November 11: Another rest day in Valdivia
Another rest day! But it's Monday and the repair shop is open so I took the bike in. There's the squeaky back wheel, a broken spoke, and I also asked for a quick look over the rest of the bike in case some other problem is developing that I haven't noticed yet. We sorted things out over Whatsapp, pickup time is 8 tonight.
After that I had the day mostly free. There's a museum I would like to look at but it's closed on Monday. But there is a nice botanical garden out west, over the bridge, attached to the university. Since it said botanical garden I was expecting flowers and small plants: but it was filled with very big trees, nothing shorter than a house. It was a sunny and a bit warm, so the talls trees meant there was a lot of shade. Some of them had QR codes on them for more information. eg: This is a Sequoia, it's from North America, the species is somewhat endangered. It’s not a bad idea. I walked around the outside, chilled out on a park bench, and then it was lunchtime.
From left to right: Budget version of the Burj Al Arab, still the most expensive hotel in town. Entrance to the botanical garden. A tree with attached QR code. This is what the garden paths looked like.
Google Maps showed a good option nearby, so I thought I'd try to find it. It turned out to be the cafe in the forestry department. I got in the queue but their sandwiches didn't look exciting and the empanadas weren't ready so I left. Got a wrap from a roadside stall on the way back and ate it under some trees, I think I only got one drip of sauce on me. Then headed back into town and got a coffee and a cake from a cafe which was so upmarket that each was more expensive than the wrap. Oh well.
From left to right: lunch. A curious bird. Found the city name, suppose I should get a selfie. This is the Black Pearl restaurant, I guess Disney’s lawyers haven’t heard of them yet. Street art with some good backlighting.
At around 7 I texted the bikeshop to see how it was going. Busy day and he hadn't started yet, but he's on it now! He texted back in a bit to say he'd noticed a spoke was broken. (I forget to mention that this morning...) Fixing a spoke is not an easy task with tubeless tyres: the tyre goop needs to be drained, and the sealing tape removed before you can get at the spoke. After the spoke is replaced the rim needs to be resealed which means new tape, and careful work so you don't leave space for a leak. Then more sealant and repressurizing the tyre - although this is much easier with an air compressor. But still, not a nice job, even if you have all the right equipment.
The rear wheel squeak was the disc brake; a lot of dirt had collected around the pads and calipers. It's cleaned now. I hope it doesn't rain again anytime soon, I'm sure that's the main way dirt gets picked up.
So nothing too serious, but nevertheless problems that needed attention. I probably should have got the bike serviced at the trip midpoint in Coyhaique after all.
