Every day riding in South America is a new adventure. And this was to be no different.
Our plan was to ride on the sealed road due south in Argentina, along the border near to Chile, but to start early to avoid the winds that start blowing from the SW around lunch time. We left at 08:00am which was earlier than some wanted but turned out to be a good idea. For JC, this was to be a "long boring day" of 590 km, as he had ridden it all before. For us it was all new and fascinating.
The forest (Bosque) gives way to wide treeless savanna type country, with gentle hills and some mountains in the distance. This is the Patagonia that I dreamed about, with the snow covered peaks to come further south. It was decidely cooler today, and my wearing long underwear was an excellent idea. I also tried out my new gloves from Sian and Sheryle.
We stopped a couple of times for fuel and a Cortado coffee (like a macciato with slightly more milk) but eventually reached a road-house where another Compass party of 27 was stopped, waiting for us to join them for a picnic lunch set up around the trucks. It was delightful in full sun and no wind. When I stopped, one guy ran over to say he could not believe he was seeing an ACT Registration plate in Argentina! (As he had worked in Canberra). The others knew each other from BMW clubs and rallies, and they were coming from the south, so we compared notes on the organisation of the rides and gravel roads, as you do!
The road surface had been very good, so we sped along up to this point, but soon after the road-house there were lots of potholes (Baches in Spanish) and they were serious in size and number. On another trip, riders had destroyed the front rims on their bikes, so we took it easy, dodging the holes and often riding on little bridges of tar, barely 10cm wide between the baches.
At one point JC had his Mobile Phone blown clean off his bike in a gust, and it was destroyed on the side of the road. So he will be looking for a fast replacement from Paraguay!
Soon they cleared and we raced along at about 140km/hour, until JC pulled over on some gravel on a shoulder and I did too, and dropped my bikedown a hill! A group of Brazillian riders also on BMWs came along and picked it up very easily. All they wanted in exchange was a little petrol for one rider, which we quickly provided. No harm was done to me and nothing to the bike thank god.
Soon we had covered the long distance and were in the small town of Perito Mereno, named after an Argentinian who surveyed and planned the agreed border between Chile and Argentina, quite a task as they had been arguing over it for years.
We go further south tomorrow and that includes some 30km of gravel, but the harder stuff is the day after that.
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