Monday, January 30, 2012
Day 10 -- San Martin de Ls Andes
Day 10 -- San Martin de Los Andes
It rained all night in Villa Angostura. The disco across the street played until 7am. It was raining when we packed up the van. It rained during our morning transfer. When the van stopped to let us off for the 15km of ash gravel road riding to start the day, none of us moved. We all decided that would would start on the pavement. Riding gravel roads is one thing. Riding in the rain is another. Put them together and none of us were really that interested. So we started on the pavement. And there was much rejoicing.
It was mostly drizzle with a little sun poking through as we rode to lunch. Then the rain and wind picked up. Nearly all of us ate inside the van or tucked behind a tree. As we started again the headwind became quite strong. The road cut at the top of one long uphill had gusts directly in our faces that I guess were 40-50mph. I actually had to use my granny gear to go down the hill on the other side. We had a couple people in the group that were nearly blown off their bikes and took a seat at the side of the road for a while to collect themselves. I think it was as hard as I have worked for 15km on the road on a bike. The nice end to the riding for the day though was an 18km decent into the valley of San Martin de Los Andes. The route description called it grin-enducing. I smiled the whole way down.
- Unclephool, Dave, and Deniece
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Days 8 & 9 -- Villa Traful and the Ruta de Las Siete Lagos
These two days of riding are the favorite of our guide on the Argentine side of Patagonia. Nearly 100km of riding along and above the shores of the seven lake chain--the Ruta de Siete Lagos. This area has been and is still being covered in ash. We could see the cloud in Bariloche, but drove through it and started out our ride on the north side of the plume.
The first day was a hard 35km on ashen gravel roads through spectacular river and lake views. Lunch was along a lovely little stream that looked a bit like the Middle Fork of the Gila if you dumped ash into the water. We finished the ride at our cabanas in Villa Trufal.
Lovely suite of cabins all hand made over the past ten years with lumber recovered from the dead and down on the property. Dave and Deniece had a cute little bungalow with stairs nearly as steep as a ships ladder. I shared a family cabin with two of the other single blokes in our group. Each cottage had its own design and charm. Much better than I can ever remember seeing in the north woods lakeside cabin rentals.
Villa Traful is small, only 540 residents. Usually they are full with tourists this time of year, but, again, the Puyehue effects are being felt. So we had the place pretty much to ourselves. The cattle wander down the street back to the barn to be milked. One family gathered at the rodeo grounds to celebrate something. Kids riding around on their horses wearing gaucho hats. Very very peaceful.
The fishing here is reported to be amazing. Exploring the lakes would be a great way to spend a few days. I could certainly come back to Villa Trufal. Day 9 has us leaving Trufal and riding along the Ruta de Siete Lagos towards Villa Angostura. Again riding ash-pumice-gravel roads to meet up with more major thoroughfares as we get to the bigger towns. I took today off from riding. Dave and Deniece are doing quite well.
The weather up until today has been sunny and warm (80s), windy on occasion. Today is breezy, a bit rainy, and quite a bit cooler. The rain keeps the dust down a bit, the cool is a nice change. Villa Angastura is yet another cute little town in the mountains. This one unfortunately appears to have been impacted more greatly than Bariloche. Perhaps 40% of the eight block downtown has either been closed or is renovation that appears to have stopped. If Puyehue does not stop soon, I think it could be hard for this little hamlet to survive. - UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
The first day was a hard 35km on ashen gravel roads through spectacular river and lake views. Lunch was along a lovely little stream that looked a bit like the Middle Fork of the Gila if you dumped ash into the water. We finished the ride at our cabanas in Villa Trufal.
Lovely suite of cabins all hand made over the past ten years with lumber recovered from the dead and down on the property. Dave and Deniece had a cute little bungalow with stairs nearly as steep as a ships ladder. I shared a family cabin with two of the other single blokes in our group. Each cottage had its own design and charm. Much better than I can ever remember seeing in the north woods lakeside cabin rentals.
Villa Traful is small, only 540 residents. Usually they are full with tourists this time of year, but, again, the Puyehue effects are being felt. So we had the place pretty much to ourselves. The cattle wander down the street back to the barn to be milked. One family gathered at the rodeo grounds to celebrate something. Kids riding around on their horses wearing gaucho hats. Very very peaceful.
