Climbing 615, down 690
It is hard to imagine the wind from the night before as it is very calm in the morning when we got up. Since we have been in Argentina we are getting up at 6:30am not 5:30am, which makes a big difference as it is light and generally starting to get warmer.
The first 5 kilometres was a continuation of steady uphill without the head wind. Then we had a great stretch of road until about 50 kilometres, with a lot of downhill and the uphill was ok, as you were going at a reasonable speed you got three quarters of the way up before having to do any work.
A long straight road ahead (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)
More amazing views today (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)
I have broken my speed record again and and have now reached 68.5 kph, my goal is to break 70 before the end of the trip. I could possibly have done that today but there was quite a lot of strong side gusts which was unnerving.
Then we had about 20 kilometres of headwind to contend with. After this we went through a gorge for about 15 kilometres, mostly sheltered from the wind but every now and then you would come around a corner straight into it.
After this we had fairly straight roads with rolling hills and a cross wind. I missed a flag near the camp and added 12 kilometres to the day.
A hard slog at times today (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)
View from the saddle today (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)
We are staying at El Molino camp, a campsite with toilets and supposedly a shower. There are trees and grass and it is well sheltered. There is a big empty swimming pool. Like a lot of the places we have stayed – great facilities, sadly in need of a good paint and tidy up. It must not be swimming season yet as all the pools we see are empty.
When I headed for the showers one of the riders Shirley was in it, all soaped up and the water just stopped and did not come on again! Thankfully the water in the basin was still dribbling and she was able with some difficulty to get all the soap off. Wet wipe shower for me!
There is a restaurant just up the road where a number of riders have gathered. New Zealand has bet South Africa in semi-final of the World Cup so I am duty bound as a New Zealander to go and fly the NZ flag.
Rider’s meeting tonight (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)
At camp there were a number of dogs watching the cooking with great interest. Even greater interest when we started eating. As we had t-bone steaks they scored a number of bones. There was no fighting if two dogs went for the same bone, as the pecking order was clearly well established. There was a huge dog, and a few large to medium sized. If a medium sized dog had a bone and a bigger dog walked up, the smaller dog would just back away.
Jason and his ever hopeful friend (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)
Dinner was t-bone steak and rice, carrot, and zucchini salad
Once again no cell reception.
An example of the orange flags that shows us where to go (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)
Kaye's Awesome Adventures 