Stage 52 Atocha - Tupiza

Today we were facing a tough day, 109 kilometers unpaved road, and about 1800 meters climbing. The road is probably the same as yesterday from Uyuni, so sand, washboards and stones during climbing and decending. When Wilbert gave us the maps with the profile this morning it was clear: climbing for the first 25-30 kilometers till almost 4200 meters, then a bit down, up again till 4200 and above, and thenm up and down till we reached the lunchtruck at 55 kilometers, just before a downhill. We left Atocha by following an almost frozen river, at least parts were frozen, after about 3 kilometers it was a climb to get out of the river, that is used by cars and busses also, and we followed the road uphill. The weather was good, cold but sunny and the wind was in the back, just like the last few days, so that was nice. According to the crew this was going to be one of the most difficult stages of the trip, so I was prepared for a lot of suffering and entering the hotel of Tupiza at the end of the day, hopefully before 6 pm.

In the beginning it was already tough, my legs were completely empty from yesterday, and I felt pretty tired, but ... the way to Argentina was going to be tough, so just accept it, and keep cycling till we get there. The scenery was nice, so that made the trip nice, and after about 4 hours cycling I reached the lunch truck. My chain was still ok, after fixing it yesterday, and Filip told me that I was lucky, because normally it is difficult to get a 9 speed Shimano chain fixed. It wasn´t broken yet till lunch, and hopefully it will be ok till Salta, or at least Argentina where I will change the chain and cassette. We are halfway then, and I have the spare parts with me, so better safe then sorry and change it. After lunch we had a steep downhill, with bad roads, many washboards that really killed my body, kidneys were shaken, not stirred, hands were numb and my legs were cramped because I had to absob the shocks to prevent more body damage

. Anyway it was a great ride with stunning views of the mountains. Around 3 pm I reached the Hotel together with Christian, after taking a small d-tour into a river bedding that didn´t lead to the city. Just keep following the instructions and don´t think is the best you can do. We just had some nice pizza, with a bit of salami, and goto sleep early, prepare for tomorrow, again a tough day, where we will cross the border with Argentina !! Yiehaa !!

Adios !!