El Calafate
The 9 days of cycling from Coyhaique started with 4 long tough days followed by 5 shorter, fun days, with a couple of cool camps at Estancias, a quick afternoon ride down dirt tracks to the shore of the lake nearby for some stone-skimming and an after-dinner race to the top of the nearby hill to watch the sunset, coffee one afternoon with Andy (a random Brit we picked up who drove trucks for Bike Dreams a few years back and is travelling around on his motorbike at the mo), a pairs time trial down a 47km stretch of lovely paved road with a tail wind – averaging over 40km/hr, spectacular rivers, glaciers, and lakes full of icebergs!
When we reached El Calafate, Roffie and Michelle had collectively managed to book us an all-day glacier hike for the rest day which was awesome! It started with a bunch of rain, but cleared up while we were on the ice and so could enjoy lunch, some fun crevasses, and a whisky on the (glacial ice) rocks on the boat on the way back.
Weatherwise it’s got pretty cold, and the winds are often strong – mostly westerly so unpaved roads can be pretty treacherous when it’s a strong crosswind, or slow progress when it’s a headwind. When accompanied by rain it’s only fun for about 60km 😉
50 degrees South! And colder and crappier than 50 degrees North in the UK…
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