The videos capture the ride on Monday from Rio Tranquilo, Chile to Perito Moreno, Argentina. The first couple of takes are on the Carretera Austral, which I said good bye to for this trip, before turning onto Ruta Provincial (RP) 265 towards the border. It turned out to be 70 miles of some of the best road and scenery of the trip, though heading east the sun washed out some of the color on the video.
RP265 continues in the second video and presented the most difficult challenge of the ride; following a grader for two miles. Virtually the full width of the road had been torn up, with a two foot berm t left, leaving a narrow ribbon of hard pack to work with. The section was controlled one-way so I had to creep along behind the grader to avoid being trapped when it turned, so no chance to stand up on the pegs and gain speed to improve the stability of the bike. I slipped into the gully at right a couple of times and had to deploy my outriggers (legs) to stay upright. I was happy when it ended.
The final take was on the flat road in Argentina with Lake Buenos Aires at left.
The night was spent in Perito Moreno, a small town situated on Ruta 40. The restaurants seemed closed when I looked and I wasn't willing to wait until 9pm to eat. A couple of empanadas and mini-pizzas (3 inches across, truly mini) were purchased and consumed back at Hotel Kelman. With most of the unmade roads behind me and a level hardstand area to lift the rear of the bike it was time for an hour of chain cleaning and lubrication. It was somewhat overdue after riding the Carratera.
Tuesday I headed onward to Gobernador Gregores, a windswept, remote town 220 miles south on Ruta 40. Southern Patagonia is known for strong winds, usually from the west, this is where they finally caught up with me. Gale force winds are whistling outside my accommodation in Gob. Gregores and forcing me to stay put until Friday morning when a brief break in the high wind speeds (red, purple and blue in the chart) appears. I just got unlucky, starting Sunday you could barely put up a kite here for a few days!
Cheers T2.
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