Oct 11 2018
Rio Grande to San Sebastian
It started out as such a hopeful day.
Breakfast of bread and croissants.
So much For my laying off my wheat. And then heading out from the link hotel.
Our bags packed and hopeful of getting into Chile.
Patagonia Headwinds
When people talk about Patagonia head wind they are not kidding. We were cycling into a 30km head wind with gusts to 40 kph. These are the relentless winds with no let up.
Our top, well, my top speed was 6.7kph and on more than one occasion was blown off the road!
The trucks were a mixed blessing. They would travel by and blow you off the road but then you would get picked up for a few seconds of easy pedaling bliss. Only to get hit in the face again once they passed.
The on coming trucks were tough. They just plain blew me with a shock wave right of the road.
The Rule of Waking
I have a rule, if I get below 5kph I walk it. And today even though it was flat, I walked! I figure that if I can walk faster than I can pedal the I should just walk it! So I did.
About 40km in and 6 hours of head wind Bob was spying for a spot to set up camp for the night. There is not a tree, stick, Bush, or building for miles and a relentless wind we weren't looking our options. Setting up in a ditch, in a culvert or finding a building to camp out beside.
Bob was about 3km ahead of me when I heard the crunch of gravel behind me and I pulled my bike over toward the ditch.
And looked behind me to see a beer truck, 18 wheeler, Argentinian style, creeping up behind me.
Enter Alicio
Alicio jumped down from his cab and in a stream of Spanish, non of which I understood, asked if I wanted a lift.
"Yo no hablo Espanol. Yo hablo English"
The up side is Alicio gave us a lift all the way to San Sebastian. Broken English aside, the trip was enjoyable and we appreciated the kindness of Alicio.
A bit of thoughtfulness and a kind heart made our day.
Gracias
Our passports are stamped and we are in a little "travelers room" of to the side of customs in Argentina.
Heater and stove elements we are at for the night out of the elements.
We unrolled our sleep pads and bags and made our bed sheets for the night.