Day 1,617
Ripio
After a day off hiding from that storm we were ready for off. Now a big part of my research into what's to come is reading a friend's blog of his journey from Alaska to Ushuaia, Matt P. We had met Matt in Central America and bumped into him several times since. He and Tom, plus one other, were the only ones not to spend most of the voyage around the Darién Gap throwing up. He's a tough guy and loves touring. His blog is in a diary format so it's easy to see how many miles he does on any particular day, how he found conditions, places to eat, camp etc. It's also a great read. So I knew that Matt had ridden around 78 miles, with 23 of them on gravel, on this upcoming section. Now I have developed the habit of taking what Matt does as what we should do. But I am forgetting a few important things. I'm older than his mum, he can haul himself up inside of caves in mountains without the assistance of anything but muscle power, I wouldn't be surprised if he weighs less than me, and his bike definitely does. We've been punishing ourselves trying to match, and even beat, his daily distances and I was exhausted with the effort. Finally I have come to my senses, and we have planned a few shorter days where possible. Food, water sources, camping spots etc. all play an important part in the distance we decide to do too.
Day 1 we left Malargüe on a cycle track, which after a few miles just stopped and we returned to the badly maintained road until we rejoined the main Ruta 40. We had decided to end the day at the small town of Bardas Blancas, and when I say town I mean 4 buildings in the middle of nowhere, one of which was a restaurant with rooms. The ride there was lovely, a few hills, stunning scenery and a massive descent to the town. It was barely 1pm, so we stopped for lunch, but having found a B&B on Google we then rode another 6 miles. The B&B was a major disappointment but we did get to see a video of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman who had popped by during their Long Way Up trip. On electric assisted motorbikes, I mean seriously guys, just buy a touring bike like any sane person would! We wanted to be more like Matt and carry on for a bit longer, but with 85 miles to the next town we were being sensible.
Day 2 we had 10 more miles of tarmac before we reached a 60 mile section of gravel. Now there's gravel and there’s this section of the Ruta 40. It has reached legendary status within the cycle touring community, with miles of near unrideable deep loose stones and washboard sections. We'd been told the first few miles weren't bad, and they really weren't. I cheered up a bit. The B&B was forgotten. After 23 miles we stocked up on water, just 62 miles to go until the next shop! We were riding close to the Rio Grande river, when I squinted I'm sure I could see John Wayne riding on the hills above. The ground was dotted with lava from long ago eruptions from the nearby volcano. It was really quite good fun. Until it wasn't. We descended down towards a deep lava canyon, where the wide river is forced to narrow dramatically. We paused for a nanosecond to admire the view but several million biting flies assumed we were lunch and started chomping away.
Off we sped, though I should really say crawled. We'd reached the bad section of gravel, and it would stay with us for the rest of the day. I'm trying to blank the memory out of my mind, but take it from me it was madly, truly, deeply, awful. We were barely moving. Matt had described this section as some of the worst he had ever ridden and, like us, he’d ridden the Peru Great Divide in the rain, it doesn't get much worse than that. The day wore slowly on. Twice people stopped to give us water but we were still getting worryingly low so decided to push on past our planned wild camp (in a cave in the lava) and camp beside the good old Rio Grande, with its fast flowing muddy looking water. Thank goodness we have a filter. Just before we turned off another car pulled up and out popped the team from @desafioichura, an X-Trail running company. They knew what we needed, within seconds we were loaded up with bottles of cold water, hydration drinks, a can of Coca-Cola. Though I loath the stuff, on a hot day nothing else is quite as refreshing. Then out came the snacks and more water. It was fantastic, and within minutes we reached our camp spot by the river. With no filtering to do Tom found the energy to do some evening then night photography, hope you love the time lapse film, just look at those shooting stars, and maybe the International Space Station?
Day 3 dawned, we'd both slept like logs, exhaustion does that to you. Then it was back to the gravel. After just about a mile we crossed over a bridge and they clearly had stopped dredging the river for resurfacing material and we were on much finer, smoother gravel. Now I’m not saying it was easy, but considering we were going uphill, it was definitely easier. I still know though that it was exactly 12.78 more miles before the gravel ended and we hit tarmac, still climbing but what a difference.
We eventually descended to a verdant valley, with a stunning lake, at one end were literally dozens of beavers hard at work damming it all. It was blissful. Birds and butterflies fluttered about, it surely is a wonderful world. The views were ever changing, we left the volcano and lava behind and were soon surrounded by awesomely shaped cliffs. At the start of yet another big climb we passed some weird rock formations that reminded us of Giants Causeway, then it was over a bridge and we were in Patagonia. Then it was uphill to Barrancas and a bed for the night, a shower and as much water as we could drink. Matt hadn't liked this town but we were very happy. I even liked the dryish toast for breakfast.
Day 4, well Matt did day 4 and 5 as one ride, but we split it in two. We had a short lie in then an easy blast of just 23 miles to another small town, Buta Ranquil. We'd normally camp, but it's just so hot and with no shade anywhere in pretty much the whole of Argentina we've decided to stay in cheap hotels. The weird thing is by midnight in the tent it would be cool, possibly even chilly, but in the hotels we melt all night long.
Day 5, now for Matt this was 55 miles of hell. He was tired and had a headwind, we were refreshed and had a tail wind. So we had a wonderful day, enjoying the views. We'd even managed to put our water in a freezer overnight. So with a 6am start, cold water for all of the ride, we were able to relax and enjoy the views. Now I'm not saying I'm over trying to compete in my own little competition with Matt, but as we descended into Chos Malal I was very happy we've at least put the competition on hold!
Maybe the best ‘Spot the Debs’ yet?
