October 13: Day 12, Estancia La Siberia to Gobernador Gregores
Woke up and got on the road early. Campsite breakfast was a bit small, so I was pretty keen to get to Gobernador Gregores for lunch.
The first 20km were gravel and there was a lot of uphill work but the surface wasn't too bad. The regular westerly started up, but I'm not going to complain ... because most of the route is to the east, so it should mean a good tailwind. And (if we skip over two hours of mediocre but not difficult gravel) the road promptly turned into asphalt, veered east and the day is looking great.
Two days in a row with enough tailwind to use the highest gear! I'm getting used to it, but it's probably the last time this'll happen - the next few days are northwest or north, then over to the Chile and the Carretera Austral where the wind should be much, much milder. Also more mountainous, but that's OK: the winds haven't been forecast reliably, but the hills definitely will be.
The sun was out, it's so warm I didn't really need my gloves, there's a helpful tailwind. It's a good day. The route went down and up, needed to change down for some hills, it turned enough for the wind to be an annoyance.
From left to right: Behind me is the road I’d travelled. A good flat gravel surface, so good it’s worth a photo. Tailwind and sun and great views. Took the time to set up a distant camera.
I passed a flock of South American Rhea, and got a few photos. I've seen a these a few times, but haven't been able to get close enough to get a picture - they run from bikes as well as cars. This time wasn't much better but they decided to run the same direction I was going, so I had time to get some pictures. With maximum zoom. From a moving bicycle. But it's the best I've got...
I got to Gobernador Gregores just after 1200, so it took four hours: I would have been able to get here last night before the light failed, instead of going for the campsite. The Komoot estimate was 5.5, which meant I'd finish in darkness, and planning to finish faster than the estimate is not a safe thing to do.
From left to right: If you look closely you can see a few rhea running along the fenceline. Nearby cafe was open on a Sunday; the place I’m staying doesn’t provide breakfast so I’m going there tomorrow morning. They sell Starlink in the supermarket.
But I'm now in a nice room, and it was warm enough to have the door open for most of the afternoon! My clothes are getting washed. It's now the evening, and I'm getting chilly because all I have left to wear are the very thinnest summerweight things ...
Tomorrow is going to be interesting. The route goes northwest, precisely into the forecast wind. Today it was 57km/h, gusting to 72km/h. It's expected to be much milder tomorrow, but if it's not, I'm going to stay another day. Probably in bed.