The fishing here is reported to be amazing. Exploring the lakes would be a great way to spend a few days. I could certainly come back to Villa Trufal. Day 9 has us leaving Trufal and riding along the Ruta de Siete Lagos towards Villa Angostura. Again riding ash-pumice-gravel roads to meet up with more major thoroughfares as we get to the bigger towns. I took today off from riding. Dave and Deniece are doing quite well.
The weather up until today has been sunny and warm (80s), windy on occasion. Today is breezy, a bit rainy, and quite a bit cooler. The rain keeps the dust down a bit, the cool is a nice change. Villa Angastura is yet another cute little town in the mountains. This one unfortunately appears to have been impacted more greatly than Bariloche. Perhaps 40% of the eight block downtown has either been closed or is renovation that appears to have stopped. If Puyehue does not stop soon, I think it could be hard for this little hamlet to survive. - UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Puyehue Ash
I have mentioned it before several times, but the effects and images from the ongoing Puyehue eruption are amazing. There are several websites that make daily predictions of the direction of the ash cloud, but like weather forecasting, it is not always reliable. No one really knows when it is going to end. The eruption did not come out of a central crater, but rather a 12km long seam below the summit. Apparently there is not much experience here in the Andes with this type of eruption so consequently they are not sure how much longer they are stuck in this mess. It is just everywhere.
The ash on the roads. It is piled up along the sides and pushed off the surface by graders in the same way we clear snow. It mixes with the gravel and makes huge clouds every time a car, truck, or bus goes over it. It is impossible to see through the cloud, and even harder to breathe. I have been blowing ashen soot out of my system for several days. It gets into all the bike gears and gums them up quite well. At the end of the ride, you are covered in this fine abrasive dust from head to toe.
We have seen:
- fields and happy little forests with leaves dusted as if by Bob Ross
- cows standing in their pastures with ash piled on their back
- campgrounds that were likely green, now just dusty ash
- wispy ash clouds coming off mountain tops like spindrift off Everest
- mountain passes that look like the Rockies in color, but this 'snow' will not melt any time soon
- lakes covered in ash and pumice that leave no ripple when you throw a rock in
- houses with more than a foot of ash still piled up on the roof.
- forests near the volcano that are stripped bare and dead from the hot ash that initially fell
- allowing a breeze into your cabana ends up covering everything with a fine gray powder that does not always wipe off well.
- a fine dust that is getting int all my electronic stuff, the camera lens, the iPad FW port
Just think of every snowfall scene you can picture, now replace the snow with ash. Pretty amazing to see the effects up close. We all hope that it ends soon.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
The ash on the roads. It is piled up along the sides and pushed off the surface by graders in the same way we clear snow. It mixes with the gravel and makes huge clouds every time a car, truck, or bus goes over it. It is impossible to see through the cloud, and even harder to breathe. I have been blowing ashen soot out of my system for several days. It gets into all the bike gears and gums them up quite well. At the end of the ride, you are covered in this fine abrasive dust from head to toe.
We have seen:
- fields and happy little forests with leaves dusted as if by Bob Ross
- cows standing in their pastures with ash piled on their back
- campgrounds that were likely green, now just dusty ash
- wispy ash clouds coming off mountain tops like spindrift off Everest
- mountain passes that look like the Rockies in color, but this 'snow' will not melt any time soon
- lakes covered in ash and pumice that leave no ripple when you throw a rock in
- houses with more than a foot of ash still piled up on the roof.
- forests near the volcano that are stripped bare and dead from the hot ash that initially fell
- allowing a breeze into your cabana ends up covering everything with a fine gray powder that does not always wipe off well.
- a fine dust that is getting int all my electronic stuff, the camera lens, the iPad FW port
Just think of every snowfall scene you can picture, now replace the snow with ash. Pretty amazing to see the effects up close. We all hope that it ends soon.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Day 7 -- Bariloche Argentina
Thursday the 26th found us getting up and not having to pack. It is certainly nice to have a couple nights in the same place to air things out a bit. It also gave us time last night to try the classic Argentine beef at Tony's. A place that served American sized portions of filet and flank that were as good as I have eaten in many years. I would almost say better than any I have ever had from Texas.
