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Sunrise over the Atlantic, first day out of Punta Arenas.

The roadside Monument to the Wind along Ruta 9. Had to have a picture in front of this one!

Iain being the tuna-dish chef in the sheep pasture.

A quintessential Patagonia landscape.

January 20-23

We stayed in Punta Arenas for a couple of days. We were fortunate enough to find a very nice hostel with a very nice proprietor, a kitchen to cook in, a patio to work on our bikes in - a generally comfortable place to spend some time. Iain found his rain pants and Dan got a new pair of shoes. Also found Iain a nice new saddle and a mirror for his bike, something he had been searching for. We spent about five hours on the 20th cleaning and tuning the bikes. Discovered an extremely loose headset on Dan's bike and tightened it, and from there went to look at the situation with Iain's bike. Found a little more of a serious problem in Iain's headset and had to do an emergency search for a new headset bolt anchor. Luckily we found one quickly and solved the problem. After a complete tune-up and cleaning, the bikes were in pristine condition again and ready for the road.

The next day we started out at 3:00 a.m. on our standard wind-avoidance time schedule. Had a beautiful ride out of town along the coast and saw a spectacular sunrise over the Atlantic. We took a break when the wind picked up, stretched, took out our beloved sleeping bags and napped for a couple hours by the roadside. Motorists have been really great about waving and giving us the thumbs up along the way, although the frequent "hello" honks take you by surprise at times. After an egg salad sandwich snack, we continued down the road into a manageable headwind. We pulled into an estancia to fill up on water and were met with coffee, homemade bread and jam, and left with full stomachs and full water bottles. After another 15 km., we pulled over and wheeled our bikes into a patch of shrubs in a sheep rancher's field. A nice little campsite, Iain cooked up an extra-special tuna dish; we did some bike tune-ups, and enjoyed the evening watching sheep parade by. At 110 km., it was our longest day on bikes up to this point.

The next morning after a breakfast of oatmeal and honey, we started pedaling at 3:45 a.m.. We went for a good distance and then stopped at a police station to fill up on water and lube up with sunscreen. Peddled a bit more and stopped at a little roadside bus stop "hut" to stretch and eat egg-salad sandwiches. It happened to be perfect timing, as a massive wind and rainstorm rolled in on us quickly. We sheltered in the hut until it passed and then, since the wind continued to roar, pulled out the sleeping bags. Nap time. The wind howled until about 5:00 p.m., and after seven hours of waiting stir-craziness set in and we decided to just pedal into it. We made another 30 km. and called it a day. It was nearly dark when we wheeled into a cow pasture and set up camp. A 90 km day. Another tuna-dish supper, a couple hours of sleep, and the alarm was sounding again.

This was our last morning of pedaling into Puerto Natales, and it began to rain on us shortly after making out from the campsite. With only 60 km. to go, we kept pedaling. For some reason we both felt like we were rolling slow that morning and chalked it up to fatigue. Two of our longest days back to back and then a really cold morning ride. When we arrived, we went directly to a hostel and were welcomed with a great breakfast and a hot shower. Just what we were looking for. We slept long and hard that day and then went out and treated ourselves to a dinner. Went back to the hostel and slept again. The next day we would leave for the Torres del Paine national park for a five day hike. This is described in the next travelogue.

TRAVEL TIPS:

A couple of suggestions for people traveling in and around Punta Arenas/Puerto Natales. In Punta Arenas, the hostel we stayed at was Hostel Monserrat, operated by a woman named. . .Monserrat. We suggest looking for it and making it your place while there. GREAT place to relax and Montserrat is really nice with here guests. Good kitchen, great safe places for bikers to store their gear. Check it out. There are also two good bike shops in Punta Arenas if you are looking for parts.

If you are biking, as you go from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, there is an estancia about 5 km. before the little pueblito of Tehuelche. It is on the right side of the road and has blue roofs on all of its´ buildings. There is an extremely nice woman that is the cook there, and will treat you to a little snack, juice, water, etc. Nice place to stretch out.

In Puerto Natales, the Hostel Patagonia is operated by a woman named Teresa and was recommended to us by Monserrat in Punta Arenas. Get into town, take Yungay up the hill, follow it where it curves and turns into E. Lillo, and go four blocks. Turn right on the calle Patagonia and go two blocks. It´s on your right, a bright yellow building. She'll take good care of you, a safe place to store bikes and gear.