Dec. 29, 2017
Buenos tardes,
Viento. That’s your Spanish word of the day. You think you know what it means, but you don’t. Patagonia wind should probably have its own term anyhow – it’s serious bidness.
It was sprinkling this morning when I hit the road, which cooled things down quite a bit. It didn’t get over 17 all day I don’t think.
This time I was riding away from the rain and I was just fine with that. In the rear view I spotted a rainbow so naturally I stopped for a picture.
The terrain today continued to remind of the southwest, but oxidized copper greens gave way to pale reds and pinks. Absolutely amazing. It eventually became generic dirt colored, but hey, good start.
Beautiful pavement all day, too. Pockmarked in some spots, but otherwise nicely maintained. Wouldn’t matter after too long, though.
Quick top off of fuel in Perito Moreno and… back to the road.
I didn’t take a ton of pictures today because… most of my day was spent NOT simply falling over. The wind is seriously insane. It’s a constant billion miles an hour with gusts of a zillion (factual numbers!). The entire road needs to be used at times. You never can quite tell the direction either. Just vaguely from the right.
I’ve ridden the Great Plains. I’ve experienced wind. This wind is the “hold my beer, I’ve got this” type. Always trying to wind harder. I put a short time lapse down below, but it doesn’t even touch the insanity that is happening outside.
I’m cruising along, sort of leaned right to go straight with fits of “holy hell, I don’t even know what straight is” when I see a guanaco warning sign. No pic, too windy to stop and not get blown over.
Guanacos all over. A few pics on my actual camera, but no iPhone shots. So neat to see in person. They’re just… chillin’. Doing their thing. Looking like llama camels. Threatening to bounce into the road. “You stay there, dude,” I warned telepathically. Seemed to work.
I saw a sign for wind. Mercifully it was calm at that minute so I stopped. I swear they were drawn more bent over as I went. Did I mention it was windy?
My plan was to stop in Baja Caracoles for more fuel, so naturally I followed that plan. The gas station is a pump in front of a fence, next to… someone’s house? I have no idea. While I was waiting (oh, right… everything is full serve down here) a couple from Brazil pulled up, both on R1200GSAs. Really nice people.
We complained about the wind, and the wife went off to find someone. The hostel next door informed her that there was no fuel to be had. Well, that’s not good. I’m down to ~180km of range and the next station is 230km out. Time to boring up my ride.
Back on the road the wind was calm for a while, which helped. I slowed to 80kph and “earned” much needed range. At the next marker I’d put enough in the tank that I was gonna make it. If only barely.
And then the road turned, the wind got even worse (I’m serious, 15 degree lean right was sort of straight). I had to slow to 60kph (miserable) to preserve what fuel I could. I passed a guanaco that looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, “you’re dumb, bro” – for some reason I’ve decided they sound like surfers.
Fuel that was now being consumed at an alarming rate. There’s no way this could last, right? It had to give.
Nope! The wind didn’t have to play by your rules. The road, however, was happy to turn. The wind at my back again and I could add to my reserve AND do 110! The moto gods decided to reward me. Beautiful.
Rolled into town and up to the station with about 6km range left. I made it! A full tank of fuel, more chatting with my Brazilian friends, and it was time for food. I saw a pizza place off the main drag and stopped.
Tiny. Straw and clay oven. Super nice old lady. Amazing empanadas. Two of those and a Fanta (not a soda guy, but they didn’t have waters) later and I’d spend the best $4.50US ever.
My hotel was only 700 meters away, and I saw no need to explore this sleepy little village. Too beat from the wind. Still feels like I’m on a boat.
Oh, something I didn’t expect, but was super excited about… everyone talks about the guanacos, but nobody mentions the… RHEAS! So awesome! Saw quite a few, including some babies, just outside of town. No pics, sadly, so I stole one from the internet. I didn’t take it. So exciting to see!
Anyhow, time for a beer.
Ryan Cavalier 