Reflections on the Carretera (Fri 3/5)

 

Totals:
- 1,111 miles (1,778 km)...a lot on ripio
- 64,100 feet (19,400 meters) of climbing
- 51,100 calories burned
- 139 hours of cycling (includes breaks and lunch stops - not actual ride time)
- 1 crash, 1 warped brake rotor, 1 flat, 1 loose rear hub (all mine)
- 1 lost grease port cover for a pedal (Arn's)   
  
Our trip is shifting in focus from cycling to hiking. Given this, I decided to focus today's blog on a few reflections on our cycling and Carretera Austral experience. If I don't do this, then you are just going to hear more of the same from our rest day in Los Antiguos (bad food, slow internet, good room).

So, given that my thumbs on the iTouch are doing the work, then I get to decide the format. In part, you are going to get my brain dump thoughts. Then, I think FAQs are the way to finish this. We'll see how this goes. Given my technology, big edits are not fun. 

This trip was more my idea than Arn's. We both left South America last year excited about this idea -- a cycle tour in Chile and Argentina. After we returned home, Arn did some reading and was bummed with what he learned...traffic, bad roads, miserable weather. Given my over optimism and love for cycling, we continued with the idea despite Arn's concerns.  I had these dreams about a wild place along the Carretera Austral. 

If you followed the story, all of Arn's fears were proven more than correct during the first two weeks. While we had a few awesome days, we had a lot of bad followed by more bad. In El Bolson, I suggested we pull the plug not wanting to see either of us get hurt and realizing that this kind of suffering might not be worth it. It is one thing for something to be "your idea and the other person goes along", IF everything is going well.  If it doesn't go well and you are concerned about your safety, then being the "holder of the idea" feels lonely and a bit overwhelming in responsibility.  I think I will never forget Arn's reply to my suggestion to bail and buy backpacks, he said, "one day at the time".  I was surprised and had to dig up some backbone to continue. 

When we left El Bolson, things started to swing our way. It included weather, roads, traffic, and meeting fellow cyclists.  The magic started to happen.  The magic only heightened when we reached the Carretera Austral.

I would love to find the right words to convey how I feel about the experience and how I will remember it. I know, this is going to sound cliche. The Carretera Austral, the towns and the people that live there are a wild mix and like nothing I have experienced before. Examples seem the best means to convey the thoughts. We attended a fiesta to celebrate the 27th anniversary of a town. People at the party included the town's pioneers and founders. Despite the youthful age of the town, the way of life is closer to that of my grandparents in a farming community in Tennessee than to mine or my parents. 

Along the Carretera Austral, the infrastructure for supplies and communications reflect the remote and only recently reachable nature of the place. Some people have a telephone and Direct TV, many do not. Most don't have Internet.  Some towns have an Internet cafe, some don't.  Wood burning stoves for heat are commonplace. Gas tanks for heating water are turned on and off based on need. Trucks deliver gas to those that can afford to purchase a large tank. Others buy gas by the kilo. We regularly saw fuel and gas tanks driving the Carretera.  Groceries are delivered via the same route. They use the same ripio that we have bounced and slid around on with bikes. Banks and ATMs are miles and miles and miles apart. While every town seems to have a welder, hardware store and a panaderia (bread shop), very few have a pharmacy and only one had place to buy cars, trucks, and electronics.  And, only one town had a high school.  Children leave to attend school, living with extended family or friends. 

Every town also has a main square usually with beautiful flowers, trees, benches, and playgrounds.  Families seem to congregate with young children.  The elderly seem to hang out and chat. We have watched children ride horses through town and play computer games on the internet.  There were no malls or movie theaters. In a couple of places, "screens" were created and movies were shown outdoors in the central square or at a special event. Many people tended vegatable gardens and greenhouses. Greenhouses were built with tree branches and covered in clear plastic sheets. Chickens, horse, cows, and sheep could be found in many yards.  Dogs and cats roaming the neighborhoods occured everywhere.  Most houses were simple, small, and not well insulted. Even in the summer, the nights and early mornings were cold much of the time. 

At 6'2", Arn stood a full head above any crowd. With his height and blue eyes and my highlighted blond hair, we were easy to recognize as extranjeros (foreigners).  We greeted everyone in Spanish and the locals offered a warm response. We had the occasional, "Hello!" from a school child eager to try out their English.  Other kids were a bit more shy and wide-eyed.  Many of the people we met were born elsewhere in Chile and relocated to a town along the Carretera Austral. Some came for adventure in the '50s and the next door neighbor helped to deliver her children and others came for the "calma and tranquilo" in the '90s and to be closer to their children. My impression is that few Americans are found along the Carretera; we are known more by our movies than our actual presence.  We were frequently mistaken for a pair of Germans.

So, it was a place of contrasts.  It was a place like none other. It was a place that will stay with me.  

Q: If you knew then, what you know now --- would you still make the trip?
A: Absolutely!  There are a few things in the itinerary that we would change. We would have taken a bus between Bariloche and El Bolson. The traffic on that road was not worth it.  

Q: Given you answer above, will you do the ride again?
A:  No, for two reasons.  First, weather is what makes the Carretera either magical or miserable. We lucked into the best streak of weather during the entire 2010 season on the Carretera. Our only rainy stretch was through the rainforest. It seems only fair that it rained those days. So, I think we had perfect weather. Second, part of the "wild" of the place is the "newness" of it. That can never be had again. 

Q: So, did Arn have a good time given that it wasn't his idea?  
A: He did. He said, "If I had known we would have the trip we had, I would definitely sign up to do this". 

