Arrived in Ushuaia !!!

¡Hola Amigos!!!!

After 4,5 months cycling, 11.000 kilometers of asphalt, rocks, stones, sand and mud we arrived in Ushuaia around 5 in the afternoon. Finally ... Ushuaia .... The end of our trip through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chili. Sometimes the end was so far away, especially when conditions are hard and tough, days were long and with speed sometimes far below 10 kilometers per hour it looked hopeless to reach the camp.

I am happy that we are here, but on the other hand it is also strange... cycling is done, bicycle is already in the box, cycle clothes are in the bag, and we are waiting in Ushuaia to take our flights home, some to Holland, others to Belgium, Australia, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden , Peru or another destination ... Strange, because with these people I have lived for more then 4 months and suddenly it is over and everybody is gone... It will be weird when I am back in Holland, and have to get back to the normal life again, no Spanish, no empanadas, no Inca-Cola, no Pampas but most important, no cycling for a while...

I would like to thank everybody who was on this trip, it has been a great experience and I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it.

Some nice memories:

• Start in Quito ... What the hell am I going to do ???
• 'I don´t want to die!!' in Cusco with Ruud and Martin
• Pisco Sour and Cuba Libres ... and Fernet ...
• Climbing to 4900 meters in Peru ...
• 'Zat als een patat', and 'zo fier als een gieter' Peter B.
• Red Socks of Geert-Jan ... :o)
• Carry a certain girl in a coma back to her tent ... ;o)
• Having fun with Gerard and Gerrit ... great guys !!
• Dancing like a gringo in bars and discos;
• Vomiting on the bike with Rachel ...
• Endless views and roads disappearing in a point in the Pampas in Argentina...
• Cycling in the night to El Calafate with the 'Night-Riders'
• Making snow-balls in my tent at 4300 meter altitude...
• Drinking Inca Cola again, first time when I was in Peru in 1979 ... memories...
• Kids in Peru and Bolivia running to you and welcome you shouting 'Gringos !!!'
• Getting a 15 minute head massage ... only for a piece of bread !! Great deal Anna ...:o)
• Views of snow covered Andes Mountains ...
• Eating bread, hard as a rock and almost breaking the jaws ...
• .......

And now I can add: Arrival in Ushuaia ...

I would like to thank the crew for their help and support during this trip. Filip for the technical advise, Didier for the medical help, Susanna for arranging hotels and other things, Francine and Ellen for the delicious food, Rob for the nice, but sometimes tough roads, Wilbert for morning speeches and road-maps.

In special I would like to thank Edson for all what he has done for us! It was never to much, when we were hungry he has made delicious soup or dinner. Besides this he is a great person to have around and I hope I will see him again, in the future, maybe at another bike-trip...

I hope that everybody has a safe trip back home, and maybe we see each other again, somewhere someday ...

Thanks a lot!!!! It was a great adventure !!!

Michiel

Ferry to Tierra del Fuego and small problem with bike ... :o(

Hola,

Today an easy day, we only cycled to the Ferry terminal and from there we took the Ferry to Povenir, a small city on Tierra del Fuego, (Vuurland). In the morning I noticed that my front brake wasn´t working anymore....

when I arrived at Punta Arenas two days ago, it was still ok. A quick inspected learned that the tubing was damaged. Rubbing against another tube was the problem. Mmmm, serious problem, we will not have many downhills any more, but still ... a frontbrake is quiite important, so I had to fix it. Fortunately Gerrit, the other Koga rider, had a repair kit for the Magura brakes, so we changed the tubing. It was done within 30 minutes, and it is an easy operation.

The Ferry ride was nice, there was almost no wind, the sea,the straight of Magallan,was calm the sun was shining, and we enjoyd the views. Some dolphins were spotted near the bow of the ship, but I haven´t seen them.

We are now in a nice hotel, and we are leaving tomorrow for a 150 kilometer unpaved ride, from west to east, so hopefully we will have the wind in our back.

Adios ... !!!!

Punta Arenas,

¡Hola!