Today's ride was a road ride by the Llao Llao resort on Lago Nahuel Haupi along what the locals call Cicuito Chico. 42km of wonderful scenery of the lakes and peaks. The volcano was throwing its ash to the north of us which obscured the long views but what we could see was excellent.
Bariloche is an interesting center of outdoor activity in Argentinian Patagonia and would normally be full with skiers this time of year. Usually. This Swiss German enclave of 102,000 should be teeming with tourists. Unfortunately about one day in every three or four it is square in the path of the ash cloud. Puyehue has been a real drag on the economy. Shops in the downtown were closed. Nearly all of the hotels had occupancy. Unusual for this time of year.
This evening I had dinner with a high school friend. About a week before coming down here, I saw a Facebook post from Becky Loraas saying she was heading to Buenos Aires in a week. I wrote back to her saying I would wave to her across the Andes. As it turns out, we were both going to be in Bariloche for the same two days. I took a cab out to her hotel this evening and had dinner with her, her husband, and several of their traveling companions at a nice German restaurant. We had not seen each other in 15 years so it was really good to catch up. Amazing who you can meet just about anywhere. It really can feel like a small world some times.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Today's ride was a road ride by the Llao Llao resort on Lago Nahuel Haupi along what the locals call Cicuito Chico. 42km of wonderful scenery of the lakes and peaks. The volcano was throwing its ash to the north of us which obscured the long views but what we could see was excellent.
Bariloche is an interesting center of outdoor activity in Argentinian Patagonia and would normally be full with skiers this time of year. Usually. This Swiss German enclave of 102,000 should be teeming with tourists. Unfortunately about one day in every three or four it is square in the path of the ash cloud. Puyehue has been a real drag on the economy. Shops in the downtown were closed. Nearly all of the hotels had occupancy. Unusual for this time of year.
This evening I had dinner with a high school friend. About a week before coming down here, I saw a Facebook post from Becky Loraas saying she was heading to Buenos Aires in a week. I wrote back to her saying I would wave to her across the Andes. As it turns out, we were both going to be in Bariloche for the same two days. I took a cab out to her hotel this evening and had dinner with her, her husband, and several of their traveling companions at a nice German restaurant. We had not seen each other in 15 years so it was really good to catch up. Amazing who you can meet just about anywhere. It really can feel like a small world some times.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Friday, January 27, 2012
Day 4, 5, & 6 -- Chilean Fjordland and into Argentina
I had written a much better post for these days but a hiccup in the interwebs wiped it out. I hope to sort it out and repost later. So here is a brief replacement until that time.
We started our first day of riding (Day 4 Mon Jan 23) by taking a transfer in our van along the coast from Puerto Varas to Arenas where we took the ferry across the first fjord of Chilean Patagonia. Great scenery as we passes mussel and salmon farms. The weather was about what you might think from the fjords. 40 degrees and raining. We were all braced for the cold and wet as we started. Fortunately before too long, the clouds parted, the sun shone, and the rain stopped. We were treated to lovely views that reminded me of a combination of New Zealand, Switzerland, Yellowstone, and the Tetons all rolled into one.
The riding today was along a loose gravel road that is used by the fishermen to tend their farms. Several years ago a virus nearly wiped out the salmon crop and the population has been slow to be restarted. So it seems like the car, truck, bus, and moto drivers use this road as their personal world rally training ground. It was a bit nerve wracking to negotiate the traffic.
The day did finish with a lovely ride down across the Rio Blanco and into the pastoral cabanas near Puelo where we parked for the night. Ours was an interesting grass roofed family cabin tucked into the trees. Very quiet and peaceful. Our hosts made a huge meal with chicken and lamb all fresh from the field accompanied by local vino tinto.
Day 5 began on the same gravel road along the edge of the fjord through the village of Puelo. I have found it very difficult to capture the scale of the views with a camera. Steep mountains rising directly out of narrow bays topping out in volcanic peaks. The nice thing about taking a guided trip is that every 12-15km our van stops ahead of us and you can decide how much of the days ride you care for. Today i took advantage of this and was driven a few of the sections. Dave and Deniece did us proud by riding the entire 82km today.
We finished in one of their volcano national parks and got the photo of the three of us with Volcan Osorno.
