October 16, Day 15: Baja Caracoles to Perito Moreno
It's a 130km stretch from Baja Caracoles, going due north. The wind forecast showed a quiet, near-windless morning and then at 12 all the wind lines started going due south. So a northerly in the afternoon, and it got stronger towards the evening. (I'd have been fine with the usual westerly! But I don't get included in wind planning.)
So I wanted to get going early; it's so much easier to go places if there's no headwinds or sidewinds. Things got off to an inauspicious start when I couldn't unlock my door at 0730. After I got that figured out, I found the door to the cafeteria was still locked: I wish I'd asked about breakfast times last night, instead of assuming that it'd be OK! Maybe they'll open up at 0800? I packed up my bike and got everything ready in the meantime, 0800 rolled around, nope.
Plan B: make a breakfast out of the provisions I've got and get started ASAP. This included a very good green apple (from Gobernador Gregores) and a mediocre red apple (from Las Horquetas) and some average museli bars (unknown provenance, maybe Ushuaia for all I know).
I really wanted buy some things from the cafeteria - lunch and some replacement provisions. But it's 0830 and it's time to get moving. So I finished packing up the bike, working through the usual list and I'm doing the last thing, which is to send a text to say I'm leaving, when the cafeteria opens! I zip in and pick up a sandwich and the rest, then get on the road.
It's 0845, I've got about three hours before the wind forecast predicts that the northerly will arrive. So I need to make the best distance I can until then. It is a bit chilly and I worry that I'm developing a cold so I've started with the fleece on.
The road rolls down and up a nice river valley, and Komoot squawks that I've left the tour and should have taken a ... gravel road? I didn't see it, and it may be more direct but I've got trust issues with Komoot and really, really don't want to see these alternate routes it serves up when I'm on a very effective asphalt road. I guess there's a parallel track in the database which is attractive because it's slightly more direct and there's no traffic, but the data is bad: when I look I can't see gates in the fences, or a surface good enough to bike on.
I go up the other side of the valley, making the best time I can, and Komoot complains that the proper route is a kilometer behind me. I'm getting warm so I lose the fleece and put on sunscreen. Yesterday I picked up a weird burn on the inside of my left elbow. Windburn? Maybe I whacked it on something? Probably sunburn, so it gets extra sunscreen and my other elbow gets special attention.
Back up the road; Komoot yawps a few more times until the routes converge. At 11 there's a blast of headwind. But it goes away immediately. There's a bit of wind that keeps growing: just a light breeze from the north, but it means I need to go down a gear.
At 1130 I feel a bit hungry so I stop and eat the first of the three sandwiches. I should have taken a photo: the standard Argentine sandwich is a big triangle with layers of cheese and ham with bread between everything. And they're sold in a stack. Looks like they're produced in masse. But they do the job. I want to make sure I eat properly, it's going to be a long day. And on previous days I suspect I might have slowed down because I didn't have enough food or water.
More hills, and there's wind from ... the east? I didn't know that was possible! It's only a mild north-easter, and it's sometimes helpful (bit of tailwind) and mostly unhelpful (anything else). I plough on.
I was hoping to have done a good part of the trip by midday, but there's a lot of hills and at 12 I'm still short of the halfway mark. Not bad. But as the winds get worse my pace will drop. I get to halfway at 1315: 4.5 hours, so we're on track for at least 9 hours, and the Komoot estimate was for 7.5. I remember happy days when I beat the estimate; I think the pattern is that there's no wind. Maybe on the Carretera Austral there'll be much less wind and there will be more accurate estimates. I remember some happy days in Spain last year, when I was missing the estimate mostly because I spent an hour having lunch. On this tour there's hasn't yet been an opportunity to stop at a restaurant for lunch ...
The wind is roughly northerly but it changes direction and strength. The route also twists and turns. The change is a lot nicer than the last few days, where there were very long straight roads and consistent wind and if it's bad it's going to stay bad for a long, long time.
From left to right: more epic vistas which the photo can’t do justice to. I’m a bit disillusioned with vistas so I’ve started taking pictures one-handed while riding; this was the best from today. There’s still ice, even in sunlight! A stream which I liked the look of. The red earth.
There's a lot of varied geography, some very red hills stand out. Then there's a long climb, up to the pass, then a descent which has nearly as much up as down.
Along here is an accommodation option I looked into. It's a very expensive lodge set in the national park, with a very stylish website. It's priced in US dollars, which (I assume!) speaks to their clientele. I figured if today was as bad as yesterday, and I didn't have the energy to continue, I could stay there. But it's not even 3pm and I'm feeling OK so I keep going.
I'm barely doing 10km/h but that's because it's a climb and headwind combination. And the headwind aren't consistent: at their worst they really make it difficult to cycle, but they aren't consistently bad. Today is definitely better than yesterday.
After the peak there's a good downhill piece but the headwind is so strong that I need to pedal to get any speed. (And the wind is not as bad as yesterday!) There's about 50km to go, this is a descent but it's going north and so it's always a headwind. Also the road doesn't descend smoothly, there's still uphill parts. I'm staying in decent gears and doing about 15km/h so I'm going to arrive during daylight. If things don't get worse.
From left to right: leaving Santa Cruz province, after two weeks! The route up to the pass. Finally some downhill! Trees are rare: this shelter was unique and seems to be working? Nearly at Perito Moreno.
So it's a bit of a slog the rest of the way. The wind is always head-on, it's not so strong that it's reduced me to a walking pace, but it's certainly slowing me down. Be pragmatic about doing under 10km/h if that's how strong the wind is. Try to raise the pace when it's slower or a better direction.
The final run into Perito Moreno is about 1830, and I've had enough. The nearest (and best!) hotel is not taking guests because they're doing maintenance on the rooms. My next choice is a few hundred meters away; there's traffic and when it gets heavy I get up on the pavement. Until I see some broken glass, then I'm back on the road. I arrive just before 1900: ten hours on the road, against an estimate of 7.5.
I'm going to take two rest days here. There's been a run of long, hard days and it's time to recuperate. The next section is going west, crossing into Chile, then taking a ferry from Chile Chico to Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez and joining the Carretera Austral. Hopefully the wind isn't a problem ...
