using before then, and so I could return the borrowed tyres to Anna that I'd been using for the last few days. The city was at first just a chaotic city. After walking around it became more fascinating with its churches, plazas, witches market (complete with many llama foetus hanging from the entrance), and cafes.

I'm also in the company of certifiably crazy people. Most people when they come to La Paz, book in to ride the Death Road. A descent from almost 5000m above sea level, down to 1200m. Great fun you might say? Nooo. Rigo, Richard and  Lee decide they want to ride UP this road. So that's what they did on the first rest day. Congrats guys, huge achievement.

The hat maker across the road from our hotel, also had a very good few days from us!

We also said goodbye to one of the original Quito starters. Kees from from the Netherlands. He originally booked himself in to ride to Ushuaia, with the thought of seeing how the first 2 months go. So the decision was made to go back now that the 2 months was done that he's missing home. We had a big farewell dinner with him. We also said goodbye to Tim who joined us in Cusco. His farm is calling him back home to manage.

Day 44 Lahuachaca. Test of nerves.

On paper, not such a bad day. 136km with 936m of climbing. Approcimately 400m of the climbing was at the beginning to get out of La Paz.

Started out well. Of course climbing started immediately, so had the usual asthma kick in and watch everyone drift off. Once that settled, I didn't find the climb too bad. Perhaps I even enjoyed it a little? I'll be submitting my brain for further studies later.

At the top at El Alto, I wasn't surprised by the annoying taxi mini vans. They all want to stop at the same place. So first they'll fill the far right lane. Now that spot is full, but more want to stop there so they'll stop in the 2nd lane. So the process continues until all 4 lanes are full of mini vans going nowhere with someone leaning out the side yelling where they're going. A traffic jam for no reason. Once I'd weaved through this, all was well.

The road begins to shed its lanes, but there's still plenty of traffic. Eventually it's a single lane in each direction and busy. Quite often the shoulder disappears as there's road work going on, and there was dirt heaped on the side of the road right up to the white line. So I was forced to ride in the middle of the lane. Very comforting when there's a bus or truck approaching at over 80km/h constantly on the horn and I have nowhere to go!

The weather played a part in the day as well. Some of us experienced sleet. All of us experienced cold winds, and I had some cold rain. The landscape was quite open, so it was nice to be able to various weather systems develop and do its thing.

The road work is actually due to a dual carriageway being built, which will be great when it's finished! Quite often to get away from it, I rode on the new unfinished road. So quite often it was unpaved, or had large ditches cut across it, or fresh wet bitumen. Still preferable to playing with the traffic. The new road slowed me down quite a bit with all its obstacles. So eventually arrived at lunch after 1pm with 75km to go.

I decided to continue, knowing that I'll be pushing my luck to get to our final spot for the night before running out of daylight.

Eventually the new road became too annoying with all the pipes and drains being put in, and not yet covered, and then it disappeared altogether. So I was forced back on to the busy road.

The truck drivers aren't too bad. They'll leave some space. The bus drivers here however must be on some sort of time incentive. They drive dumb and selfish, and therefore dangerous. They'll always try to squeeze past with only a few cm to spare between bike and the side of the bus. I had a previous example of this when I was brushed by a bus in Peru approaching Cusco. When they pass at more than 80km/h, they create a blast of wind that can make the bike unstable. Not to mention they're very aggressive with the horn. So by the end of the afternoon I'd felt like been assaulted with all the noise, wind blasts, stress and near misses. I was hit by a car last year, so that started to come back to the front of my mind with the sound of each approaching vehicle every minute or 2, wondering if this was the time I was going to be hit. A few hours of that, my nerves were totally frayed. I arrived at our hostel at 6pm just on sunset.

Even at dinner later that night, I had to go to bed early as I couldn't handle the noise of everyone talking.

Day 45 Oruro

Given the previous day's example, and this day was on the same road, I opted out of riding. I didn't want to be in the same condition by the end of the day. A pity, an easy day of 99km and only 354m of climbing.

Not that this day wasn't enjoyable.

I was in Richard's truck, with Adrian (UK) whose nerves were also frayed by the previous day, James (NZ) who has been unwell since Cusco, crew Susana and Jaap, along with Richard driving of course.

We first went and visited some nearby graves which are from pre-Inca times. On approach they looked like they made a small city. Inside they still have bones inside. Whether they're truly the original bones, or from more recent times, I didn't have a way of checking to be sure! Either way, a fascinating spot.

The pre-Inca graves on the altiplano

On arrival to Oruro I was quite surprised by this town. Statues and sculptures all over the place, and the centre of town looked quite modern. I even saw 2 cinemas. The 2 plazas were quite beautiful with trees, grass, fountains and more statues. Remember this is still the altiplano, which is high altitude and dry. So seeing trees and grass is quite startling after seeing the surrounding landscape. I also surprised myself appreciating the work that has been put in to make the town beautiful. I wouldn't call myself a person who goes seeking and appreciating art, but in the absence of it for a while, seeing it this time really made me take notice.