October 8: Day 9, La Esperenza to El Calafate
Today's ride is going to be long. I've searched the route and there's nothing along the way, it's a straight-up 160km marathon. That's 8 hours if there's no headwind or hills and the roads are good, which isn't realistic around here. Komoot estimates 9.5 hours and I've been 20% over recently, which means my best guess is 11.5 hours.
I'd like to start as soon as possible: it gets dark from 2030 and I'd rather be off the road by then. I've got lights and a high vis vest with LEDs but nevertheless, as a cyclist I treat all drivers like murderous psychopaths, so I'm really not keen to be outnumbered in the dark. I've passed a lot of roadkill along the way: can I really be sure they're all rabbits? Or other small mammals? I can not.
The weather is forecast to be not just bad but malicious. There's going to be a north-wester for the first few hours, while I go north-west; it then changes to a westerly about the time I turn west.
Breakfast starts at 7, but the staff weren't ready so there was a delay. Actually, I was watching the clock all day so here's how it went.
0800: Get on the road. Smile for the camera. If breakfast was on time this would have been 0730, which means I could have gone another 10km before the wind starts.
0900: It's quiet and still and I'm doing a good 20km/h. I'm so warm I put away the fleece and put on sunscreen. All is good!
1000: The wind started up. It's a headwind, and it means business. I'm down to about 15km/h. That still means I can finish in 10 hours if I don't get slower. But it's not good.
1100: I get out the Powerade. This is dank stuff, an unnatural color and too sweet for adults. I picked these up in Ushuaia and haven't needed to open them yet. But now's the time, if it makes me pedal like a frenzied hyperactive preteen that's fine with me. For now I'm diluting it 50/50 with water, but it's enough.
1200: 111km to El Calafate. That means I've done 50km in 4 hours, 12.5 km/h: this is too slow. It'll take 13 hours if I can't lift my pace - which means, if the headwind doesn't weaken.
1300: Lunch break! On Google Maps I'd found exactly one building along the way, it's apparently the head office of some company. It looked deserted when I was there, but there was some Wifi so I could message the hotel to say I'm going to be late.
1400: More Powerade. 50/50 dilution doesn't work any more, I'm now drinking 100% undiluted. Komoot says I have a lot of kilometers to go and my current pace means it's dubious whether I'll get there by sundown.
1500: Muesli bar break. There's ice around! It’s in direct bright sunlight, and it's not really cold, so I'm a bit surprised it's still here.
1600: Onto the blue Powerade. Always seems like the headwind is a bit weaker after I refill this stuff.
1630: Reach the peak! The view is spectacular. There's a long descent but the headwind is so strong that I don't get up much speed, and don't even need to use the brakes.
1700: The blue Powerade runs out. Going to be drinking water from here.
1730: I'm on the valley floor, it's 44km to El Calafate, and the headwind has gone up a level. I'm very much not happy with this.
1800: Getting a bit tired so I stop for a good snack; I do not want to run out of energy. The headwind was forecast to be 20-30km, I'm sure it's more than that and I'm not happy.
1900: Headwind is still strong. I'm doing my best to push but I've been trying to do that all day and I'm not sure it's working. Maybe the headwind will weaken as sunset approaches?
2000: The sun hasn't set but it's behind a cloud and cars are putting their headlights on. I put on my bikelights and the high-vis vest, I don't want to look like a prey animal. If the headwind has weakened it's not enough to notice.
2100: There's been a nice wide gravel shoulder on the road, I've been riding on it while cars are nearby. Finally arrive in El Calafate!
Unfortunately there's been a problem with the hotel I booked into; they have been good enough to set me up in another one - but it's on the far side of town. (I'd picked a place on the near side, for obvious reasons...) El Calafate is a serious tourist town, filled with hotels and cafes and restaurants and other tourist things like chocolatiers - but half the roads are gravel. Also it's built on the side of a hill so there's a lot of steep hills.
I set up the destination on Google Maps but it's awfully vague about how to get there: I start going the wrong way up a hill, and it assumes I know what I'm doing and quietly lays out a new route for me. That's not what I want right now! I put the location into Komoot; it will tell me to do a U-turn because I’m going the wrong way, which is directness that matches my lack of appetite for time-wasting.
There's lots of streetlights, but they're missing on some gravel sections which makes things interesting: my headlights aren't that great at revealing the road so I roll carefully along being careful of potholes. I do not want to drop the bike again this trip. To their credit the roads are in very good condition and I get there with no surprises. I'm in an area with lots of smart hotels - but all the roads are gravel. My room is up a narrow flight of stairs but I'm not leaving the bike outside, I take it up and park it in the kitchen. Yes, my new hotel room is an apartment.
Since I’d been carefully snacking all day I wasn’t hungry; I ate the apple I’d brought along and went to bed. Thirteen hour days with nothing but hard headwind are really not fun, I don’t want to do that again anytime soon. Hopefully this was the worst day of the trip: the route is mostly east from here, a few short westerly sections but nothing too big.
In conclusion: Patagonian headwinds are evil. I hear they used to practice human sacrifice around here, to appease the gods? Maybe look into that, if you ever prepare a long westerly bike trip: whatever it takes, to calm the wind.