Day 6 sent us into Argentian and directly into the path of destruction left by Pueyhue when it erupted this past June. The pass we went throughg that forms the border looks like Loveland Pass in the winter but there is no snow. There is almost nothing growing up there at all. Just ash. Everywhere. Astonishing the damage. Take a look at this link to see some of the photos from the eruption.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/06/volcano_erupts_in_chile.html
We had a long downhill ride to the Argentinian border station before getting picked up by the van for our trip to Bariloche. The land scape on the eastern side of the Andes is completely different than the fjords of the west. It looks like the high plains ringed with mountains of central Turkey, of the Spanish sets of the Fist Full of Dollars films, or even of some of New Mexico.this is the place where I would expect to see the gaucho herding his cattle.
On to Bariloche, the adventure hub of Argentinian Patagonia that has been devastated by the effects of the volcano.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
We started our first day of riding (Day 4 Mon Jan 23) by taking a transfer in our van along the coast from Puerto Varas to Arenas where we took the ferry across the first fjord of Chilean Patagonia. Great scenery as we passes mussel and salmon farms. The weather was about what you might think from the fjords. 40 degrees and raining. We were all braced for the cold and wet as we started. Fortunately before too long, the clouds parted, the sun shone, and the rain stopped. We were treated to lovely views that reminded me of a combination of New Zealand, Switzerland, Yellowstone, and the Tetons all rolled into one.
The riding today was along a loose gravel road that is used by the fishermen to tend their farms. Several years ago a virus nearly wiped out the salmon crop and the population has been slow to be restarted. So it seems like the car, truck, bus, and moto drivers use this road as their personal world rally training ground. It was a bit nerve wracking to negotiate the traffic.
The day did finish with a lovely ride down across the Rio Blanco and into the pastoral cabanas near Puelo where we parked for the night. Ours was an interesting grass roofed family cabin tucked into the trees. Very quiet and peaceful. Our hosts made a huge meal with chicken and lamb all fresh from the field accompanied by local vino tinto.
Day 5 began on the same gravel road along the edge of the fjord through the village of Puelo. I have found it very difficult to capture the scale of the views with a camera. Steep mountains rising directly out of narrow bays topping out in volcanic peaks. The nice thing about taking a guided trip is that every 12-15km our van stops ahead of us and you can decide how much of the days ride you care for. Today i took advantage of this and was driven a few of the sections. Dave and Deniece did us proud by riding the entire 82km today.
We finished in one of their volcano national parks and got the photo of the three of us with Volcan Osorno.
Day 6 sent us into Argentian and directly into the path of destruction left by Pueyhue when it erupted this past June. The pass we went throughg that forms the border looks like Loveland Pass in the winter but there is no snow. There is almost nothing growing up there at all. Just ash. Everywhere. Astonishing the damage. Take a look at this link to see some of the photos from the eruption.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/06/volcano_erupts_in_chile.html
We had a long downhill ride to the Argentinian border station before getting picked up by the van for our trip to Bariloche. The land scape on the eastern side of the Andes is completely different than the fjords of the west. It looks like the high plains ringed with mountains of central Turkey, of the Spanish sets of the Fist Full of Dollars films, or even of some of New Mexico.this is the place where I would expect to see the gaucho herding his cattle.
On to Bariloche, the adventure hub of Argentinian Patagonia that has been devastated by the effects of the volcano.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
No Photos
I tried out several ways to get my trips notes it before we left. I tested all the possible way to break the process and ought I had it figured out. I guess either I am not smart enough to make it work now, or something is different now that we are on the road.
In any case, there are not photos embedded in these tales. You will have to go over to the Picasa site to take a look at them. Hopefully this link will take you there.
https://picasaweb.google.com/unclephool/BikingChileArgentina02#5701379906962735410
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
In any case, there are not photos embedded in these tales. You will have to go over to the Picasa site to take a look at them. Hopefully this link will take you there.
https://picasaweb.google.com/unclephool/BikingChileArgentina02#5701379906962735410
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Day 3 -- Puerto Varas
We had booked a hotel near the airport in Santiago so that our morning flight did not make us get up too early. After a little geocaching at SCL we got on our hour long flight to Puerto Montt along with a gaggle of women adventure travelers from the NYC area.
