Day 27

Today was a pretty easy day. I made my way to General Conesa, which was only 60 miles away. The next town after that was 90 more miles, so it was go 60 or 150, which was not going to happen, even with the tail wind I had today. It was nice and sunny agains today. This is the 3rd day or great weather in a row. I ran into some more dogs today. One chased me for at least half a mile. It was flat and I managed to get up to 25 mph and out ran the dog. General Conesa is like a ghost town. Dirt roads, few people, everything is closed. I found a small lodge after about 20 minutes of searching. It was only $10 a night!

Day 26

It was really cold this morning as I left Sierra Grande, but later on it became another beautiful and sunny day. I head birds chirping everywhere. It got hot enough to take off my coat again. I saw a big horned sheep today and was able to get a picture. I also got chased by some dogs. I out ran them, nothing gets you going fast like sharp teeth nipping at your ankles.

The maps and road signs are driving me crazy. I went 136 km today, the map said it was 98, and the signs said it was 116 when I left Sierra grande. Everything seems to have a 10% margin of error.

Day 25

Today I made my way to Sierra Grande. The day started with a 30 minute climb from the coast. It was a really nice day, light breeze and lots of sun. It got so hot I took off one of my coats, which was really refreshing after 3 weeks with it on. I even got a little sunburned on my face, not too bad though. My hands have a very distinct tan line now where my gloves are. I found out that they don't call it Sierra Grande (Big Range) for nothing. There was a big climb at the end of the day and good size mountains all around. I found a nice little hostel and called it a day.

Day 24

Today I had a pretty easy day, only 70 km to a resort town called Puerto Madryn. It is know for whale watching but unfortunately it isn´t the right season now. It rained this morning and there was some fog on the road so I pulled out my head lamp and set it to strobe and put it on the back of my bike. There was a fairly strong head wind today but I was only on the road about 4 hours so it didn´t last too long. There was some contruction on the road today. They were were expanding the highway to 4 lanes from 2. They had just paved the 2 new lanes but aparently had not opened them to the public yet. I hopped a baracade and for about 15 miles had 2 full lanes of newly paved road all to myself. It was nice not having to worry about traffic. A trucker pulled over in front of me earlier in the day and offered to give me a ride. I kindly declined.

Day 23: Recovering in Trelew

Last night I woke up feeling very ill. Probably a combination of dehydration, electrolite imbalance, and some indigestion. I slept poorly and decided to take the day off and try to recover a little. I did 2 days worth of biking yesterday and it took its toll on me.

Day 22: 125 mile day, not by choice

Today was the longest day of my trip, but not exactly by choice. I left at sunrise with the goal of going 116 km to a small town that I was told had a hotel. When I got to the "city" all there was was a house, no gas station, no hotel. This has happened a few times. I went another 80km to the next town. I was exhausted when I arrived. There had not been too much wind and the terrain was mostly flat, but biking 125 miles is a full day by its self. I stopped at the first hotel I saw and collapsed on the bed.

Day 21: On the road again

Today I got back on the road after 3 days of rest. My cousin dropped me off at the edge of the city to start the day since the the roads out of the city were very busy and had no space for bikes. I started a little before sunrise. The wind was pretty strong, about 25 mph, and it was from the side. As usual in side winds I had a tough time staying on the road. About 50 km into my ride my left peddle broke. It still works but every time I turn the gears the peddle rotates in a really jerky way. I fiddled around with it but couldn't get it working again. It is probably a bearing or something. It isn't serious enough to stop my trip but I will definately need to get it replaced in the next town with a bike shop, which is 2 days away.

In the wild life department I saw some more guanaco and my first quail and armadillo. I tried to get a picture of the armadillo but it ran off before I could get my camera out.

I had a pretty long day at 7.5 hours. By the end I had salt all over my face. I must have looked pretty strange when I road into town at the end. I was expecting to find a small hotel but all there was was a gas station. I got some food and stayed there until it closed at midnight. I put on every piece of clothing that i had and set up my tent for the first time. There was a little rain but not enough to cause a problem.

I was warm and sleeping behind the gas station when I got the scare of my life. Someone was running by my tent and tripped over my tent and fell on top of me. I had my tent closed and thought I was being attacked and robbed. I started to scream as loud as I could while I struggled to find the zipped to open the tent. I heard a voice telling me to calm down and once I got out of my tent I realized what had happened. They were two workers at the gas station just horsing around. They invited to let me sleep inside with the other employees and I accepted. At least I was able to get out of the cold.