That's put a bump on our weekly milage graph

Can you spot PBP week?

PBP route GPX files

The PBP website has links to the stage-by-stage GPX for the route, but they're a bit of a fiddle to browse through so I'm collecting links to them altogether in one place here.

Stage 1 (GPX) Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Mortagne-au-Perche

Stage 2 (GPX) Mortagne-au-Perche - Villaines-la-Juhel

Stage 3 (GPX) Villaines-la-Juhel - Fougères

Stage 4 (GPX) Fougères - Tinténiac

Stage 5 (GPX) Tinténiac - Loudéac

Stage 6 (GPX) Loudéac - Carhaix

Stage 7 (GPX) Carhaix - Brest

Stage 8 (GPX) Brest - Carhaix

Stage 9 (GPX) Carhaix - Loudéac

Stage 10 (GPX) Loudéac - Tinténiac

Stage 11 (GPX) Tinténiac - Fougères

Stage 12 (GPX) Fougères - Villaines-la-Juhel

Stage 13 (GPX) Villaines-la-Juhel - Mortagne-au-Perche

Stage 14 (GPX) Mortagne-au-Perche - Dreux

Stage 15 (GPX) Dreux - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Invicta 600 Audax, 11/12 June

I wrote most of this over a week ago, but never got around to posting it. Better late than never!

The Audax Men in Black were working overtime last Sunday (the 12th). Normally it takes until at least a few hours after a long ride for the memory of the pain to start to recede and the satisfaction to tempt you into enjoying the thought of the next one.
Not so this weekend. After approximately 620km of a non-stop (if only varying in intensity) subconscious train of thought enumerating all the ways in which I was not enjoying myself, it was with the final 15km of dragging through the rain that I suddenly realised that, actually, yes I would be doing it all again next weekend. Clearly those Men in Black hang out in Tunbridge Wells on their day off, or something.
The ride started out pretty average. A 4am alarm call had us in the car well before 5, and and so the tandem was unloaded and we were happily slurping tea in Seven Oaks Weald scout hut before most of the field rolled up. The route was more or less the same as we had completed 2 years ago, as our first ever 600. One significant difference was the start point had moved down the road from Otford, and this presented the first shock: climbing up Glebe road to join the previous route is quite a brutal way to start out a ride, and within a few hundred meters we were down in the lowest of our "super granny" gears; one of only three outings for her all weekend.
At 16km we had our next concern - a flat rear tyre before we'd even reached Otford. This can either signify a pure random occurrence, or the beginning of the end of a Gatorskin tyre were it has been known to pull itself appart in just a few hundred kms. With over 400 to go before we returned to the HQ and our spare, we wondered if we'd made an error. Fortunately things picked up after that and we were able to settle into a better rhythm for the first few stages.
I was now able to make some observations about how the body was looking like it would hold up to the challenge. I knew from our previous weekend's extremely enjoyable if quite tough 200km in Wales - the enticingly titled Cambrian 2B - that I should now be able to manage the condition of my right knee. On occasion it would tingle or give a sudden twinge of pain, but not the slow creeping warmth building to a sustained hot pain I had before. And I when I notice it, I can concentrate on using my quads in a more controlled and applied manner, and it will subside. So, not 100% back to normal, but bearable, and under control.
More of a concern was the severe crick I'd put in my neck in the middle of last week, that severely restricted my range of head movement in all directions, and could be extremely uncomfortable. This was an unwelcome re-occurrence of an issue from last year that I'd seen an Osteopath about and thought was solved. Ironically, I think this round was set off by swapping to a new pillow I'd bought specifically bearing in mind said Osteopath's recommendations! (That being, to use a firm pillow that supports side sleeping). Don't change your pillow before a big bike ride. This pain in the neck came and went all through Saturday, but I was able to gradually work it out and loosen it up. The biggest gain came on Sunday though, when a mis-executed U-turn after a wrong turning resulted in us almost spilt across the road: the adrenalin rush was like no other remedy I've tried at loosening the muscle and removing the pain. Amazing, wish they could bottle that stuff.
Back to Saturday, we went through the motions of making our way around. The other big change from 2 years ago was a doubling of the number of "information" controls: it now boasts an unprecedented dozen of them. As I joked to Steve the organiser that it's part bike ride, part pub quiz.
We completed about 6 infos in the first half of Saturday's ride, thankfully giving a clear run back to the HQ without the need to find numbers on signposts in the dark. We managed to miss one heading into Petersfield and then miss the turning, going a small 10km out the way and then navigating back into town via the wrong approach meaning we missed the official control point too. This was the peak of faff for the day, and we left feeling a bit weary for it, and with - for us - the toughest stage of the day to come next. Dragging along the north "foothills" of the South Downs is indeterminable in distance in the twilight, and passes some wonderfully cozy pubs as it goes. It was here in 2009 we had to resolutely stare the other way and treat discussion of such hostelries as taboo, lest one of us should fold and we find ourselves abandoning for warm comforts. Not so this time: I brazenly pointed out to Emma that here we were again, and wouldn’t it be nice to just stop and let go all these crazy cycling PBP plans. And then something unexpected happened that defined the ride.

