12/4-Epic 62kms For My 62nd Birthday!

Pretty nice of the camping place to have this for me, but who is Juan Carlos?

My 62nd Birthday started with Alex singing Happy Birthday to me, and telling me to come to breakfast now. In the kitchen/comidore, the was a small heart candle burning, and my very own spoon carved by Markus. It’s made from Firebush wood. They also gave me a piece of wood that when burned, is supposed to keep away bad spirits. It also smells really good. I haven’t taken a photo yet, but I will soon (right now my spoon is wrapped carefully in a bandana, and tucked safely away in one of my dry bags).

We hit the road at what is seeming to be our usual time of 8:45ish. There was no wind, and blue sky. The sun wasn’t shining quite yet, as it hadn’t made it over the mountains. 

The fjord in the morning. 

We cruised along the water (this is the only place where the Carratera goes along salt water). We came to some gravel. Turned out it was only 3kms, but it was ataste of what was to come. 

Where the pavement ends…for 3kms. 

We came to the turn for the Hanging Glacier. The sign confirmed what we had seen online. 

That’s actually the glacier in the distance (this was before we got to the turn).

We had a bit more pavement before we were back on the gravel. This time we would be on it until the top of today’s big climb. 

It was so beautiful out today!

Back to gravel (that’s Alex).

We were coming down a hill when I spotted two cyclists coming up. We stopped, and they stopped too. They were Thomas and Iget (that’s not the right spelling, I’m sure) from France. The had started in Calafet (sp?) in Argentina. 

I told Thomas it was my birthday and I was going to ride 62 kms. He was so sweet. He pulled out a partial package of chocolate chip cookies, and gave them tome for my birthday!

How nice was that?

We said our “Safe Travels” and continued on. Apparently, they are in the process of paving this section of road. Lucky for us, there were sections of pavement periodically but only on the right side of the road. 

The other direction had to go on gravel. 

We stopped for lunch at a spot by the river. It was a most excellent birthday lunch spot!

Sunshine and good company! What more could I ask for on my birthday?

Good sized waterfall on the other side of the river. 

And the ever present mountains. 

Somebody left this little ladybug baby toy. I thought I might take it, but I couldn’t think of a spot to put it on Billy. 

After lunch, the big big climb of the day started. It was going to be 14kms, and 900m of elevation gain. The average grade was 8%. And, it was all gravel. 

Goin’ UPHILL!

Nice little waterfall by the side of the road. At one point, we met a road grader. It made a pile of gravel in the middle of the road. We were mostly able to stay tithe right side of it. We finally got to a point where the grader was done with the section we were riding. 

We reached the beginning of the switchbacks. At the first one, there was a short trail to a waterfall. Alex and I did the walk to it. 

It was a so so view, but not far to walk. 

At this point, we had been climbing for about 5kms. Alex was struggling. Near the waterfall trail, there was a semi-flat spot just off the road. We could fit our two tents there, but it wasn’t ideal. Every time a vehicle (especially the trucks) went by, the dust would nearly choke us to death. Plus, the water situation wasn’t great. In a pinch, we could get water from a trickle of a stream running along the side of the road. We thought about our options, and finally decided to go on. With the long days, we had plenty of time to make the climb, however long it took us. Alex was still pretty knackered, but she did a great job climbing the steep switchbacks. The gravel wasn’t nice and smooth either. Plus, there was a lot of traffic. Everything from motorcycles to big trucks. The dust was unpleasant. The views, however, were stunning!

A couple of times, Markus went back and pushed Alex’s bike for her (he also took some of the weight. At one point he showed of some extreme talent, and pushed both his and Alex’s bikes. 

Such talent!

Finally, we returned to pavement! There was still a bit of climbing to the top, but at least it was smoother. 

We were so happy when we reached the summit! Now for the fun part…the descent! It was all pavement. I reached speeds of over 60kph! There were nearly as many switchbacks going down as there had been up. So much fun!

We had one more short climb, then down to where we are camped tonight. We are wild camping near the Rio Grande in a spot that was on iOverlander. We did 62.1kms and 1046 feet of elevation gain. It was a long day, but a perfect day for a birthday ride!

Now it’s time to go to sleep. I’m suitably tired, but really enjoyed my birthday!