Sunrise on the pampa.
We packed up, and said our goodbyes to Carlo and Paula (the kids were still sleeping). Carlo took these photos (Paula sent them to me).
Goodbye Estancia El Milagro!
It was more of the same on Ruta 5. Wide open pampas. What it does allow for is animal spotting. We have not had a day where we have seen so many animals. There were tons of guanacos, of course, but also Rheas.
A bunch of young ones.
We also saw a couple of rabbits, and best of all, a fox!
He was hunkered down, hoping we didn’t see him.
Of course there were sheep too, but we didn’t really care about them (although Mathias liked to squeak his duck and watch the run…works with guanaco too).
We made a stop at La Horqueta for a snack break. They had manzana empanadas. Tasty, but would have been really good if they were warmed up.
The wind was favorable for most of the day, but before lunch it was more of a crosswind from the left. When we stopped for lunch, we sat down in a ditch to be out of the wind.
The road is up above. People would beep at us as they went by.
I guess wind should be expected.
After lunch, I went back to the front. It’s better for me because, since I’m the odd one out, I can’t draft when the wind is coming from the left side (Markus protects Alex, and Mathias protects Carmilla), so if I’m on the front, I can set my own pace.
We came to the end of Ruta 5, and the beginning of Ruta 3. We had been concerned about being able to ride a certain part of Ruta 3 (as it comes into Rio Gallega). It’s the Autovia. We went through a military checkpoint, and no one said anything. The shoulder was wide, and we saw several other cyclists going the other direction. We were good.
Oh, and just 597 kms to Ushuaia!
We finally made it to Rio Gallegos. It’s a pretty big city. We stopped at a coffee shop and bakery to look up a place to stay. The apartment we are in is brand new. I am back to having my own room.
We made a trip to the La Anomina supermercado. Markus and I got a pizza. Now I really want to go to sleep.
We did our longest distance today of 109.7kms. We averaged 14mph. Over the last three days, we did 311 kms. That’s a record for us!
1 comment:
Great sunrise... Rain,ice here. Sue
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