I had feared that since we broke our unblemished 100% finish rate last year, we might become soft to this. I’d managed to put the Mille Cymru DNF down as a one-off, and unavoidable as I was literally at the point that if we continued and my nose bled became any worse, we’d need to call an ambulance as breathing was getting problematic amongst the warm red rush down my throat. However, April’s second DNF, on the Brevet Cymru (see the pattern in the ride names yet?) was fully elective. Sure my knee was hurting, but at 30km it wasn’t that bad. We could have gone on until 150km and it became completely intolerable. Or who knows, perhaps it would have most improbably disappeared? Anyway, we’re now no strangers to just deciding to pack a ride as it’s not going right, and so maybe we can do it again. Maybe even make a habit of it...

Back to us on the road outside Amberly in the fading dusk, Emma replies: “Yes, we could. But I’d be very disappointed if we didn’t finish this ride”. There. She enunciated the other half of the unspoken contract we each hold the other too: if you give up, I have to give up too. I don’t know how solo riders get through their dark moments like this - even more so those most hardy folks who ride completely self organised (“DIY”) events of this distance. I don’t think I could do it. I know I don’t relish finding out. But on the tandem, there you have it: a partner to support, encourage, entertain, provide solace in these moments. And when necessary, employ guilt to bind you to continue. I was so grateful for it then, and only now realise how important this was.

We were glad to reach the Pyecombe A23 services, which proved to be a challenging shopping experience. It claimed 24 hours, but service window only and the man was not interested in serving the dozen riders coffees who had got there just before us. Oh that we’d been a little quicker on the previous stretch we’d not have been passed by them (for about the 7th time in our hare-and-tortoise progression that day) and got through before them. It turned out for the best though, as their de-facto group leader (alas we picked up no names) asked us if my GPS could confirm a more direct main road route to Turners Hill, avoiding some dark lane navigation at night. We know the route well enough from FNRTTC, and coupled with the GPS could led a good peloton up through Burge’s Hill and Hayward’s Heath.
At Turners Hill we let the group head on; we fancied a stop for a sandwich and felt we’d be happier completing the final stretch back to the night stop at our own pace. Reaching Sevenoaks Weald, just after 400km, was a very welcome sight just before 3am. We managed to not hang around grabbing some food and managed a good 3 hours of sleep in the back of our car. I had worried that it would be a cold night, but if it was I didn’t notice it sleeping solidly from the moment I hit my bed.
In contrast to twilight struggle past Amberly, there was never any question we would not set out again Sunday morning. It’s amazing just how recovered you can feel after a few hours sleep! This often seems to be the hardest part for folks - leaving the comfort of the hall and proximity of their car and heading out for a second day of riding, but I didn’t find it so bad: knowing you “just” need to ride a 200 to make the previous day’s 400 count seems a reasonable trade.
The early stretch out to Sittingbourne went without too much problem; we know this loop well from several prior rides so knew to expect the Stede Hill climb. The soup laid on there was as amazing as ever it was, and we were saddened to hear this is the final time the Phoenix Centre will be used as the controller is retiring to the North.
After that the day continued much as it had 2 years ago! Rolling terrain out to the Whitstable bay coast, interesting and old familiar sights as we went. A difficult to find info control at Reculvor (a question I’m sure we’d had before, but the cottage had changed name and no-one could find the correct answer!). Then the long drag over Wingham towards Ashford. At this point we were right into the headwind, and it started to spot with rain too, but we knew once we turned at Ashford we’d be on the home straight and with the wind behind us. We took a longer break at the Westenhanger services, knowing we had sufficient time in hand, and then indeed got a very pleasant tail wind most of the way back to the Arrivée, more than making up for the more persistent rain that set in as we worked our way back.
So it was likely this smooth run home that put me into elevated spirits, such that before even getting there I’d already changed my mind around fully and was starting to think through what needed doing to prepare for the following weekend’s 600.



Epilogue
As it turned out, Emma developed a cold in the following week, so we weren’t able to ride our final qualifier last weekend, and instead are now planning to head to the Netherlands for the Merselo-Venray 600 this weekend instead. But that’s a story for another day!

Knee round 2: rehab

The Physiotherapy practice I am seeing, sixphysio.com, have a slightly unusual setup in that their staff either specialise in remedial & manipulation, or in exercise & rehab. So today I had my second physio appointment today, this time with a rehab specialist.

After another short consultation, with a bit more time spent talking about bike setup and possible theories of what might have triggered my pain a fortnight ago, I did a bit of balancing on one foot and so forth, and immediately all sorts of ingrained problems in my posture, balance, and general being became very apparent. It turns out to stand on my right leg I twist my pelvis, throw my left foot across behind me, twist on my knee and all sorts. As soon as she mentioned all this it triggered other recollections: when skiing I have more difficulty carving to the left - where more weight is on the right foot - and I can never sustain one-footed skiing on my right foot whereas I have a tolerable ability for this on the left foot.

