a self-supported bicycle tour through South America

October 17th - 23rd: Malargue  - Bardas Blancas (67km) - El Zampal (98km) - Ranquil de Norte (32km) - Buta Ranquil (64km) - Newquen (4km) - Roca (46km)

We left Malargue with high spirits and rejuvenated legs after a day of rest, but with extra fleeces to keep us warm for what we expected to be the cold road south.  The hail storm and torrential downpour days still etched vividly in our minds….

The blue sky and crisp air made for a gorgeous start as we once again admired the snow capped ranges that make up the border with Chile.  Yay, we were back on the road and loving the idea of cycle touring.

With our first climb came our old friend the wind.  Oh what joy!  With our friend came the Bolivian roads as well.  Woohoo!  As we descended off the mountain the wind got stronger and stronger and stronger until the sand storms forced us off our bikes as tiny rocks were blown into our bare legs.  Our only salvation was that we were going downhill and we only had a few more kilometers until our lunch stop.  These few kilometers took an eternity, and we could not believe that the wind could be THAT strong.  The whole situation was so disheartening.  Mum, I thought you were supposed to have some words with the Big Fella at church last week?  Tell him that the wind is not obliging,  and even seems to be getting stronger!

We rolled into Bardas Blancas, a tiny little town, to find a campground, a hot shower (luxury!) and local shop selling yummy bread.  A nice end to a windy day.

The following day, we were rewarded with sealed roads, rolling hills and the wind on our side.  The riding was so enjoyable and the sun was shining as we commented on how many people would give a lung to be in our position.  We stopped for an Oreo break when we experienced the first of 5 flat tyres for the day.  I repeat, 5 flat tyres. 

Our patience wore very thin that day as we were so frustrated with so much time wasting and so little distance covered.  The Mountain Goat was tested as we didn’t expect this route to be so isolated for one, and so rough on our bikes.  On changing all the tyres we also discovered that the punctures were coming from the inside of the wheel which could only mean a fault in the rim tape. 

This was fixed with a bit of gaffa tape (can you hear the MacGyver music?), but was really only a stop gap measure as the following day we had 3 more flat tyres.  This was just outrageous.  To make matters worse the road turned Bolvian again, uphill and into the strongest wind we have ever experienced.  We could not even stay on our bikes to cycle and it took two of us to push the bikes up the hill only managing about 2 kilometers in an hour.  This was just soul destroying and believe you me there were tears, and I am sure not just from me!

The following day we finally reached the sealed road again after having decided against looking for a sheltered area to pitch the tent, in a bid to get some rest from the wind, and pushed on into gusts of we reckon about 55 knots.  It was getting dangerous, but we wanted to make the next town, and some food!  You wouldn’t believe it but we actually had to get off the bikes to push them down the hill!  Pushing bikes downhill?  Outrageous!  The wind was so incredibly strong but we managed about 30 kilometers and were rewarded with a tent site behind the police station and access to the local school’s kiosk (tuck shop) and showers.  I don’t think anyone appreciates a hot shower (or trickle) the way we do and I promise I will never take hot water and pressure for granted ever again!  I swear.

With no more spare inner tubes, and a slowly leaking repair that required pumping every 5 kilometers we needed to get a lift to Nequen for urgent repairs, but the nearest bus was at the next town 24 kilometers away.   The next day we then made for Barrancas…and what a day.  The route was mainly downhill most of the morning and the scenery spectacular, but on arrival we discovered that the bus didn’t leave until Monday, and it was Saturday.  We were told that we could get a bus from Buta Ranquil, 35 kilometers down the road.  Not wanting to waste time in the middle of nowhere we changed another inner tube (repaired the night before at the Police Station) to discover a broken spoke on Simon’s back wheel!  Could this route get any worse?

So, after changing wheels (putting the weakened one of my bike as I am not carrying as much weight as Simon) we cycled on to arrive in Buta Ranquil to be told that the bus didn’t leave until the following night.  Oh well, we did try! 

But, we were fortunate enough to meet up with Daniel, a petroleum company taxi driver parked outside the local hardware  store who offered us a backyard to pitch our tent and a hot shower as well as all the information we needed to get the bus.  Not speaking Spanish is so frustrating most of the time but more so when you can’t express how grateful and thankful you are to someone who has done so much for you.  The hospitality we have experienced in Argentina has been overwhelming, and has restored our faith in people.

As we were headed for Newquen, Daniel put us in touch with his friend Martin who (most fortunately for us) is an English teacher, and even more fortunate is into cycling!  We certainly fell on our feet. [Jen]

Having spent the whole night traveling by bus to Newquen we arrived early at 06:00hrs. We promptly got the bikes ready and cycled the 4km to the town centre where we checked into a hotel to get some breakfast and contact Martin who would help us sort out the technical issues with the bikes.

Martins help this day turned out to be invaluable as he teaches English at a private school although unfortunately named "Morning Glory", which he found extremely funny when we explained what it means in England! So he arrived at our hotel at 08:00hrs and drove us around the bike shops in Newquen trying to find the new rims I wanted (the one’s I should have got from the start, when back in the UK) and someone who could rebuild our wheels. It transpired that it was going to be a problem to get hold of them (as I suspected) and our only hope was another bike shop in nearby Roca 50km to the east (way off our route). No problem Martin said, and off we drove to Roca.

At "Bicicleteria Medina e Hijos" José turned out to be a star, he was like a wizard with bikes and soon proved that he was capable and trustworthy of rebuilding wheels with our existing rims, explaining that they were not the problem, just that they had been built to stiffly in the first place hence the broken spokes. Also, the rim tape was the cause of all our punctures due to it being crap, and causing lots of friction with the inner tube!

We spent ages talking/translating with Martins help and unfortunately Martin ended up missing work, which he assured us was ok as he had a perfect record and this was the first time he would be absent from a class, although we still felt bad! But oddly every cloud has a silver lining and José told Martin that he could’ve done with Martin acting as his translator at a bicycle convention in Los Angeles recently where he found it very difficult doing business without the English language. So it seems that Martin may further one of his passions to be translator with José in the future, which we feel good about.

So overnight, our bikes were transformed into shiny new stallions once more, completely repaired and looking brand new. José even had to machine a new spacer for my bottom bracket in order to replace it (this had been a problem since Ecuador), as the American and European versions are different in thickness, otherwise we would’ve been screwed! This was all in the line of duty for him and a testament to how ingenious he is, perhaps explaining why his business is so insanely busy for a bike shop. With two massive workshops, mills, lathes and welding equipment, they make frames and all sorts, not to mention the 4 warehouses he owns with more bike than China has!

So with all this help from Martin we ended up meeting both him and his girlfriend Celeste that night for a meal in a local restaurant which was excellent. Again, hospitality like this is very rare in our lives and yet Argentina seems to exude it; However, I suspect we have been very very lucky to meet Daniel, Martin and José and we are very grateful to them all

We are now booked to get back to our route in the west via a bus tomorrow morning. Frustratingly we will miss a small section of about 400km or so of ruta 40, but then this is part of what cycle touring is all about. From Bariloche we hope there is no more technical problems and that it will be a clear run down to the finish, some 4000km or so further south! [Simon]