Rain and cold are my least favourite climatic conditions on a bicycle tour so, going forward, I made the choice to wait that combination out. Although in a rush to get south as I enter the bowels of Patagonian winter why suffer through its worst aspect when that is the very thing I’m trying to avoid by rushing south?
“Why?” Endless stretches of paved road disappearing into infinity. At times hours would go by and it was hard to tell if I had actually progressed. The death of my phone and thereby podcasts and various educational audio literature I like to listen to compounded the boredom to ‘hard to bear’ levels. All the while…
After accidentally timing Paso Sico and San Antonio de Los Cobres perfectly with the busiest days of the year (or possibly ever), due to peak tourist season and flooding roads, it was a relief to finally leave. My route continued via the famous Ruta 40 and after climbing up a pass of nearly 5000 metres it descended for 260km down to world famous vineyards through dry rugged cactus terrain intermittently following a divine river oasis. It was spiced up further by crazy wild donkeys, beautiful shaded plazas, leeches (!) and incredible rock formations.