Having determined how my right leg is generally disagreeable in performance, all quite explainable by the lazy Vastus Medialis muscle (VMO) as identified on Friday, I was started on the road to correcting it. First step was a round of electric-shock therapy. I had had the misfortune of doing some google searches for lazy VMO prior to the consultation, and come across some youtube videos of a chap putting himself through this - using some sort of homebrew kit, crocodile clips and all! Fortunately my treatment was considerably more clinical, but still a rather curious experience.

Once it was activated, I was put through various other exercises to help train this muscle into responding to normal activity. The most difficult bit of this was overpowering my subconcious tendency to twist feet and hips in strange ways, as much as anything because I'm trying to avoid making knees click -- a destructive feedback loop between symptom and cause that has no doubt deepened this issue over the years. I now have a routine of daily exercise to go along side the post-exercise stretches I was issued on Friday.

Cycling home I made a very conscious effort to keep my knees aligned over my pedals, rather than letting them bow inward toward the frame as I now see they do (the Physio had already guessed so much just by seeing the way I sat in the chair with my feet splayed toes outwards). What I had considered as my knees knocking outward at the top of the pedal stroke is infact them knocking inward throughout the entirety of the rest of the revolution.
On the way into work this morning I'd worn a knee compression bandage; this had seemed to prevent the worst of the clunking, but I still arrived with some mild tenderness. (A bad sign as this is only an 8 mile ride so easy to see how it would be worse scaled up to say 400km!)
Coming home, I had no knee bandage but the joint effect of keeping my legs better aligned and trying to clench my quads, and in particular my newly activated VMO, appeared to have a very noticeable result: not only was there no knee-clunking, but no knee pain either.
So now all I need to do is get my own portable electric shock machine to take on my next randonee.

---

More practically, I'm also going to look into change the pedals on my commuting bike from SPDs to something with more lateral rotational float. I don't believe I need more float per-se, but I do think a freer pedal (such as the speedplays I use on my road bike) would give my more ongoing reminders keep these factors in mind. A lot of people recommend Time ATACs as a good MTB-style pedal with increased float, but I think I'm as much interested to have free float without the spring return that they have; without trying some it's hard to know. So I may just go for Speedplay's "frog" pedal - which frustratingly they've been previewing a replacement for called the SYZR for several years, but has never actually made it to retail. Feels wrong to be spending more on a pair of pedals than many people spend on an entire bike (or BSO), when you know it's already obsolete!

Thing1 knee 1

This week I finally got myself organised and saw a Physiotherapist on Friday, to have a look at my knee.

It's a fortnight now since the pain first started in it, on the way to Wales, and which caused us to pack the Brevet Cymru 400km just 30km in on the following day. I had thought it was improving so we drove to Ilminster last weekend to ride the Old Roads 300km, but overnight the pain returned and so we didn't even start. Something had to be done.

The Physio was a little confused by the long story I had to tell about my knee. It's been a bit "clunky" for about 10 years, but rarely painful so I never put much thought to it. I found that within half a minute of starting cycling, if it was clunking, I would unclip my right leg and kick it out a couple of times, and the knee would click the tension be released and this would stop the clunking for many hours or even days.
In short, the problem of the last fortnight is I can no longer click out my leg and so it is continuously clunking.

At the moment, it is looking hopeful the problem is one of patella tracking disorder, rather than more serious meniscus / cartilage damage.

One observation that seems to support this was quite late in the consultation my Physio asked me to clench my quads on either leg, and noticed that the Vastus Medialis muscle on my right leg was "lazy"; slow to contract only doing so in the final stages of squeezing the Vastus Lateralis muscle. In contrast on my left leg these fire about the same time as is desirable.

She made the observation that my quads and ITB are extremely tight, and I need to take up exercises and stretches to address this. She was quite surprised when I replied in the affirmative to a question of whether I own a foam roller! This is particularly good for loosing these areas, it turns out. I'm used to being made aware about how tight my hamstrings are, first time I'd really been made aware of this problem elsewhere.

The one thing she could explain is why, when walking up stairs, my knee clunk is far more pronounced when I make tall ankle extensions with each step. Most likely theory is extending the ankle through calve muscle contraction causes some other quad muscle activity to stablise the leg, having this side effect.

The final experiment of the session was to try taping my knee cap for a day. At first I found this to be rather uncomfortable, partly just from the stickiness pulling on skin and the lack of motion it allows. Cycling on to work it was initially giving a very disconcerting clunk, but eventually it settled and over the 24 hours it became much smoother feeling. Eventually I was surprised how I'd carefully stand up from sitting for a while, moving carefully in anticipation of a knee clunk that never occurred. This more than anything has given me hope that surgery is not going to be required, and I just need to sort out the kneecap stabilising muscles to cure the issue.

The time line for this is hard to predict though. Exercises to rebalance muscles could take a while to get full effect. Hopefully binding it will prove reliable enough to keep it in check in the interim, I will need to test this out on the daily commute and build up to longer distances with it.
The remaining pain and inflammation feeling needs to be given chance to recover as fully as possible before I take on any more long distances, and then I should also be prepared with a regime of ice packs to ward of any final niggles.

