The Americas 2013

Woke up at 06h30 exhausted! After nearly a week of long days, hard riding and tough roads I am beginning to feel the fatigue. I left Esquel at 07h30 as I had to tackle a border crossing and 125km of twisty dirt roads through the mountains back to Villa Saint Lucia to get back to Enrico so that we could repair the tyre.

The days ride from Esquel to Villa Saint Lucia and back to Bariloche.740km in total.

The fat girl in her natural habitat!!!

The vistas along the ride continues to be beautiful and this statement is probably beginning to sound boring and monotonous, but not so if you are the one witnessing it. Got to Enrico at 10h30, we sorted the tyre and left St Lucia at about 12 to head up to Bariloche, 450km away where we are going to spend 2 or 3 nights recuperating.

Amazing vistas that just don’t stop opening up…and boats..again!!

On the dirt road back to the Chilean border, it was the KTM’s turn to experience a problem (it seemed to good to be true after the roughness of the roads that we have been travelling that nothing had gone wrong). It turned out to be a minor problem that was easily resolved but not before we had spent 2 hours in the blazing sun and had gone way overboard in trying to understand and fix the problem which was technical in nature so I wont bore you with the details. For the KTM riders out there…magnet/kickstand/safety start!

Me. The dirt roads in Chile/Argentina…adventure riders paradise..!!

After that, we crossed the border and started the long albeit tar ride up to Bariloche. Enrico wanted to go to Cholila (where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid spent there last days) which required a100km dirt road and I opted to get to Bariloche and some much needed sleep.

For those tackling this part of the world…this is a common road sign. The wind NEVER stops coming at you!!! Not sure what the little dog in the sign means????

We are going to spend the next 2 or 3 nights here as the town is beautiful, the surroundings are too, and the hotel is a comfortable haven. We are now only 1500km away from Santiago and the end of Leg 1 of the Americas trip.

I got a comment from Afrika Tikkun, (the charity I am supporting) on my blog yesterday which had an incredible video to help me out with my bike dilemma. So beautifully made I thought I had to share it with you…THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!!!!