Villa Mañihuales to Puerto Aysén (Sun 2/21)

Stats:
- 37 miles (all pavement!!!)
- 1200 feet
- roadkill: 1 skunk, 3 birds, 1 giant beetle (seriously, the splat remains were the size of a lemon), and 1 rabbit --- we think it was a rabbit as a tribe of no less than a dozen vultures were circling the sky and road, picking apart the remains and leaving pieces scattered for about 25 feet!
- rain? ZERO!

Last night was cold!  Our room had twin beds and we each slept under four wool blankets.  Now, I left the window open while we went to dinner, so I "cooled" it down quickly. However, this morning, our room was the same temp as the hallway. I stuck all of our clothes into the bed to warm them up before getting dressed. 

Breakfast was at 8:30am. It was three bad bread rolls (think something that looked like yesterday's hamburger buns), jam, butter, a few slices of cheese and some "ham-ish" thing that looked so weird that Arn offered me the cheese that had not touched the unknown meat-thing.  Every day he gives me more reasons to add to the infinite list of "why he is a keeper"! 

Our plan was to start off with the American couple. Eventually, we would reach a split in the road and head different directions. However, plans changed. Arn rolled the bikes out of the wood shed and said, "We have a problem with your bike".  While all the rain did a number on our pedals, washing out the grease and leaving a lot of creaks (this problem has been addressed --- we think, but one bleedport on Arn's pedal is gone). the ripio has taken it's toll. My rear hub was loose and there was a lot of play in the wheel.  It wobbled.  We let the Americans know they were on their own plan. Arn checked the wheel, took it off, tried to adjust it in the drop outs, but in the end there was nothing we could do to fix it.  The repair, we think, needs some special tools called "cone wrenches" to tighten the hub. Between us and the next bike shop is only pavement, so we decided to ride.

The day started off crisp and cool. Under completely blue skies, Arn put on his rain jacket for warmth. Slowly, things warmed up and we shed a layer. Once again, our ride followed the river headed to the coast. We enjoyed more stunning views that included a lot of rock walls up high, mountains, bridges over small rivers and creeks. One creek was set down in a tight gorge with a series of waterfalls. 

We stopped for a snack and Arn talked with a man on his horse. Arn said he could only understand a few words. I couldn't even recognize it as Spanish. It was another fantastic ride. Arn said, "This might be my new favorite day". I asked why. "Because the vegatation has changed and it is drier. It is a landscape I like better".  It is true. The jungle look was gone. The grasses were tall and golden. The lupine has started to go to seed.

Arn kept an eye on the wheel. Once rolling, it seemed fine. If I moved from sitting to standing (you know, just to get off the seat for a break), I could feel the wobble. Beyond that, it felt okay. I took it easy on the downhill and laid off the rear brake. I don't want us to end up on the side of the road. However, I feel pretty sure we would either get a ride from someone or the next bus would pick us up.  

We reached the split in the road. The Carretera heads to Coyhaique. It is a large city with two bike stores! However, our plan is to head to Coyhaique on Wednesday.  We took the fork to Puerto Aysén. Our plan is to stay one night in Puerto Aysén --- get our laundry done, see if we can find a bike shop and chill with the internet.  Monday, we will move ten miles down the road to the port (not many services here). On Tuesday, we have reservations for a high-speed catamaran trip down through the fiords to Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael. The scenery is supposed to be fantastic and we thought it was an opportunity not to be missed. So, Wednesday we will backtrack to the junction and head to Coyhaique. 

Once we turned to the west, we pushed into a head wind. We only had about eight miles and it was flat to a slight downhill, so it was not bad riding.  As we rolled through town, everything was closed as it is Sunday. We never saw the two lodging places we were looking for and instead spotted something new looking. We checked it out --- new hotel, super clean, private bath, WiFi. SWEET!!!!  There was a bummer --- no laundry services anywhere in town today.  

So, after we took showers, I washed our clothes by hand. Thank god for modern washing machines and dryers!  It took a long time ---- 4 pair of cycling shorts, 5 pair of socks, 1 sports bra, 7 shirts and 2 pair of underwear. Arn went in search of a bike shop. It turns out there is a shop, but it is closed today. The man has wheel rims hanging in the window which would suggest he can build wheels. If he can do this, then he should have the tools to fix my hub.  So, tomorrow we will return in the morning and try to get things fixed. 

We had a late lunch of fresh vegetables and French fries. The veggies were more expensive than a steak!  They come from a long distance and the price reflects the transportation costs.  We hit the ATM for the first time in a while. As Arn likes to say, "we'll pork it again tomorrow".  The South Americans limit what you can get in a single transaction. When you don't see an ATM for a week at a time and everything is paid for in cash, you need more than the limit. 

We returned to the hotel to enjoy hanging out. We met two other touring cyclists. They are two women --- one from South Africa living in the UK and the other is a Brit. They have traveled from the south and one has been nursing a bad knee. We are having dinner together and will exchange notes as we are heading in opposite directions and can help each other out with what we have discovered. They have already given us hope --- one of the two bike shops in Coyhaique is described as "Mecca and has everything".  So, it may be a place to get things fixed or in the worst case, we can buy a new wheel. My bike wheels are "standard" size for South America and hopefully it will work out. We can't ride more ripio with the wheel and the trip would end in Coyhaique without a fix.

Where's dinner?  Oh come on!  Are you not paying attention to the stories?  You should know this by now. Dinner will be at the same place we ate lunch!  See how easy your choices become when there is only one restaurant or the supermarket for dinner!?!?  Well, I need to turn my laundry or we'll be carrying a bag of wet clothes tomorrow!!!