With these sorts of issues it seems often recommended runners take up cycling, cyclists take up swimming, for another source of exercise. I never learnt to swim with any real ability, maybe now is the chance? I started investiging some adult swimming lessons in London, and found the Art of Swimming which looks interesting. Would be interested to hear if anyone else has recommendations on this.

Maps are back!

Just noticed My Tracks has updated itself to a new version that can upload My Maps once more, so I've just uploaded map link for the last week. May do more if I get really bored waiting for the bike shops to open!

Monday 21 Feb: Bariloche

After a good nights sleep and the hostel breakfast we set off on the circuito chico. This is a loop west of Bariloche which takes in some great views and goes past the famous Llao Llao hotel (although neither of us has managed to find out why it's famous, but apparently it is). It made a change to be able to leave the luggage behind, it was good to remind ourselves what it is like to be able to cycle up inclines without resorting to the granny ring. The 18km road out to the 40km loop is surprisingly busy for what is in effect a dead end road. Most of that road is lined with hotels and spas and cabañas which probably gives rise to all the traffic. On the loop itself it got a lot quieter, and it's a popular place to rent bikes to do the circuit, so was nice to share the road with other bikes for a change. Being rentals they were all kitted out with helmets and Sam Brown belts, whereas motorcyclists tended not to be wearing leathers or helmets - seems backwards to us Brits.

There are a number of places advertised as 'casa de té' on the circuit, and so we had high hopes of having tea and cakes enroute. Unfortunately, everywhere didn't start serving tea until 4:30pm. Before that time, they were either closed, or had a different (restaurant) menu. Shocking! We had to make do with a beer from the brewery on the way back into town to make up for it.

For our evening meal we had decided to go for parrilla. After much deliberation, we opted for a restaurant which had a reputation for serving large portions of good quality. The food was excellent, and the staff seemed to really take pride in the cooking. We sat next to the (open) kitchen, so got to see the meat being prepared for cooking. Very interesting. We managed to find room for icecream from one of the many icecream parlours for pudding too.

Tomorrow we head around lake Nahuel Huapi in the opposite direction towards Villa la Angostura and the seven lakes drive.

Photos from Rafting in Futaleufu

Finally found a net cafe (well, ice cream shop!) with Picasa and a fast connection. Here´s the "pro" photos from our rafting trip last week.




Clicky

Sunday 13 Feb: Arrival in Futaleufú

The hosteria turned out to not be quite the utter bargain we had first thought, small matter of mishearing a factor of ten! But still it was not over expensive and well worth it to get in out the rain and have all our clothing dried. The breakfast was one of the better one's too - the toast and marmalade staples extended with cheese, salami, and scrambled eggs.

The road to Futaleufú, and ultimately on to the border, is quite a narrow and winding one, weaving through the gorges that make it such a popular white water rafting location. The day had started out fairly damp once more - nice dry waterproofs soaking within a few minutes! But as we climbed up and the day progressed, the rain thinned and we started to see some breaks in the cloud. After lunch we even risked removing waterproof trousers without the usual deluge immediately pouncing on us as is normally the case! As you approach the town you pass Lago Espolon, which the guide book described as having it's own pleasant microclimate, and sure enough just as we stopped alongside it for afternoon biscuits we were greeted with hot sunshine. Over the next climb, we were back under cloud once more.

I'd attempted to book ahead and get a hotel room for our two nights here, as a treat for being halfway through the tour, but everywhere had been full (as far as my Spanish could tell) so instead we settled for a campsite which at least lived up to the hot showers promise, and has free internet!

 map 

Friday 11 Feb: short day to La Junta

Another blindingly hot day, we took it steady for the 45 km to La Junta and found a delightful private campsite (photo) just out the other side. We have yet to find the owners though!

We ate out last night (in a cafe thing mostly occupied by a motorcycling group. From the sounds of it, motorbiking on ripio isn't that easy either) but failed to find anywhere doing pudding so bought a cake to eat back at the campsite. Along the way we failed to get any bread, so picked some up this morning for a breakfast a mile down the road, and stopped again for more snacks a few times including at a national park picnic area by the lake.

Bought more supplies in town this evening as tomorrow we might well be wild camping again for first time in what seems ages. Although, I did note today that 4 of the last 5 organized campsites failed to live up to their hot showers claim, at least on the first attempt of using! (Wood-burning boilers are not exactly on-demand appliances, and cyclists tend to want showers at odd times in the afternoon/evening).

Tomorrow may also be notable for being our final day on the carretera Austral. At Villa Santa Lucía we will take the fork towards Futaleufú. Odd to think this first major part of our tour will be coming to a close, even though we're some 10 days behind our optimistic estimate for being here.

Oh, and the answer to yesterday's conundrum is Puyuhuapi is pronounced pooh-you-wapi. So now you know.

Wednesday 9 Feb: getting hotter

Last night's forestry campsite was well sheltered from the morning sun in amongst the trees, so we started off later than we otherwise might have, and feeling slightly chill. It only took a few miles down the road to start to really feel the heat as it was approaching 11am. Very grateful for the 20 km of paved road we had remaining we made good progress winding between snow capped mountains, it seeming impossible to be looking at snow whilst being so hot.

