day 285 – day off

constitucion – day off

more extremcouching!? but at least i washed the bike (superficially)

day 284 – day off

constitucion – day off

thinking about washing the dust & sand off the bike, but is busy extremcouching on a day off. ;-)

day 283 – km 18430

bucalemu – constitucion

114,12km 1143 alti meter

after some steep climbs on dirt/sand/gravel roads i am ready for a day off (at least thats what my knees tell after the last 20% hill)

day 282 – km 18316

litueche – bucalemu

103,96km 1251 alti meter

more rolling hills… snowy mountain range on one side – the ocean side on the other side (some “art” closeup in the evening)

day 281 – km 18212

algarrobo – litueche

113,78km 1229 alti meter

very divere scenic day on the road. with ocean views, seals, farmfield, flower plantages, bees….

day 280 – km 18098

mantagua (vina del mar) – algarrabo

108,64km 1106 alti meter

nice ocean front ride in and around vina del mar. valpariso is not as much fun to ride through. i tried to find a side road along the coast, but had to climb up the highway along with a lot trucks… after about 30km i found a nice paved side road and some more rolling hills…. so finaly after 18.000km i had the first flat tire on the bike.

day 279 – km 17990

los andes – mantagua (vina del mar)

131,69km 608 alti meter

decent riding passing farmland, fruitstands… we found a nice campground about 10km before vina del mar. holli did some “meditation” ;-) while i discovered that one of my cooking pot has a hole!?

day 278 – day off

los andes – day off

once again sitting a the main plaza of a city and watching the city wake up (at 9.30!?) and rethinking the further route…..

there was a big happening with kids presenting school projects and schoolbands playing…

thanx to eric who gave us a place to stay for 2 days!

day 277 – km 17858

puente del inca – los andes (chile)

86,66km 644 alti meter

cold and overcast climbing up to the tunnel at 3200 meters, where the road company offers a free ride through the tunnel to chile.

meeting eric savard (vet. doc and bike tourer) who gave us a place to stay!

day 276 – km 17771

rio mendoza – puente del inca

47,52km 667 alti meter

nice ride along the mendoza river to uspallata. after that i turned my handlebar west and that meant against the wind. after about 15km i decided that the winds of aprox. 50-70kmh are not only not much fun to “ride” against, it is also dangerous on a road with heavy traffic and no shoulder. (the wind blew me of the road a couple times, but the wind gusts after a bus or truck made it unpredictable. that´s how i met veronica from mendoza, who was so kind to give me a ride to puente del inca.)

 

day 275 – km 17724

mendoza – rio mendoza

88,17km 1321 alti meter

once again i went into “creative mode” trying to find a nice way out of town…. these “short-cuts” end mostly in “long-cuts” and include some rough trails, but are allways interesting and good fun. ;-)

i found a nice campspot at the river where i “fixed” the broken tent pole the 6th time!?

day 274 – day off

mendoza – day off

walking tour in the park san martin up the hill of glory, checking the darwin exhibition (finaly finding the names to the animals i have seen in the national park talampaya (argentina). and some more bikers….

sara & sebastien (france) alaska – patagonia

swen (germany) & kat (usa) usa – patagonia

day 273 - day off

mendoza - day off

bikers gathering ….

Chloe & Nicolas (france) worldtour

Manu & Christelle (swiss) worldtour

swen (germany) & kat (usa) usa - patagonia

holli (germnay) peru - patagonia

day 272 - day off

mendoza - day off
relaxing at the pool and thinking about the further route...

day 271 - km 17635

villa media agua - mendoza
119,45km 291 alti meter
more traffic and as usual not really nice suburbs, but mendoza seems a nice place to have some relaxing days...

day 270 - km 17516

marayes - villa media agua
161,01km 470 alti meter
nice sunny riding day on paved roads and almost no winds!? what a difference!!!

day 269 - km 17355

san agustin del valle fertil - marayes
114,52km 506 alti meter

day 268 – km 17240

national park talampaya - san agustin del valle fertil
126,75km 392 alti meter

day 267 - km 17113

chilecito - national park talampaya
130,20km 1331 alti meter
nice climb (1000 meters) after sanogasta on gravel/sand (25km up+down)
20km more on sand/gravel until the paved road to the national park with crosswinds.
the last 30km with finaly some tailwinds.... what a difference.... and so much fun!

…. it´s the end of the road as we know it….

“strassensperre”

day 266 - km 16983

routa 40 km 3920 / san santiago shelter - chilecito
48.51km 377 alti meter
starting under light of the "moon-shine" to get to chilecito before the wind kicks in.

day 265 - km 16934

andulucas - km 3920 / san santiago shelter
60.37km 428 alti meter
lots of head/crosswinds in the morning (starting allready at 7.30)
after lunch fully the wind in the face at 40-60kmh. i repacked all the bags on the trailer to have less wind ressitance and cycled for another 2 hours at 10kmh until i found a nice shelter, where i cooked and called it a day (kind of early but i stopped before the wind made the riding not enjoyable).... still having fun!

blick nach vorne….

blick nach hinten…..

im hintergrund der sandsturm….

day 264 - km 16874

belen - andolucas
118.33km 511 alti meter
stopping at a nice state-campground after a hot afternoon ride (45degreesC)

day 263 - km 16755

punto de balastos - belen
148.31km 691 alti meter
30km of gravel/sand road before hualfin and 8km after the village.
bad headwinds comming into belen.

day 262 - km 16607

cafayate - punto de balastos
113.14km 769 alti meter

once again indoor camping….

day 261 - km 16494

alemania - cafayate
85.94km 874 alti meter

meeting a true cycling-nomads couple, making handicraft and selling it along the way.

day 260 - km 16408

salta - alemania
112.19km 583 alti meter

day 259 - day off

salta - day off
doing laundry, a walking tour around town and "pimping" the trailer....

day 258 - day off

salta - day off
everything is closed in this very european style city, so i might have an extra day off... (caroline & stephane from france)

day 257 - km 16274

san salvador de jujuy - salta
97,26km 778 alti meter
what a change!? european style riding on the route 9 (narrow nice paved road, not much traffic, great scenery....)
meeting caroline&stephane from france on their way north, at the casa de ciclista of ramon and his nice family.