We expected to see our Saddle Skedaddle host Ernesto, but apparently he had the wrong flight information and we sat at their nice new airport for 3 hours waiting first for him, then for the next flight of our fellow travelers. He was kind enough to buy us lunch, but I think all three of us were a bit annoyed. We ended up staying not in Puerto Montt but rather in Puerto Varas which sits on the edge of Lago Llanquhue. Across the lake are two volcanoes that appear from the waters edge kind of like Mount Fuji. Very impressive. Puerto Varas was settled by the Germans. While not known for their hoge colonization efforts, they are still known for the bier culture they left behind. We drank so cerveza with some visitors from Deusseldorf who judged the bier to be more than adequate. I heartily agree.
Once our group got all together, we got fitted for our bikes, made the necessary changes, and loaded them on the trailer. There are 13 on the trip. Saddle Skeddadle is from the UK so we figured that there would be a large fraction from the mother land. This time however, the colonists out number the Brits. 3 Yanks, 4 Canucks, a Scott, an Irishman, and 4 of the Queen's own. Ages from late 20s to active retired cyclists. Two of the group had even met before on a different Saddle Skedaddle trip.
We had a big group meal with more seafood--conger eel for me, and a bit of calamari to go with it. The different between the seafood at home and what is pulled fresh from the sea is truly amazing. I could get totally hooked on the freshness of the seafood here. Perhaps I already am.
Tomorrow the first day of riding.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
We expected to see our Saddle Skedaddle host Ernesto, but apparently he had the wrong flight information and we sat at their nice new airport for 3 hours waiting first for him, then for the next flight of our fellow travelers. He was kind enough to buy us lunch, but I think all three of us were a bit annoyed. We ended up staying not in Puerto Montt but rather in Puerto Varas which sits on the edge of Lago Llanquhue. Across the lake are two volcanoes that appear from the waters edge kind of like Mount Fuji. Very impressive. Puerto Varas was settled by the Germans. While not known for their hoge colonization efforts, they are still known for the bier culture they left behind. We drank so cerveza with some visitors from Deusseldorf who judged the bier to be more than adequate. I heartily agree.
Once our group got all together, we got fitted for our bikes, made the necessary changes, and loaded them on the trailer. There are 13 on the trip. Saddle Skeddadle is from the UK so we figured that there would be a large fraction from the mother land. This time however, the colonists out number the Brits. 3 Yanks, 4 Canucks, a Scott, an Irishman, and 4 of the Queen's own. Ages from late 20s to active retired cyclists. Two of the group had even met before on a different Saddle Skedaddle trip.
We had a big group meal with more seafood--conger eel for me, and a bit of calamari to go with it. The different between the seafood at home and what is pulled fresh from the sea is truly amazing. I could get totally hooked on the freshness of the seafood here. Perhaps I already am.
Tomorrow the first day of riding.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Location:Puerto Varas Chile
Lovely Santiago
Friday the 20th all three of us were very ready to get out of town. Leave the cold and snow. Stop bicycling in the chilly wind on sandy roads. Run away from all the fun at work. Go explore another corner of the world. Just to go.
None of us had ever done such a long flight basically in the same time zone. Sure Chile is 4 time zones east of New Mexico, but it was going to be a ten hour flight that got us there. Unfortunately it was one of the rattiest most uncomfortable worn out 767 that I had been on in a long time. Perhaps the only worse plane I have seen recently is an old Russian Tupelov. The crew was not in much better shape. Oh well, the luxuries of exotic foreign travel I guess.
I was not sure what to expect with Santiago, but I was surprised--and really enjoyed it. It looks a bit like Phoenix in that it is a very flat city but ringed by mountains. Within the city there are small hillocks (cerros they say here) that pop up in a few places and give a great view of the city. It is an easy city to get around. We started out at the Pajarito metro station which seemed appropriate for us.
One of the interesting things we found was that there we very few English speaking tourists. We are here in high season and apparently the Chilean schools are out of session now. It also appears that there are not a ton of non-Spanish speakers that visit since most of the signage is only in Spanish. For some reason I am always happy to find spots on the globe that are not completely infected (or affected) by the needs and wants of the American visitor.
We were hoping for some good seafood being so close to the coast. We even watched the No Reservations episode on Chile while we flew down. There was no problems finding fantastic fruits of the sea. We have all taken a liking to Congrito (conger eel) which could easily be rebranded as fish and you would never know.
We also found a local summer special drink that starts with barley pellets with peaches and juice poured in the top. Surprisingly tasty even though the texture is not what you would expect coming from a cup.