As threatened by the map, the paved road ran out all to soon, and then we had the prospect of another 30km of ripio to the next town. To our disappointment we saw the tell tale signs of roadworks on this section. Given good ripio is worse than a UK temporary road surface, you can try and imagine what a temporary ripio surface entails.

Just like yesterday, as we stopped for lunch a van came past dropping off the work crew for their afternoon's stint.

This turned out to be a really long section. For the main part it was loose sand with a thick layer of even looser rocks atop. Not great fun. Takes as much of my skiing as cycling skill set to negotiate, down side being tandems are not really designed for skiing.

Then we hit the area where the real work was happening. First sand being rolled out on a steep hill. No option but to walk that. Then we reached a part where they were ploughing up the old road. Literally. Although Emma said it was more harrowing than ploughing, and I tended to agree with that sentiment.

Finally past all that, we stopped at a stream to recover and I used the "Marmotte" method (as seen on alp d'huez last year) of removing hat and shirt and soaking them in the cold mountain water. Wonderful! And even removed some of the sweat and ripio dust stains too.

We toiled through another 5km when we were met with a most unexpected yet agreeable sight: a sign declaring "pavemento a 100m". So new it is not on any of our maps, this sailed us through the remaining 10 miles to the town of Villa Amengual, where we bought much needed icecreams, fizzy drinks and juice.

Some 10k before the town we'd passed a most attractive campsite of the shore of a Lago Torres, which we'd reluctantly skipped past as we wanted to get to shops (you can just see the lake in the photo). We now wondered if we'd find anything else, or would be wild camping behind a bush somewhere.  A short climb out of town got us to a most wonderful descent down into the gorge of the next river - still on glorious paved road - and Emma spied a camping sign so we took the opportunity for hot showers and early finish. Maybe we'll start sooner tomorrow to try and get some miles in before the midday heat!

Saturday 5 Feb: ripio woes, paved road woo!

In the morning we got to continue the descent we'd started the previous evening. Nice smooth ripio more a hard mud surface than gravel. Soon we were at the floor of the valley and heading towards the cerro Castillo peaks that stand above their namesake Villa. Again, impressive granite jags encrusted in snow, clear against the blue sky of what was turning into a pretty warm day after a chill night.

Before reaching the town we had to clear one last climb. Not a massive one, but reasonable job which was.rewarded with a nice view over Lago Verde (which is indeed quite green). Then it was one last descent and into the town, which promised to meet us with a return to paved roads. What a nightmare descent though! The full width of the road was deep in very loose gravel, and very steep in places. Perhaps a lightly loaded solo bike could get down it OK, but heavily loaded tandem was not ideal! With only one grazed elbow (and associated hole in jersey) I think we got of quite lightly.

When we reached the turning for the "manos" caves we'd been considering walking out to we decided to skip, as that detour would just prolong the ripio pain. Two more turns and we were on the paved road. Never has that small thing felt so good!

The town is very small and the supermarket was shut for lunch, but Emma spotted a great little diner by the road, constructed from two old buses with a 'knock through' connection in their middles. A couple burgers, fries, and a large bottle of coke later and we were feeling back on top form. So we had some icecream too.

The road north out of cerro Castillo follows a 12km climb, half of it on switch backs. Hard work in the hot afternoon sun, but great cycling with sun (and wind!)  on our backs and amazing views. At the saddle summit we were rewarded with 10km of easy descent through the mountain peaks before turning up along side another stream. Just after Emma mentioned it was half five and where should we think about stopping, a sign appeared for a campsite in half a k. Ideal. It's part of the national park, well sheltered amongst the trees of a small valley and hot showers and a camp fire make for a great end to a tough but overall enjoyable day on the road!

Friday 4 February: ticking along nicely on a Carretera Austral

Double rations is paying off. We managed a healthy 50 miles today on hilly ripio roads in less than 8 hours, camp to camp. Could have gone further (especially as we were on a long descent on fairly decent road) but found a nice enough spot to camp behind a banking on the road so stopped for a cheesy salami pasta fest and an early night. Last night we went out for a meal in Puerto Tranquilo to make up for the fact I'm not on the all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii that I turned down in order to be here instead, and which my colleagues will just be starting now. They don't know what they're missing down here in Patagonia!

This morning started off with all weather at once: rain, sun, and head-wind, as we slowly worked up the northwestern shore of Lago general carrera (largest lake in Chile, second largest in south America). Very hilly with steep climbs and drops, like the pembrookshire coast Emma commented. Delightful views, but hard going.

The afternoon was spent winding up the murta valley, lots more shelter from the wind, the rain eased up, and long but more steady climbing.

20 miles until Villa Cerro Castillo tomorrow, then one more stretch of big climbs and we'll be in striking distance of Coyhaique where we'll stay a couple days most likely. And we should get onto paved roads tomorrow too. Yay!

Photos!

