PowerCycle

11/24 After a quiet R&R day in Barrancas, it was back on the bike for a ride along the Rio Colorado. The road climbed and then cut away from the river after a bit and then it was a lot of climbing up, riding down and climbing up again. Lunch was at a great restaurant in the surprisingly big town of Buta Ranquil. They even had wifi and the food was delicious (ravioli–a fairly common menu item in these parts).

It was toasty with the mercury hitting 105 F. The wind was the big story though. It was actually fairly light all day. Had a nice surprise right before another big hill. A pickup truck full of oil workers stopped and brought me over a cold 1 liter bottle of water. Nice guys. Found a good spot to camp in a canyon alongside the road with lot’s of noisy parrots to watch over me. At this point I can safely say that I’m a flash flood victim waiting to happen. Actually there are no signs that this canyon/riverbed has had water in a long time so I’m not worried. Stats: 47 miles and 2418 feet of climbing.

I guess the wind missed me because the next day it was vicious. I had to bail out on my plans to make it into Chos Malal which was only another 12 miles. The wind was killing me and just a little stronger and I wouldn’t have been able to ride. As it was my average speed for the day was only 5.9 miles an hour. The climbs were the worst but I had to pedal even going downhill. It started at 4am that morning and left everything in my tent covered in a fine layer of dirt.

No places to get water except a couple farm houses but I didn’t stop because I wasn’t planning on camping again. I should have because I ended up filtering water out of a stream and it tasted like tin. I boiled it too just to be on the safe side. It’s was the worst tasting water I’ve ever had. The stream was coming down from the volcano so maybe that has something to do with it. Or it’s goat crap which wouldn’t surprise me because they are everywhere. The camp site was along another nasty looking stream but the spot was nice and was mostly out of the wind. A guy on horseback herding at least a hundred goats saw me but ignored me. Stats: 23 miles and 2253 feet of climbing.

More wind this morning but I only had to deal with it for half the way to town and then it was blowing from behind me. Stats: 16 miles and 528 feet of climbing. Paid for 2 nights at the Hospedaje Lemus (Lavalle 16). Cost 85 pesos ($20 US) a night which was the cheapest I could find. It’s kind of beat up but the owners are nice and the wifi works. Chos Malal is a big town with several supermarkets and lot’s of stores. Time to go shopping.

GPX track