a self-supported bicycle tour through South America

10^th - 16^th October: Mendoza - Maipu (42km) - Tunuyan (76km) - La Tosca (98km) - San Rafael (76km) - El Sosneado (116km) - Malargue (55km)

Can you believe that we cycled passed the Moet and Chandon winery (a subsidiary of the one in France) and didn’t go in for a bubbles tasting?  Neither can I, but if you let me explain the reason why, you might be able to forgive us.

We left Mendoza after a not so planned sleep in.  Why is it that whenever the alarm is set and you HAVE to get up, you can sleep for England? My excuse is that we ARE on holidays, and luckily for me The Mountain Goat has also started to play “lets ignore the alarm when it goes off” game.  You will all be pleased to know that he has come round to my way of thinking!

With only a short days’ cycling coupled with some winery tours along the way, we were looking forward to experiencing the famed Mendoza wine region; especially after tasting a lovely bottle of O2 Soft Sparkling (Chandon) the night before and perhaps one of the reasons for oversleeping the alarm!  Note to self:  must remember not to enjoy lovely bottles of sparkling before day of cycling.

Our only passage out of town was via the freeway, but only for about 12 kilometers.  This was a rather daunting prospect but after Northern Peru and our experience with truck dodging, it was a piece of cake, and would have actually been enjoyable had it not been for the head wind.  Why is it that God invented wind?  Did he not know that cycling into wind is thoroughly unenjoyable (Simon claims it was invented for Kitesurfing!) .  I guess had He thought about bicycles first, then perhaps the wind thing may never have occurred to him.  Note to self: must get mum to mention this thought to the Big Man at church on Sunday.

So, with 30 kilometers, a tour of the Cecchin Organic Winery (and obligatory tasting) under our belts we headed to our campsite just in time to pitch the tent, and cook dinner before the rain set in.  And boy did the rain set in!  In fact, the wind (yes still present, but stronger than earlier in the day) and the rain did not abate all night, and all the next day.

Who would have thought that one would need Gortex overshoes on a cycling tour of South America?  And, tell me, has anyone ever looked good in waterproof trousers?  Needless to say all of our wet weather gear has passed the field test and is worth its weight in gold.  But, I would like to know how one is supposed to stay dry and warm though.  I am finding it very difficult not to perspire in Gortex and obviously when this cools down, so do I!  As a result, I am constantly cold.  I hate being cold.

On our second day cycling out of Mendoza we traveled 76 kilometers in torrential downpours (hence the reason why we didn’t stop at Chandon - although one would have thought that a dry wine tasting room would have been the answer to our problems but it would have meant a later finish as it doesn’t matter how many times you stop, the distance to cover each day doesn’t change) to make it to Tunuyan, an incredibly hot shower and wonderful Argentine hospitality courtesy of Maria and Juan at Viejo Rincon campground, and the biggest calzone you have ever seen in your life.

At our hot chocolate and baby croissant break the next day we met a couple (he, Argentine and she Scottish) who invited us to stay with them in San Rafael.  We are not sure if the distance will work out, but the prospect of hot showers and warm beds (that you haven’t had to blow up yourself!) is more than a cyclist can dream of.  So, will keep you posted on that one.

I sit here in the tent typing away trying to keep warm as the night sets in.  We have been luckily enough to find a farmer who has let us camp in his field.  Simon has only just finished patting all the dogs, and wiping his hands clean with wetones as we jump into our -20 degree sleeping bags (mine should have been -50 I tell you!) and we say goodnight.

[Simon] So having decided to take the road to San Rafael and ignore the extra day cycling it meant in lieu of paved roads all the way (as apposed to the direct road south across absolute wilderness and gravel roads), we packed up and pushed on. We had an unexpected and fantastic tail wind which allowed us to travel at nearly 30km/h for the stint into San Rafael, but this left us undecided as to what to do next. Arriving early, by about half a day, the weather was warm like summer and we were keen to make use of the daylight hours. We were also keen to drop into the couple we met at the service station for some great Argentinean hospitality and a hot shower (hopefully).

Over lunch we thought about the options and chose to continue which transpired to be unfortunate. Shortly after leaving San Rafael, the weather started to build in the south and the storm clouds loomed overhead. Yes, it wasn’t long before the first few drops of rain fell, coinciding with a gradual yet continual climb up hill, and then the heavens opened. The wind had changed 180 degrees and was now on the nose, add to this the huge drop in temperature from 25C to 8C, the rain changed into hail-stones, as if to add to really try and stop us in our tracks. The situation worsened still, when lightening started to hit the ground not too far off. We were now in the epicenter of the storm and had to desperately pedal up hill to shelter  behind an olive farm building until the storm passed.

The decision had been forcibly made for us because of the storm and we started to contemplate where to camp for the night, it wouldn’t have been wise to continue. Having left the olive farm shelter, we weren’t sure what lay ahead and so I decided to knock on the farmers door a little further up the hill and ask if there was camping nearby or if we could camp on his land. 

Slightly bemused that we were hoping to find somewhere to camp nearby up the road and the fact that we had been nailed by the hail-storm, the farmer explained that there was nothing for a good 50km (well, it was actually more as we found out the following day) but agreed to our plea for a small patch of grass. We explained that we were self sufficient and needed nothing else, which impressed him a little more, after hearing where we had started our journey from, but I must admit I was hoping he’d offer us a warm shower (we were so cold).

A few minutes later, we had pitched the tent, changed into dry warmer clothes and the dramatic events of the storm slowly faded from our minds, lets hope for better weather tomorrow.

From the olive farm we climbed up hill and made incredibly slow progress towards El Sosneado where we were to stay before our rest day in Malague. Again, the weather changed half way through the day and after a short pit-stop for lunch, we found ourselves with great tail winds allowing us to clock up the clicks. Then, almost like the day before, the wind changed 180 degrees and now hampered our progress as the rain started to descend. Miserable, grey weather stuck to us all the way to El Sosneado, but we were rewarded with a hostel boasting incredibly hot steamy showers and food (although the food wasn´t that great), but we were grateful.

The following day was like another planet! What a difference a day makes. We stepped outside to be rewarded with views of gorgeous white mountains not far away. Completely obscured the previous day by the dreary weather, we rode the 50km short day to Malargue without any worries and fantastic scenery again, we felt blessed and contemplated a short snowboarding stop in Las Lenas, Argentina’s answer to the Alps.  

Our rest day in Malargue has presented itself with two additional purposes besides resting. Firstly, to purchase a new fleece (base layer) seeing as we were so damn cold the past couple of days (plus it’s only to get colder as we head south); and secondly, to rationalize our equipment and try to reduce some of the weight in an attempt to allow us to cycle faster and with less effort.

Malargue itself is pretty dull and unfortunately not laiden with shops carrying outdoor equipment. Nevertheless we eventually found one just off a side street with suitable fleeces and gloves and started to play the try everything on in the shop game. On, off, on, off. After a couple of hours we decided on the fleeces (with Windstopper) flexed our VISA friend and left one happy shop owner to prepare for his afternoon snooze.

That leads me to Argentinean siesta’s! We’re really confused as to when anything really gets done in day. The shops seem to open around 09:00 and then close again at 13:30. Nothing is then open, with the exception of restaurants, until 16:30 (if you’re lucky). Then you can’t eat in a restaurant for dinner until they open again around 20:30! So by the time you’ve eaten, it pretty much close to midnight, then they’re up around 07:00 the next morning, bonkers! Anyhow, we’re trying to get used to it, but it doesn’t work out so well when we want to go to bed early and get up early.