Very slow going uploading fullsize photos, and we lack a descent way to resize them, but here are a few from the first part of our trip

Part 1: Buenos Aires to El Chalten

Sunday: leaving Tortel, more rain

As we travel it is interesting to see the changes in wildlife that reflect the change in habitation we pass through. Crossing from the near desert of the Argentine steppe into the Andes and Chile will always be a most distinct example, but even in the 150 km odd we have traveled on the carretera we are noticing changes. We have long left behind the giant horseflies that bugged us through the border crossing - a most disturbing insect when crawling lazily on your cycle glasses, it looks like some alien invader! Our first days and nights were plagued by buzzing biting mossies. They now seem less in number, thank goodness, and today for the first time we saw Patagonian bubblebees (as we call them). These are just like their UK counterparts, only have loss their black stripes, meaning you have bright yellow or orange balls of spiky hair flying around the flowers. Most odd!

Flowers are another thing: until today they have been very few but we definitely see more now we are in wetter and more fertile land (I expect all the volcanos had a part in this).

On the subject of rain, the clouds that sat over us all day yesterday in Caleta Tortel appeared to up-stumps this morning, and wondered up the valley to join us on our way to Cochrane. So from elevenses to after lunch we were fully coated head to toe in waterproofs, for the first time ever on a cycling holiday. It was even sufficient to help me discover my waterproof gloves aren't, which 3 UK winters never previously managed to highlight. The frogs certainly seem to like this weather though, so their unusual croaks - like someone tapping out Morse code on maracas - accompanied us for most they day as well as throughout last night just outside our window.

The afternoon was real sunshine and showers affair, which at least let us dry out and warm up a bit, and around 5 we found a great place to camp on a hidden "mezzanine" level between road and river, just as we were getting drenched through once more. Hoping for more sun, less showers tomorrow!

 map 

Thursday, Friday : setting off on the carretera austral

(Emma writes) We had a lazy morning in Villa o Higgins, eating a leisurely breakfast and doing some more shopping. We made an attempt to drill out the sheared bolt (supporting a front pannier rack), but only succeeded in breaking drill bits. We'll have to make do with cable ties holding it until we find some decent workshop facilities. It's not quite as bad as the front rack on one of the bikes we travelled with on the crossing, which had broken three fixing points on one side! The owner was not recommending the use of aluminum racks on ripio, not surprisingly.

At 1:30 we rolled out of town, keen to get a few miles in before our lunch of cheese sandwiches and biscuits. We seem to have settled into a routine of eating approximately 1packet of biscuits a day. There is generally quite a wide range of biscuits available, and after sampling many packets, we are getting to know which ones we prefer.

Shortly afterwards we passed the couple of Germans we'd done the crossing with, who seemed to be taking an extended lunch break. The views along the road were beautiful, with the road winding around lakes, beside rivers and through ancient beech woods. After about 30km we started seeing cyclists coming the other way, and gathered more info on the road ahead. Shortly after turning west into the head wind, we met the French cyclists we'd done the crossing with coming the other way. They were not confident of finding anywhere to camp along this stretch of road and so had decided to head back to a cabin a few kms back down the road and ask to camp there. We decided to eat a few more biscuits and talk about what to do next. Until now, when we've been going into a head wind, it's been the wrong decision to try and press on. We decided to carry on nonetheless! We found a great spot to camp about 12km further on, unfortunately it was also inhabited by thousands of mosquitoes. The combination of rain and biting insects made the decision to cook inside the tent a fairly easy one. It wouldn't be possible if we were running the stove on petrol, but as we've still got gas at this point, it wasn't a problem.

We set off around 9:30 on Friday, and started climbing almost immediately. It was the first, and smallest of the 3 climbs we knew about before Rio Bravo. The road surface wasn't great, with lots of loose gravel and shale. Descending was an interesting experience, and we actually came off the bike at one point. We gained a couple of bruises, but nothing serious. Less of an issue than the current set of mossie bites! The problem is that the corners have worn away to become heavily cambered, and have collected some deep gravel. Add large stones into the mix and it's easy to end up going sideways.

We made it to the ferry at Rio Bravo in time for a late lunch. Unfortunately we'd missed the 1pm ferry by about 40 minutes and had to wait until 5pm for the next one. There is a new Refugio at Rio Bravo with toilets. Good if you miss the last ferry, or merely need somewhere to sit out of the cold and rain. One of the people waiting was a chilian cabanero with a small fuel tanker. When our ferry finally arrived, another small tanker, along with a bigger tanker got off, and started filling the tanker which had been waiting.  Ourselves and a waiting car loaded onto the ferry, then had to wait whilst the tanker was filled before rejoining the ferry.  I guess the larger tankers can't manage the road south of Rio Bravo. Having cycled some of it now, I would say the roads are actually worse north of the lake though -  certainly steeper!

On the north side of the crossing is a great shack selling food and snacks. As we thought there was an outside chance of us reaching Caleta Tortel by nightfall we thought we'd better have a snack to keep us going. There was a young girl at the shack who after asking which country we were from, brought out her collection of foreign currency, and a piece of paper with translations between England and Spanish for numbers and parts of the body. We sat with her while we ate and added some more words to her list. I managed to find a 20p piece for her collection too.

