1/16-Back to Five!

We left Calafate during a rare moment of no wind. It was so quiet! I figured out a way to avoid some of the hill going out of town, not all of it, but some. We had to go back to Ruta 40, so the first about 36 kilometers were the same…except no headwind!

Made it back to 40!

Now we go this way on 40.

While we were taking a snack break, Matias and Camilla rolled up. We were hoping we would see them. Now, for at least today, we were 5 again! 

When they got to us, Camilla had a puncture. She is running tubeless, but it was being a little stubborn. Matias put some duct tape on it, but eventually her tire was going flat again. 

This time I had Matias put a Dynaplug in it. Then it seemed to hold air. 

We had one very long climb today that was 16kms. It wasn’t overly steep, and we had a tailwind, but it was still work. We stopped partway, and had some lunch by the side of the road. 

About halfway up. Way off in the distance, you can see Lago  Argentina. That’s where we had come from. 

We took a break near the top. 

Alex, Markus, Matias, and Camilla

See the road? 

Once we reached the top, the wind really started whipping. It was a crosswind, but from the rear. It was so strong we were having to practically lean at a 45 degree angle. Matias was ahead. He said, when he stopped, and looked back, both Camilla and I were leaning the exact same way! It was wild!

The road was mostly downhill for the next 15kms. When it curved, we had a massive tailwind. We only had to pedal when we had to go uphill a bit. At one point, with a 0% grade, we were going 37kms! We would see how long we could go without pedaling. It was so fun! With my Da Brim, I could coast by Camilla and Matias. 

We rode 97kms, our second longest distance (but the most elevation). We got to a place that is an AGVP (Administration General de Vialidad Provincial). I guess it’s kind of an outpost on Ruta 40…like a rest stop of sorts. There is a guy who lives/works here. There is a bañó, and water. Most importantly, there is a protected area where we have set up our tents. There is also a Spanish guy here who is going the other direction (he’ll have horrible headwinds).

Our home for the night. 

We’ve all cooked our dinners. I finally ate the last of the pasta I had been carrying forever. Tomorrow we should have tailwinds until near the end of the day when we will turn into the wind on our way to Rio Gallegos.