After an adventurous borderpassing between Argentina and Chili, there was the Carretera Austral! We had heard and read a lot about it. According to some it was even more beautiful than according to others. And about the difficulty of the route we heard many horror stories. Continue reading
When we left Coyhaique, it was raining a little bit, but the temperature was good for cycling. Fortunately it didn’t rain for long and the temperature remained very nice. We were still cycling on tarmac, so it went very well. Also because most of the route was flat or went downhill. A few small hills, but nothing special. All in all a wonderful day of cycling! Continue reading
After 3 days of doing nothing, we decided to leave for Cerro Castillo anyway. Another 2 days of cycling. The road was wonderfully good and flat, only a few hills compared to what we had been through already. Continue reading
When we were just about to leave the campground in Cochrane, Pablo arrived! How good to see him again! Hadn’t seen him since Puerto Natales and we often wondered how and what he was doing. He went to Torres del Paine and had hiked there for 10 days. Continue reading
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 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
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.