Today we have arrived in Punta Arenas. In one of my previous blogs I mentioned that things were to be easier when we would leave Torres del Paine, and head south and going a bit to the east, but .... this was maybe a bit to optimistic... we were going south, but the tailwind we were hoping for didn´t happen. In fact we had lots of wind and also some rain. The wind is from the south / southwest, and is very cold. If the wind is comming from the northwest it is already much better, and this would be the ideal wind direction for us, but unfortunately it isn´t like that ... it makes it much tougher, and harder, but everybody was very happy when they reached the camp site. Yesterday it was a great day. The wind was really strong, sometimes in the back, but also lots of times side wind or head wind... It was a real battle against the wind. Cyclists were going from left to right, and from right to the left side of the road, Pretty dangerous also, because we couldn´t hear the cars and trucks, but most of them were taking care when they were passing.

Yesterday we went for a drink in a local Karaoke bar. Nice music, some dancing and local people that were watching the gringos ans gringas dancing ... must be a nice and entertaining view for them. We are leaving tomorrow in the afternoon, because the ferry is leaving in the afternoon to Tierra del Fuego, so toninght maybe go for another drink, we will see ...

4 more days cycling, almost there ..... :o)

Adios !!!!!

National Parc Torres del Paines, and 6 more cycling days to go !!

Hola !!

We are now in Puerto Natales, Chili. Yesterday we had a restday in National Parc Torres del Paines. But before we gor there we had to beat the wind, because we were going to the west. Not only the wind was the problem, there was also rain, snow, hail and lots and lots of head wind....

After we left El Calafate, we had to cycle for three days to reach another restday, and we knew that these days could be tough and difficult to cycle. First we went to Tapi Aike, a long stretch to the east, so we had some tail winds, and then we turned right, onto the dirt roads, and started to have some head winds... we were lucky, because the wind wasn´t that strong during this part of the trip. After we reached the camp site, we couldn´t stay there because the owner wasn´t there. Finally after some waiting we found a spot, next to a gas station where we could pitch our tents. Next morning we left for Cerro Castillo, a small village. When we left, there was already a bit of rain, that started to be a huge snow storm. Wind was blowing the snow horizontally over the road, and it was bitter cold, not a good day for cycling. the stretch was only 57 kilometers, but it was like hell ... When I finally reached theChillian boarder, there was a cafe next to it where we stayed for a while to heat up, and drunk some hot chocolade with rum, very nice !! The camping was a garden at somebodys home, nice location and also very windy again, the wind was very strong that night, but the tent resisted the wind.Great tent!! From there we went to Torres del Paine, a National Parc in Chili with high mountains, glaciers and nice scenery. We also had our restday here. We went to LakeGrey, there was a great glacier. This bay is full with icebergs that are floating in thewater and washes ashore at the opposite of the glacier. Again very windy, and when we went to the view point it was almost impossible tokeep standing. After we got back with the fire trucks,we went to the condor nests, but the birds were not home ... nice climb, great views from the top. The next stop is Punta Arenas, 3 days cycling from here. We should have had the worst, because now we are going south and east, and when the wind doesn´t change, we will have tail wind, or wind from the side.

Almost there, 6 more cycling days to go. I am now in a hostel in Puerto Natales, and everything is still going great. Everybody is getting tired and moody, and I think that we all will be veryu happy when we are in Ushuaia ....

Adios!!

Finally after 9 days in El Calafate ... Pfffff ... windy and very hard cycling here in Patagonia...

Hola Amigos!

Yesterday we arrived after 9 days Pampas in El Calafate. The last 9 days were full with basically nothing, but very tough. The famous?? Patagonian winds were strong, and,as expected, coming from the west, the direction we were going, mainly south-west. Roads were mainly unpaved. It was hard to bicycle on these roads, because the strong wind the bicycle was sliding to the left the whole time, only leaning against the wind made it possible to stay in the same lane. When I was cycling on the right lane, if you can speak of lanes, and there was a big gust of wind, suddenly I was on the left lane, or even worse in the gutter next to the road. The only thing that you can do then pick up the bicycle, walk to the right side, and start allover again. This made cycling very tough, and it took us pretty long before we reached the next bushcamp. In between the bushcamps there is nothing, there are only 2 small villages in the approximately 900 kilometers that we have been cycling for the last 9 days. One had 300 inhabitants and the other one 600 inhabitants, so small villages. We also stayed at Estantias, these are some kind of farms, or ranches, that have a kind of campsites. This was nice, because there was some shelter from the wind, and we could also eat inside, which was nice when the wind is strong and cold. So overall the last week was tough, cold, windy, boring, but also a big challenge, physically and mentally. The last day we started at 4 in the morning, try to beat the wind, and arrive in El Calafate a bit early, so we could goto the Perito Moreno glacier. This is a big glacier, about 250 square kilometers, and 30 kilometers long. We arrived in El Calafate at 8 in the morning, it was not windy at all, and the ride went smooth. We took the bus at 10 to the glacier, only 1 and a half hour away from the camping. It was a magnificent sight, a huge wall of ice, 74 meters high. Now we are having a rest-day. Yesterday we had a goodbye party for Henk and Aniki, Christian and Madeleine, the nice Frencies, and Paul, our old smuggler from Australia. It was a nice party, that went on in a local pub till very early in the morning ... so a rest-day is needed again for some of us ... Next stages will be shorter, only 3 days to the next restday, then again 3 days cycling, and then 5 days to Ushuaia where we hope to finish on December the 12^th .... Almost there .... But not yet ....

