September 23: Week 12 wrapup
Counting the weeks is starting to look a little shortsighted, but it's nearly time so I'm not changing now.
I didn't know the exact dates when I started, but I do now: on Thursday 26 I'm flying Amsterdam-Buenos Aires. Then there's three hours at the airport before getting a flight to Ushuaia, and because I can't book the bikebox in advance I need to get that arranged in person, possibly in Spanish. The flight arrives about Friday midday (local time). I need to go to wherever I'm staying and assemble the bike and take a test ride, and I'm not sure which order to do that in.
The airport is close to the city so it's tempting to pop open the box in airport, plug the bike back together and just roll straight out of there ... with an eye out for a cardboard recycling bin, the bikebox is big and has my contact details all over it so it's got to be binned properly.
But the temperature in Ushuaia peaks at 5 degrees at this time of year. And that doesn't count the windchill. I've added some thick warm gloves to the bags, because the weather forecast says it'll stay like that for a while.
So being outside is not going to be pleasant, and maybe the testride should be a short loop around a warm hotel, not a cross-town uphill jaunt with strange traffic, bad bikelanes, and jetlag. I guess I'll figure it out when I get there.
To add to the fun there's some mountains along the way, where the temperature and winds are going to be worse. How long before it warms up? Rio Gallegos is about a week up the road and it's 12 degrees right now. I'm keen to get there.
Right now in Amsterdam it's an enticing 20+ degrees, which is a great temperature for being out on the bike. This is the last full training week, it's tapering so there's two cycling sessions and the weekend ride is an easy 4 hour scenic loop. I planned out a very lazy route, all on bikepaths, and ambled around in bright sunshine. It'll be a few weeks before I hit temperatures like this in South America, and I don't think I should expect the bikepaths to ever be this good ...
It's time for the last things before departure. I've tied the handlebar camera mount into place with some thread, which mostly stops the rolling. The bike sways and rattles so much I don't think it's the worst problem any more. Get resealable bags to keep the electronics. Research all the border crossings, find the info required, and then try to decipher the bike serial number in case it's required. Look into some alternative route choices, see there's nothing but expensive lodges aimed at wealthy American tourists, give up.
Four days to go.