The road from the ferry went straight up, which combined with the extra time spent at the cafe made it unlikely that we would make Caleta Tortel before dark. On the long descent through a gorge that meets Rio Baker we found a somewhat exposed spot to camp just off the road on a hair pin corner. It has great views across the next valley, with a glacier above, and is hidden from the road so should be a good spot to bed down so long as the wind doesn't rise too much.

 map (Thursday) 

 map (Friday) 

Tuesday and Wednesday: border crossing to Villa O'Higgins

When I was young, I always imagined land border crossings must be in the remotest locations, requiring battling through forest and mountains to cross. This probably was a consequence of being brought up on a island, but integrated Europe meant I always found it rather an anticlimax when I did eventually get to cross borders by land. Until now.

We left El Chaltén Tuesday morning with a feeling that this was the first place we'd visited that we'd really liked to spend quite a bit more time in. The previous evening had turned out fine weather after a damp and windy afternoon, so we'd taken the opportunity to do a 1 hour hike up to the mirrador Laguna Torres. Beside the Fitz Roy mountain this offered great views over the valley behind the town and other granite peaks, and glaciers. I can start to see the real attraction of ice treking which many of the agencies offer.

We took our time cycling out to lago del desierto, knowing we had a good 5 hours to cover the 38km before the 5.30 ferry. More great weather and views of Fitz Roy as we passed by meant many photo stops.

We also fitted in a 45 minute hike to see the huemul glacier, and enjoyed a lunch or barbequed chorizo in bread ("choripans") from the park attendant.Once across the lake we had to decide how to split the 7 + 15 km hikes either side of the border - although passport formalities are down on exiting or joining the ferries at either end so effectively the whole trek across is in no-man's land. Knowing that carrying a tandem would be challenge enough we were keen to hire a horse to carry the panniers, so when we found the only option was to set off that evening and stay the night at the horse man's hut, just over the border, the decision was made.

On the Argentine side the track is a very poor mud walking trail - much less maintained than any the previous trails we've used this trip. Coupled with the fact it is steep - effectively climbing to a pass over the Andes - and of course with a tandem bike in tow, this was quite a job of work. Several river crossings, without bridges, also added to the adventure.

Eventually, with a lot of heaving and shoving and quite a few scratched ankles, soaked shoes, and fruity language, we made it to the border itself. As this was a location that gun fire was passing over around the time of my birth, it was quite evident the location was very important, with a cast iron marker half way between the respective welcome to Chile/Argentina signs. Almost immediately beyond that, the mud track turned to gravel track. Not up to NCN standards (excuse the cyclist's sarcasm!) but quite rideable compared to what came before. 15 mins later we were setting up our tent by the horse wrangler's shed. (Evidently an ex-military border-bullying building).

There we met his wife and daughter, and numerous cats (one had even led us into there from the other side of the border sign!). It must be interesting to live your childhood in no-man's land like that, with no motor vehicles about and only access being by ferry at either end of the road; a virtual island up at 700m altitude in the mountains.

As we were setting the tent, I heard a shout and looked up just in time to see some luggage (including  a bob-yak trailer!) being kicked way into the air by a bolting horse. Bolting straight towards me! A moment of indecision, and then I leapt to my right and it shot pass and crashed into the woods behind. As we hastily moved our tent to be a bit further from the bolt-hole gap in the hedge, it passed through my mind just how far we were from anywhere at all in this strange island-like location, let alone from NHS care!

Next morning we continued the journey toward the Chilean border post. Despite being twice the distance we covered it in much less time as the roads are for the main part rideable, except some gravelled steep descents (with sheer drop to one side with no railing, of course!).

The history here is that under pinochet Chile wanted to push this road right through to join up Puerto natales and the magallenes region with the rest of the country. Snag being the southern Patagonian icefield means the only possible route goes through Argentine land, and Argentina weren't so keen on this. Hence the roads being more substantiated on the Chile side, but Argentina doing the least possible to now allow it as an expedition tourist route, but not encourage any more Chilean integration ideals. In fact El chaltén was only established 25 years ago, as a means to reinforce Argentina's claim to the land.

On the final descent to the northern end of the road, the moment happened that we'd been anticipating since we left the UK. We met a tandem coming up the hill toward us. Not any tandem though, this one was carrying my work colleague Steve, and partner Steph. Of all the coincidences we'd both planned the same trip along the caraterra Austral at about the same time, both on tandems, and without knowing the other was doing the same. We had a good catch-up but only wish the boat timings had been such that we could have spent more time with them over an evening; they need to catch flights this coming weekend so need to make good time over the crossing, and unfortunately horses were not available for their trip. Hope the get across ok.

 map (Tuesday) 

 map (Wednesday part 1) 

 map (Wednesday part 2) 

Saturday: hiding out from ruta 40 headwind

So the riverside fishermen turned out to be quite friendly, if a little noisy and full of beer. Around 9pm just after we'd turned in they finished their catch for the day and turned their attention to cooking and eating and drinking and singing. Unfortunately we'd pitched our tent just the other side of the tree line from the campfire ring, so didn't get a lot of sleep until gone 1. On the plus side, we're now familiar with quite a bit of Argentinian folk song, including one that sounded like "mi perro no quiero".

