PowerCycle

The skies are getting pretty dark out west making a Sunday departure unlikely. The forecast says cold, wet and windy. Since I’m planning on taking the scenic route through the Atuel Valley there’s not much point in leaving if I can’t see anything. The road is also unpaved which means mucho mud. The rain might actually be nice because there’s a weird smell in the air from all the dust.

This hostel is really something. It’s not really like a normal hostel in the traditional sense where the rooms all surround a common area. The rooms here are in a separate building and the common area is in another building over by the pool (no water–but the pool is clean so I think they are just waiting for season to start in January). The older lady running the place is incredibly friendly, the stupid dog is pretty quiet and everything actually works, except the internet but that’s normal. I’d highly recommend Hostel Nahual to anyone passing through.

Had the funniest bicycle shop moment today. I went over to this place another cyclist mentioned called Bici Partes to get a new kickstand (Ave. Chile and Moreno). The kid comes over with one and it looks somewhat strong so I give him the 35 pesos and get ready to take it back to the hostel and install it. The kid wanted to do it there so I brought the bike in and he went to it.

Well after 10 seconds it was obvious it wasn’t going to fit. He mentions this to the owner who takes a look and figures that chopping off the top of the support plate that secures the stand to the seat stay will do the trick. I knew what he was thinking and tried to stop him but Argentines just won’t admit defeat so he went in the back, did the cutting, came back and bolted everything together. I pushed the bike against the stand a little to show him that it wouldn’t last 10 seconds. He gave me back my money and I left. Sucks that chopped the kickstand up but he’s a bit of a crackhead.

After getting back from the bike shop one of the other ladies that lives here brought over a big steak and some rice that they had extras of from lunch. Sure wish I would have stayed here for the couple days off instead of Mendoza. Things are spread out a little far here so it’s not the best place to just go walking around but bicycles are everywhere so there’s plenty of company whilst out shopping/site seeing.