PowerCycle

11/16 Another long day yesterday but I made it to El Sosneado. It was 68.5 miles with 1357 feet of climbing. It was more or less flat until the junction with route 40 at El Desvio. There was a little roadside store here but not much else. I didn’t ride over to it but I heard they’ll let you camp here. After that it was rolling hills until about 11 miles before El Sosneado where a gradual climb (1%) to 5180 feet started. Nothing at all in between as far as places to get food/water. I beat the rain by less than 5 minutes. The winds in these parts are notoriously brutal. Its blown other riders off their bike and forced them to hitch. I was lucky and had a rare northern wind to push me along.

In El Sosneado there’s only one place to stay– a single cabin at the restaurant on the north side of town. It was occupied when I got here but the lady offered to let me sleep in one of the two covered storage areas. There was even a little bed I could use. What kind of psycho rents the only place in a town when there’s a city 30 miles away?! You have a car! She didn’t charge me anything for the accommodations but I doled out plenty for beer and chocolate.

All day yesterday I rode closer and closer to the beautiful snow-capped Andes where I’ll be crossing back into Chile via the 8,200 foot Paso Pehuenche. No more 14,000 foot and higher passes for me anymore. Nothing much else to see in these parts except for oil wells, cows and goats. The only trees were the line of them next to the road to act as a windbreak.

No tailwind this morning but it wasn’t too bad and I made it to Malargue in a few hours. Then I spent the next two hours riding around trying to find a place to stay. The couple hotels I went to were expensive (surprise), the campground was 30 pesos but I wanted internet access and the hostels were closed, full or more expensive than the hotels. I finally found a place for 100 pesos called Hotel Rio Andinos. The lady isn’t the friendliest but the room is OK and it’s probably the cheapest in town. The best skiing in Argentina is only 40 miles away but season ended last month so I won’t be hitting the slopes.