Q: Is there anything you would change in your packing strategy?
A: Well, I am only going to answer for myself as Arn probably has a different answer. My first aid kit would have been different --- full tube of antibiotic ointment, more stretchy tape, a second roll of sports tape, and more Second Skin. I would have brought the long sleeve wool shirt that I debated and left at home.  I would have brought two pair of convertible pants and left the cotton shorts at home.  I would have brought my best winter cycling gloves. I would have bought better shoe covers --- ones that stayed over my toes and didn't leave snake bite holes in the back of my leg. I still have scabs.     

Arn weighed in on this question  He would have not brought a cook kit, stove, pot or fuel. Every night we camped, we could have purchased warm food. If we had to wild camp, in Arn's words, "In the history of mankind no one has ever died from eating cold food". Perhaps an emergency kit with a super small stove with a fuel canister would have been considered. He too would have brought two pair of convertible pants and left his shorts at home. He would have brought warm waterproof gloves for cycling and left the light weight full fingered gloves at home.  He would have left the GPS at home and would have brought the card reader for the SD card (virtually impossible to find in the Internet cafes here).

Q:  Any brilliant moves in your packing?
A:  iPod touches worked brilliantly. With slow wifi the specialized apps use the bandwidth more effectively than a laptop.  They were the perfect size and weight for cycle touring.  Despite the snake bites (we both had them), the shoe covers were great.  I bought those goofy looking Buffs for both of us. We had one in polypropylene and one in wool for each of us. We used them as cold weather hats, neck gators, balaclavas, sun hats, head bands and sweat rags (okay, at least I did). I packed big yellow refelective triangles that we attached to the rear of each bike.  They were way better than lights and they are a must. Our Cabela's rainjackets were awesome. In a perfect world, they would have pit zips, but oh well.  The Second Skin saved my bacon with road rash and I didn't know it could be used for that until I went through my kit in desperation.  I will never leave home for an active trip without it. My new wool hoodie from Icebreaker was an indulgent and last minute purchase. They listed everything in black for 30% off and I jumped at the chance.  It has only been washed once since January 17th and it is still smelling sweet. Really, wool doesn't stink. I have only worn it off the bike with the exception of 'around town riding' in Los Antiguos. I have slept in it more days than I cycled in it. It is perfect and I would highly recommend the indulgence.  Lastly, it was a good thing I switched my brand brand loyalty from ASSOS to Pearl Izumi.  The PI shorts have held up to washing, drying, and a huge ripio slide. They get a two thumbs up from this Chica. 

Q: Any changes in the bikes?
A: Yes, in hindsight, we should have bought new handlebar bags that were waterproof. I would have also liked a better structured trunk bag that was either waterproof or had a waterproof cover.  Arn still has hub fantasties about a Rohloff hub, but then we wouldn't be looking to sell the bike in it's whole form. We would not have used carbon fiber handlebars as we later learned you are not supposed to attach handlebar bags to them. Yeah, this weighed on my mind while ripping downhill on ripio at 15+ mph.  The bars were spares we had laying around at home, but we should have bought something else. 

Q: You left with so few clothes, how did you keep things clean?
A: Well, "clean" can be a very relative term. For me, my only "clean" priority was cycling shorts. I defined "clean" as washed in the sink with laundry detergent, soap or shampoo. Beyond that, I wasn't too picky. After riding, I washed my shorts and hung everythig else up to air out. So my socks, sports bra, tank top, wool t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, arm warmers, and gloves were worn day after day. My off the bike clothes received the same repeated appearance. Really, if the people that you see are different everyday, then it doesn't really matter. We found places to have our clothes washed on a "regular" basis. During our longer stretches without laundry service, I washed more stuff by hand. 

Q: What kind of cyclist do you need to be to ride the Carretera Austral?
A: If you are riding for a day without gear and you are riding a mountain bike, I would say anyone can enjoy a day ride.  Touring with a full load is a different story. I think you have to love cycling.  You need to be very determined.  And, if you don't like the idea of riding your bike in a gravel pit, well, it is probably not for you.  And if pavement is your experience and preference, then this is definitely not for you.  Arn adds, "You need the ability to deal with mechanical things on a bike. Drivers will stop to pick you up, but it is hundreds of miles between bike shops.  We found only one town on the Carretera with a bike shop that could deal with problems and it was in Coyhaique".

Q: How does this trip compare to the trip you did down the west coast in the US?
A: This trip was much harder. With full camping gear, we carried significantly more weight. The dirt road surfaces were much more tiring than pavement. This trip had more climbing per mile and the grades were steeper than the coast. All of this was in an environment with very few services. Many stretches of road had nothing --- no town, no store, no lodging, no woman selling anything from her house, no organized camping. These stretches could be more than 50 miles. From a car, this is one thing. From a bike, this is entirely different.

Q: What were the biggest surprises?
A: While we had looked at photos online, nothing prepared us for the diversity in the landscape. The changes in scenery were extremely dramatic --- rolling meadows, small and tight valleys, massive and sweeping valleys, narrow gorges, red and black rock, rainforest and jungle, desert, mountains, lakes and rivers.

Arn was surprised by the lack of mechanical issues with bikes.

We were both surprised by how dreadful the food and the. accomodations were along the Carretera. Really, a Motel 6 would have looked like the Ritz Carelton.   Okay, we have never stayed in a Ritz Carelton, so we are only guessing about this! 

We were surprised by how many riders we met in the first half of the trip and how few we met in the second half.  We enjoyed meeting so many different people.  We had about two weeks in which we ate dinner most nights with other riders.

Q: Did it live up to the vision in you mind's eye?
A: No...it exceeded it.