All in all, I really liked the city. I would come back here again for sure. It was easy to get around, felt very safe, had not been invaded by the northern tourists, great food, very very friendly people.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
None of us had ever done such a long flight basically in the same time zone. Sure Chile is 4 time zones east of New Mexico, but it was going to be a ten hour flight that got us there. Unfortunately it was one of the rattiest most uncomfortable worn out 767 that I had been on in a long time. Perhaps the only worse plane I have seen recently is an old Russian Tupelov. The crew was not in much better shape. Oh well, the luxuries of exotic foreign travel I guess.
I was not sure what to expect with Santiago, but I was surprised--and really enjoyed it. It looks a bit like Phoenix in that it is a very flat city but ringed by mountains. Within the city there are small hillocks (cerros they say here) that pop up in a few places and give a great view of the city. It is an easy city to get around. We started out at the Pajarito metro station which seemed appropriate for us.
One of the interesting things we found was that there we very few English speaking tourists. We are here in high season and apparently the Chilean schools are out of session now. It also appears that there are not a ton of non-Spanish speakers that visit since most of the signage is only in Spanish. For some reason I am always happy to find spots on the globe that are not completely infected (or affected) by the needs and wants of the American visitor.
We were hoping for some good seafood being so close to the coast. We even watched the No Reservations episode on Chile while we flew down. There was no problems finding fantastic fruits of the sea. We have all taken a liking to Congrito (conger eel) which could easily be rebranded as fish and you would never know.
We also found a local summer special drink that starts with barley pellets with peaches and juice poured in the top. Surprisingly tasty even though the texture is not what you would expect coming from a cup.
All in all, I really liked the city. I would come back here again for sure. It was easy to get around, felt very safe, had not been invaded by the northern tourists, great food, very very friendly people.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Location:Santiago Chile
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Getting Ready for Chile & Argentina
It is one week until Dave and Deniece Korzekwa and I head out on our biking trip in South America. We have ridden together in Czech Republic, Spain, and Tasmania, but this will be the first trip for any of the three of us in SA. We fly to Santiago then to Puerto Montt and ride east and north across the Andes into Argentina through the Lake District. We understand there will be volcanoes and lakes and views and beer and wine and good food. I am pretty sure that none of us really want to wait.
Our previous trips have all been self-guided where we get maps and the company sets up hotels/inns and moves our luggage each day. This time around we have a guide, which means we also have a sag wagon if any of us wimp out and would rather be carried along by chariot rather than our own two feet. Deniece found the tour operator on line--Saddle Skedaddle. You can find a few photos and a short description at
https://www.skedaddle.co.uk/cycling/holiday/Cycling_Holidays/Chile__Argentina_Lake_District_-_Cycling_Holiday/4/view.rails
I must admit that I have nowhere near enough riding in to be ready for this trip. We have gone to Albuquerque a couple times to ride the Bosque Trail and today we are doing the ride-eat-ride training to the Tesuque Village Market (did manage to get tire changing practice today--twice). But I cannot claim a pile of adequate seat time. Good thing that there are no huge long days on the itinerary. I am very much looking forward to being able to casually stroll and see the scenery. If only we could make this week go faster.
Thinking of bikes rides in the past.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Our previous trips have all been self-guided where we get maps and the company sets up hotels/inns and moves our luggage each day. This time around we have a guide, which means we also have a sag wagon if any of us wimp out and would rather be carried along by chariot rather than our own two feet. Deniece found the tour operator on line--Saddle Skedaddle. You can find a few photos and a short description at
https://www.skedaddle.co.uk/cycling/holiday/Cycling_Holidays/Chile__Argentina_Lake_District_-_Cycling_Holiday/4/view.rails
I must admit that I have nowhere near enough riding in to be ready for this trip. We have gone to Albuquerque a couple times to ride the Bosque Trail and today we are doing the ride-eat-ride training to the Tesuque Village Market (did manage to get tire changing practice today--twice). But I cannot claim a pile of adequate seat time. Good thing that there are no huge long days on the itinerary. I am very much looking forward to being able to casually stroll and see the scenery. If only we could make this week go faster.
Thinking of bikes rides in the past.
- UnclePhool, Dave, and Deniece
Location:Los Alamos NM USA
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