On waking it was clear we were in for a blustery day, so didn't hurry to leave. Sure enough, despite being told the wind was always from west or southwest in this area, we were treated to a strong northeasterly for the day. Our path for the day of course being 90km of north bound road. Another day of crawling at 5mph and regular adhoc refuges under thus road. Gone midday, we stopped for shelter behind a works depot and found a tent with two sleeping cyclists inside. When they stirred they introduced themselves as Mike and Kerry from USA, heading southbound but had had to stop due to the sidewind pushing them into the traffic. As we were heading in the opposite direction it was merely trying to push us off the road - much safer! We sat for a couple hours and had a good chat, giving advice to one another of what to expect ahead. Turns out Mike is from mountain view California, which I know from work trips, so we also swapped tales of the cycling around that area.

Late afternoon we left them and pressed on a bit more, finding a restaurant with camping field by the river to stay in. 42km covered in 6hrs, plus 4hrs stopped! The restaurant appears to be run by resting mountaineers, mostly existing on coach coffee stops and occasional group stays. But they're very friendly and welcoming, and hopefully we'll get a quieter night's sleep too!

 map of route 

Tuesday & Wednesday: ruta 40 strikes back

From tapi aike we had two options, paved ruta 7 to la Esperanza and then double back onto ruta 5 towards El calafate, or keep with our friend ruta 40 to shortcut some 50km off the total distance but this would mean a day of rough ripio. We'd been warned this was a particularly poor condition section, but chose to use it anyway as it would mean much less traffic, and as it turned out it wasn't all so disagreeable as we had a southwesterly tail wind all morning that helped us through all but the worst of it. The worst being where a short rain shower turned a sandy section to porridge, which stuck between wheel and guard making progress twice as hard. Other than that, a glorious sunny morning.

Shortly after lunch we reached the junction with ruta 5, where we turn north west, finally towards our destination. We knew this would be a transition from tail to side wind, and heavier traffic, but better condition roads. Still we were doing well as we'd heard others took a full 12 hours going the other way on the shortcut, so decided to press on a bit further before sleeping.

For the main part this was high exposed ground with little shelter. As we climbed higher, the wind picked up too, but remained tolerable. At one point we passed a couple touring bikes stopped by the road. We could not see the riders, but eventually decided they must be well hidden away from the wind as we had been several days prior.

Eventually the road topped 1000m altitude, and then we got our first proper descent of the trip, down for 10km on the way into the lago argentino valley. Part way down we paused to see if the estancia there might offer camping, but spotted a tree line another 10km or so across the floor of the glacial valley floor, so reasoned that must be Rio bote and headed for it.

Our assumption was right, and when we finally reached it we found a good sheltered spot under the trees by the river. (You'll notice by now rivers are the only place you'll ever see a tree in the steppe)

Shortly after pitching camp, a pair of cyclists appeared, clearly with the same idea. It was the riders of the bikes we'd see earlier. (Shoham & Amit - http://shohamit-southamerica.blogspot.com/) We pointed them to an area right under the bridge that looked good, and they joined us. They cooked up a huge evening meal, and insisted we could help them consume it, so we had a second supper of a delicious Arab/Israeli lentil dish. 

Next day we only had the remaining 40km straight into El calafate to do, so we took it fairly easy but were still away soon after 8. What a job of work! It took until 1pm to finally make the town, the headwind was that strong. Along the way we passed Amit and Sha's abandoned bikes once again - it took them an hour or so more, so perhaps the tandem does still hold some benefit in blustering headwind.

We found the central campsite and spent the afternoon shopping, and washing clothes and ourselves and went out for a big evening meal.

Unfortunately the campsite parella libre (all you can eat carnivores BBQ) we'd been recommended was fully booked (who ever heard of booking the campsite restaurant?) But we eventually found another in one of the town side roads. It was a little more plastic canteen buffet style than the swish faux log cabin of our the campsite, but it did the job!

 map (Tuesday)  

 map (Wednesday) 

Sunday: hiking las torres

If you've only got one day in the Torres del Paine national park, there's really only one thing to be done - the hike out to view the Torres. This one-day out and back is often combined with other sections to make 5 to 10 day expeditions around many of the glacier fields that make up the park.

The Torres themselves are three huge granite columns that surround the smaller Torres glacier, and it's associated azure glacial pool. We got there around 12 after best part of four hours hiking, the final 40 mins up quite steep grades and across the rubble fields of numerous avalanches. Unfortunately the peaks of the Torres (literally, towers) themselves were shrouded in cloud, but nevertheless an awesome sight, like a cathedral of rock with the vertical strata lines the organ pipes. The way back down we were rewarded with sun and clear skies and some amazing views.

We benefited again from the general strike and road blocks - since Wednesday guests have been gradually  leaving the park as they complete their itineraries and manage to find a way out, but no new visitors are able to come in. Normally this hike would be boarding on crowded at this time of year, but instead we saw maybe a dozen other walkers over 7 hours. It would be so tempting to stay longer and make use of this rare opportunity to do a longer circuit, only we lack more serious hiking gear and also there's a chance the park will have to start closing down if petrol and food start runing low. And we have plenty more to do on our itinerary!