 

day 256 - km 16177

purmamarca - san salvador de jujuy
85,42km 397 alti meter
at first i thought about riding all the way to salta (aprox. 165km) today, but then i thought it might be more enjoyable to realize the drastic changes of the landscape if i take it a little easier. and then there is benjamin with his nice family at his casa de ciclista in jujuy.

day 255 - km 16091

30km > sesques - purmamarca
96,19km 828 alti meter
after weeks of salt and sand deserts finaly some colors....

day 254 - km 15995

languna ana - 30km > sesques
122,75km 1040 alti meter
we didn´t stay in sesques to avoid a very long climbing day tomorrow... (andres from argentina on his 3-4 years hiking trip to alaska and dante on his self made bike touring chile + argentina – a true “crazy guy on a bike”)

day 253 - km 15872

6km < the intersection the bolivia - laguna ana (argentina)
78,30km 1141 alti meter
rest of the climb up to the pass at 4813m. to avoid another freezing cold and windy highcamp we took the opportunity of the pick-up ride to the boarder.

day 252 - km 15794

san pedro de atacama - 6km < the intersection the bolivia
38,00km 1845 alti meter
a long long long and windy climb.......

day 251 - day off

san pedro de atacama - day off
on the early morning bus-tour to the geyser / volcano tatio.

day 250 - km 15756

calama - san pedro de atacama
101,17km 1365 alti meter
the uphill from 2700m to 3400m was not visible in my map, but then the downhill to the valley of patience (2400m) @91kmh made it a nice riding day.

day 249 - day off

calama - day off
meeting up with holli and washing the salt & sand off the bike.

day 248 - km 15657

ollague - calama (chile)
42,83km 349 alti meter (150km on truck)
at first a nice ride, but then the wind changed..... alot things added up (not enough water, food, cash....) so i didn´t turn the nice pick-up driver down who offered a ride.
thanx for all the b-day wishes and sorry for replying so late. i was a couple days on / around salt lakes and deserts and therefore cut off from the electronic world. one could think that such a invirnoment would make a similar impression on most people, but tailwinds and a solid route can make a desert a enjoyable bike-experience. on the other hand (my case)pushing + pulling the heavy loaded bike against heavy-cold headwinds (40-50kmh) through loose sand/salt might limit the fun-factor slightly. ;-) so i enjoy the pleasures of a big (expensive) city today, before i hit the roads again this weekend towards the mountains again... sunny greetings from calama (chile)

day 247 - km 15609

san juan - ollague (chile)
65,39km 300 alti meter
maps and gps-tracks are not allways the best help in finding a good "road"!
i took the straight path towards the rail-tracks comming out of san juan which was not the best choice, but it got even worse trying to follow the tracks after the military checkpoint towards the boarder! so i pushed/pulled left of the tracks, right of the tracks and on the tracks.... for a couple hours.... i decided that this is after all supposed to be a bike-tour and not a "push/pull-my bike through deep sand-tour", so i went for the plan B (detour over calama instead of the straight "laguna route")

 

day 246 - 15544

incahuasi - san(d) juan
92,44km 439 alti meter
nice ride comming off the salar, but then heavy winds and deep sand made it hard cycling. (rud another laguna route survivor)

day 245 - km 15451

salinas de garcia mendoza - isla incahuasi
74,01km 216 alti meter
nice ride around the east side of the volcano, but could have avoided some more pushing/pulling through deep sand if i would have taken the salar access road in jiria towards uyuni (and then correct the direction on the salar as the beach-road was deep sand). passing pink flamingos and riding on the salar with a amazing star-sky in the night.

day 244 - km 15377

challapata - salinas de garcia mendoza
52,01km 165 alti meter
i took the "wrong"/harder way right of santiago huari instead of staying on the probably better "road" to huari, so i got a first taste of pushing/pulling my heavy loaded bike through deep sand... just about at a little rivercrossing through mud a truck came out of nowhere and offered me a ride to quillacas (the next little village).
after lunch i started riding on the more or less good "road" towards salinas, when the wind picked up and made it even harder to cycle. once again a truck stopped and i thought "oh well, its my birthday!?" and instead of a cold sandstorm camp i had a decent dinner&hostal.

day 243 - km 15326

oruro - challapata
124,46km 353 alti meter

day 242 - km 15201

sica sica - oruro
108,30km 348 alti meter

not much to see on this rolling hills….

day 241 - km 15092

la paz - sica sica
126,31km 987 alti meter
finaly back on the road again....

day 240 - day off

la paz – day off

…. and some more waiting …. (ando iwao from japan who just surrvived the laguna route)

day 239 - day off

la paz - day off

…. still waiting…..

day 238 - day off

la paz - day off
another day at the cafe waiting for my package....