Days 42 to 44, San José to Bariloche! A Lot of STORIES...

Now, where did we leave off? My mind and legs are a little mushy and I have a bit of a runny nose. Please bear with me, I am going to tell the tale of the last 3 days of riding. There are a few tales to tell. No taddling though please.

Change of Route Again ...
Well, I was talking about heading to Puerto Montt and them taking a ferry directly South to the village of Chaitén which would be the start of the Carretera Austral (roughly translates to the "Far South Highway"). This would have meant about "chopping off" 200 km of riding due to the ferry. Well, instead of zigging, I decided to zag at the last minute and head east to Argentina such that I would ride the entire route. No "cheating" with a ferry ride.

Here´s the tale ...

Day 42 San Jose to El Crucero
Left the small village of San José on Dec 4 and everything was "OK" but ran into a stiff headwind and rain soI came up with the grand idea of "angling" away from the wind and taking a shortcut into Argentina via some "back roads". Well, this landed me in the teeny-tiny village of "El Crucero". And what else it landed me was a night shared with the a small family run restaurant-bar-pensión. An all-in-one affair. Spent the evening in the kitchen with the owner, who is a grand lady (however, I am speaking of size) and helper trying to understand some very strange Spanish (words like "sipo", ¨nopo¨) and of which I was at the receiving end of constant jests. I bolted my room very tight during the evening, I was constantly reminded at which room I could find the "grand lady". Now, "add in¨ an 85 year grandfather, about 6 cats, about 3 young kids and a host of drunken guest at the bar and that just about describes things.

tot time 7 hrs 2 min, ride time 6 hrs 11 min, 128 km, elev gain 680 m, elev loss 543 m.

Day 43 El Crucero to Villa La Angostura
The day started off with 36 km of gravel road due to my "brainchild" of taking the shortcut. I got one flat tire but was able to test the bike on gravel roads. In general, it performed well but max average speed is about 16 km-hr. Also, I put a lot of weight on my back (with a day pack) in order to reduce vibrations on rear pannier assembly.

OK, we´re just getting started, as I had to cross the Andes into Argentina which involved a lot of undulating terrain. When I finally reached the height of the pass at about 1340 m there was still plenty of snow at the top of the pass (starting elevation for the day was 110 m). I was greeted by rain and blustery winds on the descent. I bundled up well, winter gloves, jacket, windbreaker. Passed through the Argentian border without problems. Managed to smuggle in a small quantity of fine Chilean homemade cheese. Yummy! Finally got to the hostal about 11.5 hours after start. It was a long day.

tot time 11 hrs 42 min, ride time 8 hrs 36 min, 150 km, elev gain 2235 m, elev loss 1475 m.

Day 44 Villa La Angostura to Bariloche
Today was an easy day. Finally arrived at one of the main focal points of the trip. You can find it on the map (at the top of the blog). This area is called "The Lake District". It is part of the Patagonia. The city itself actually is not pretty but the surrounding area is very beautiful. It is similar to Banff but with huge, blue lakes smattered across the area.

tot time 4 hrs 28 min, ride time 3 hrs 52 min, 90 km, elev gain 925 m, elev loss, 950 m

FUNNY ANCEDOTE ... for those who haven´t nodded off ...
So, when I was in Pucón arranging the ascent up Lanín with the guide Rodrigo we had finished business or so I had thought and we were chatting. Anyways, he looks me straight in the eyes and says boldly, "do you use toilet paper?". Well, I began to feel somewhat uncomfortable, thinking, that I had a real problem with personal hygiene. I guess, well, I felt somewhat embarassed at the potential repercussions of what he was implying (or maybe that there was some "cultural thing" that I didn´t know about). My face was starting to turn a little bit red at this point ... trying to think up the appropriate answer. Anyways, he repeated the question, "do you use toilet paper?¨. At this point, I finally answered and said, "well yes" (thinking OF COURSE ... don´t you?). He replies, "well, we use snow." He was referring to the practice on the mountain. He further went into great detail about how this feat was accomplished. It´s one of those things that really does not need a diagram for instructions.

Upcoming ...
We'll be heading south through Argentina for about 200 km and then darting back into Chile through a pass called "Futaleufú". Will take me about 4 or 5 days to ride this section and will involve going through some gravel roads. Will definitely be test for the gear. I'll go through towns of: El Bolsón, Esquel, Futaleufú, Villa Sant a Lucia.

Note: Day 45 will be used to rest, shake this cold, and take care of some vital chores.

Much Colder than I Thought ...
As I travel South I am finding that it is much colder than expected. At times I am riding in winter gloves and three layers up top. Will try to fashion some "shoe covers" out of extra large socks. I have a feeling it is only going to get colder.

ps.
Erik, as you can see I will be riding through the towns that you mentioned. Also, nice to hear from everbody!! All messages are read and thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you.

pps.
Have purchased more disk space on Google. Hopefully future pics won´t be blurry.