Adios

Back in Argentinie - next 9 days are in the middle of no where ...

Hola,

quick short update: We are back in Argentinie, in Perito Moreno. Yesterday we had a tough day, 1750 meters climbing, all was paved, this was not the problem, but the weather, that was the problem. It was cold, raining, later at 1100 meter snowing and strong cold winds... At the top many cyclists didn´t want to continue and took the truck to the next campsite. After lunch things got better, Henk and I we cycled together after lunch. The scenery was stunning, great views of canyons and lakes. Later the sun started to shine and the end of the day was sunny, but also windy.

Next morning we left Chili and entred Argentinie again. Tough climb to start with, roads were unpaved, so it was 108 kilometers bouncing up and down on the stones, sand and washboard. But again, nice views and scenery.

Next 7 days I am in nomansland, so no updates ... later in El Calefate.

Adios

Adios Argentina, Hola Chili !! Great nature, but also clouds and some rain

Hola Amigos and Amigas !!

Today we are in Coyhaique, a city with about 40.000 inhabitants in Chili. The last 7 days cycling were very nice, but also tough because of the offroad part. We arrived at the west side of the Andes mountains, and over here it is much greener. There is more rain here then on the other side, so there were unlucky days that wre had to get the rain gear from the bags. This is the first time during this trip that it was raining almost the whole day. The small villages that we passed in the last 6 days were really small, and there was not much to do.

Everything is still going well,one more month to go, and then I hope to reach Ushuaia, still 2000 kilometers to go .... counting down...

Sorry for the short update...

Tomorrowe we will gotothe middle of now-where again, so next update will be from El Calefate ... in about 9 days from now, maybe sooner when we have an internet cafe in the Pampas ...

Adios !!

Michiel

San Carlos de Bariloche !! Nice lakes, nice mountains, good admosphere !!

¡Hola Amigos!

Yesterday we arrived after 6 days cycling our next stop: San Carlos de Bariloche. Before we got here we had to beat the fierce Patagonian winds, the bad roads and the hills. We left Chos Malal andheadedsouth,The winds in Patagoniaare normallyfrom the west, so as long as we are going south we will have the wind from the side. The last 25 kilometers we turned to the west, so we had to fightagainst the wind. The day later we were already warned by the crew that the conditions two years ago were terrible. Strong winds that made cycling impossible, and people had tro crawl in the ditches and hold on to their bikes, otherwise they were blown away by the strong winds. It was indeed a strong wind, cycling wasalmost impossible. The big trucks andbusses on the road made it also dangerous to cycle.We were fighting our way uphill and against the wind with about 4 or 5 kilometer per hour, one strong gust from the wind or car, and you had to put your feet to the ground,preventing that you would crash against the asphalt. So conditions were better then 2 years ago,cycling was still possible,it was fun, but extremelyhard ...we now know what they mean with 'Patagoniais sometimes windy'.

After3 hard and long days we arrived in the lake area, beautifull roads, mountains covered with snow and christal clear blue lakes. Great views over thewater with the mountains on the back, just likeon a postcard!! The last 3 days were pretty easy, short stages, 90, 60 and 86 kilometers, so we had time to enjoy the views and scenery. Today we have a restday inSan Carlos de Bariloche, a nice city famous for the chocolade.It is pretty nice over here, weather is good, scenery is greatso we all enjoy our restday. Next week will be hard again,lots of unpaved roads and climbing. In three days we will enter Chili, our 5th and last country to visit.

About 8100 kilometers done, about 2900 still to go ... it is going fast !!

Let´s also not forget that today it is the 11th of the 11th ... so CARNAVAL!!!!

Adios and ALAAAAFFFFFF !!!!!