97 miles, 3806 feet of climb, 2290 ft max
This was a long day - 97 miles. There was quite a bit of climbing near the
beginning after the turn south toward Los Sauces and again near the end. Despite
getting an early start I arrived not too long before dark. This ride really should
be done in two days rather than one.
I was by myself much of the day. There was very little traffic and a long way
between towns.
Chile
has a population of 16 million in an area close to twice as big as California which
has a population of 34 million. When you consider that a third of Chile's people
live in the capital, you can understand why there is a lot of open space in the rest
of the country.
Not long after the turn east at Traiquén, I saw some motorcycle police coming the
other way. One pulled over to my side of the road to talk to me. I got that he was
trying to warn me of a hazard up ahead but I couldn't understand what it was.
I caught the word "carrera" and he kept touching my bike and saying "bicicleta".
A couple minutes after he left, some more motorcycle cops appeared, followed by
three cyclists riding hell bent for leather on the wrong (my) side of the road,
followed by a car with bicycles on the roof. Oh, now I get it: a bicycle race!
"Carrera" means "race" as well as "career". I knew that, but it's funny how when
you hear a word out of context sometimes the meaning will not pop into your head.
At the next intersection I was told to stop. I had just got the bike parked and my
camera out when the main peloton went by. It must be a fairly major race judging
by the long line of support vehicles, police cars, vans with dish antennas on the
roof, etc. (I surfed the Internet when I got home and found out it was
the 10th annual
"Vuelta Ciclista por un Chile Lider" multi-day stage race.)
About 60 miles into today's ride I crossed over Ruta 5. I was tired and hungry and
decided I would stop at the first place that had anything that looked like food.
That turned out to be a convenience store at a turnoff from the freeway. I probably
could have got something better and cheaper in the town of Victoria just east of
the freeway, but I didn't feel like taking the time to look. I bought two barros
Jarpa (ham and cheese sandwiches), some cookies, and a 1.5-liter Coke and went
outside to sit at a plastic table and eat my lunch. While I sat comptemplating the
scene, the store clerk smiled at me as she left at the end of her shift. The only
other person outside was some guy absorbed in his laptop computer who barely
acknowledged my presence. I sat and ate and rested for a half hour or so before
heading on.
After a few miles, a pickup truck passed me and then stopped in the middle of the
lane a hundred yards in front of me. As I cautiously passed, a woman leaned out
the driver's window with a big smile on her face and pointed rearward. I figured
something must have fallen off the bike, but I looked backward as I rode and didn't
see anything. After a couple minutes, the pickup started up again and went around
me down the road.
It was at about this time that I figured out that she was probably trying to offer me a ride in the back of her truck. And, who knows? Perhaps more than that. If I had kept my wits about me I might have ended up with a bigger adventure than I had planned!
I'm pretty sure it was the woman from the store.
In Curacautín I'm staying in the Plaza Hotel and had dinner in their dining room.
I tried the "congrio" since it's a typical dish mentioned in the guidebooks. I'm
normally not much of a fish eater but this was very good - it didn't taste fishy at
all. Of course it helped that after 97 miles today I was famished.