The first stage of the Carretera Austral existed of 230 kms (135 miles) to Cochrane. There are no presents here, so they were difficult miles again. The first day we did 60 miles from Villa O’Higgins to Rio Bravo, from where the ferry to the other side of the lake left. Continue reading
And then the walking part; 4 miles of very, very hard work… We left around 9 a.m. the following morning. It had rained very hard the night before, so the track was wet and slippery. The first part went very steep up through a very narrow ‘gorge’. We had to take the front panniers off right away. Continue reading
After we relished ourselves on vegetables, fruits, potatoes, cheese, meat and most of all bread with Nutella, we left El Calafate. It was hard, but necessary. Continue reading
After those 2 days of doing nothing, it was time to move on. Everything in the NP is very expensive and there’s not a lot for sale, so it was time to hit the road again. Gijs and Karen had arrived the previous afternoon and they also were going to leave the next day. They had taken the bus from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales and cycled to the NP. There they went hiking for a few days. Continue reading
After having doubted for a while longer, we decided to leave the warm hostal in Puerto Natales and get back on our bikes again to go to the National Park Torres del Paine. After a few miles we met 4 other cyclists with whom we exchanged some information about the route. After a while we left the tarmac and came on a gravel road to the National Park. Continue reading
WE WANT TO WISH EVERYBODY A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND ESPECIALLY SPORTY 2013!
Happy New Year!
When we got on our bikes, the wind was indeed very favorable. It was storming, but we had tailwind so it was great. We flew over the road. But after about 20 miles it was over. The storm hit us from the side and we got blown off the road from time to time. Sometimes we even had a headwind. We started to not like it anymore. Our speed went from about 15 mph to about 9 mph. And the sun which had been shining on our faces disappeared and it got cold. We fought with that wind for about 45 miles. Continue reading
After a noisy night at the border with not much sleep, we passed both borders. Had no problems. Immediately after the Argentine border started an unpaved road with lots of holes. We lost our fuelbottles there… Not so good, because we need those for cooking. Fortunately we could also cook on gas, so we used that that night. Continue reading
From Punta Arenas, Chile, we want to wish everybody a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and sporty 2013.
On Friday morning we left B&B Ruta 40, even though it was very tempting to stay. It was raining hard and we could have done our laundry if we had wanted to. The only reason we still decided to leave was the fact that the wind was blowing from the South, so we would have tailwind all the way to San Sebastian. Continue reading