Junin de Los Andes to San Martin de Los Andes (Sat. 1/30)

 

Stats:

- 26 miles
- 500 feet of climbing
- roadkill: 1 huge bird

Sometimes, suffering cannot be measured in elevation gains or distance or wind. Today's challenge was traffic. Our route was pretty direct. Leave Junin de Los Andes on the highway and arrive into San Martin de Los Andes on the same highway. 

Highway --- one might think of the 12 lanes on I-405 through Southern California. Or, one might think of the two lane Highway 1 along the Pacific Coast.  For today, you need to take a bit of both --- take the speeds of a massive highway, make it a two lane road, shave off about three feet in width from each lane, build no paved shoulders, groom the ripio shoulders into loose and canted surfaces,  give it some twists and turns, and instruct the drivers to use only the gas pedal. That was today's road. 

After a while of jumping on and off the ripio shoulders to avoid being on the pavement while opposing traffic passes each other, Arn declared, "If you think paddling class 4 water is more dangerous than this, then you're crazy". He's right.  This kind of cycling is extremely stressful. You are constantly fearful of being run off the road or worse. You realize how much your health, well-being, and life are dependent on the good judgment of others. 

Eventually, we developed a "system". Seriously, did you expect anything less from us!?!?  It went like this....I rode in front. Arn rode in back. The front rider calls out all head on approaching traffic. The front rider has to be on the look out for oncoming traffic and cars passing.  In other words, two lanes of head on traffic (cars passing cars have zero respect for the cyclists on the other side of the road).  With two cars head on, the front rider calls, "get off" (more on what this means in a second)  The back rider calls all traffic attaining from behind us. The back rider is responsible for assessing when both sets of traffic will reach us. The back rider calls "get off".  This means slide off into the ripio as there are going to be cars in both lanes of traffic at the same time and we don't want to be on the road with them. Either rider can call, "clear". This means it is clear to hop the bike off the ripio and back up onto the pavement.  

To help you appreciate this "system", it sounds like this (A=Arn & D=Deborah):
  
D: I have 2 up in the distance
A: I have nothing back
D: I have 2 about to pass
A: I'm still clear....I have something back in the distance.
D: I have nothing
A: I have three back. 
D: I'm still clear
A: Stay on. They can pass. 
D: I have something in the far distance. 
A: I have 2 back. 
D: I have 3 up. Two cars and a bus. 
A: I have a truck and a car.....get off!!!!
A: Clear. 
D: I have a line up. 
A: I have nothing. 
D: It's a line up. They are passing. 
A: I'm still clear
D: We've got 2 head on...get off!!!!
A: Clear.

And so, it went. Like this for many miles. At the half way point, we pulled off and enjoyed brownies filled with dulce de leche. They are a packaged snack like a 'ho ho' or 'twinky', only they are really pretty good. Or maybe they just tasted this way because my brain felt tired since mile 5. It was a mind game getting to mile 13. I felt like I was decomposing and Arn chirped up, "You know, my butt doesn't feel as bad as I thought it would. Maybe your idea on the Advil helped".  (Today, it is important to remember that I packed the first-aid kit). 

Just outside of San Martin de Los Andes, the traffic increased even more. We started to have more constant traffic and we were forced to ride longer stretches on the ripio shoulders. Then, there came the call that I failed to hear. I called, "cars up".  Arn called, "cars back, get off!". And then he called something that had yet to be called, "I can't get off!!!". Yep, I missed that one. I wish I had heard it. When he said "get off", I looked at the shoulder. Like two great kayak guides have taught us --- before you go running away from something, make sure you know what you are running into. I looked. I knew. The pavement ended. There was a gulley or ditch along side the road. It was only about 18" wide.  The ripio beyond the gulley canted downhill away from the pavement. So, I slowed down a bit, dropped into the gulley, popped out the far side, and I tried to hang on as the bike started sliding downhill. Wham!! You guessed it. I crashed. I rolled over in time to see Arn just clear me. My first thought was -- I'm so glad I didn't take us both out. My second thought was -- I'm so glad he didn't run me over. Well, this just about stopped traffic. The car that was passing us pulled off. The woman was out of her car and to us before I had the bike back up and off the ground. She kept insisting that I drink water, so I did. Luckliy, the bike seems fine. Oddly enough, I think the panniers gave me a slight second worth of break on the fall. I tore holes in my favorite tatoo arm warmers. There is a much bigger matching 'hole' in the skin of my forearm. My Pearl Izumi shorts survived undamaged (good thing I switched from ASSOSS -- they could never hold up to that kind of test).  So, after clearing the dust and checking the damage, we continued the last few miles into San Martin de Los Andes. 

Taking a tip from my mom who took pain meds before physical therapy sessions after each of her numerous orthopedic surgeries (she is the bionic woman), I popped two advil and got in the shower.  Up until this point in my cycling experiences, all of my falls -- and there have been some spectacular crashes -- have been on dirt and at relatively low speeds.  So, I was surprised to learn that road rash can occur through your shorts while your shorts remain undamaged. Clearly, this is good because I need those shorts. Much to my dismay, I should have taken the two Vicodin I'm carrying instead of the Advil before cleaning things up. 

To save weight, I didn't bring my tube of Neosporant with painkiller.  No, I saved 2oz and brought sample packets WilITHOUT pain killer!  I also brought only one super large Telfa pad and a reduced stash of my super good medical tape for creating bandages. So, now I wonder --- can I grind up a tablet of Cipro with a tablet of Vicodin, mix it into Vasoline, apply to a feminine hygene minipad, apply that to an open wound, and tape it up with sports tape?  What are the right ratios for this??  I bet the answer lies out on the Interent. Search: "how to make your own antiobiotic cream"!

Oh well.  After my laprascopic hysterectomy, Arn told me that if the surgical scars bothered me, then I should quit mountain biking immediately as I have accrued much worse scars from it.  I have a few more "tatoos" by which to remember some o life's adventures. Arn found a wonderful hosteria for us in San Martin de Los Andes. Our room is comfortable and the setting is lovely with rose bushes everywhere and fresh roses in our room.  Tomorrow is a day of rest.