We knew that the pace we had settled into after more than 6 months of riding would not make sense to keep when Noël joined us; not only do we make different decisions with another person in the group, but Noël would be just getting acclimated to life on the bike.
“This is more of a Mark touring pace,” Mark declared as we settled into the cabaña we rented for the day at 3 pm. We have been using the extra time off the bike to enjoy some wine, coffee, some good cooking and some bad cooking.
Mark and I joked that we would cook a terrible meal for Noël her first night with us; since we have had more than one misadventure on the food front on this trip, we thought we would get her tuned in quickly. Unfortunately, the joke turned into reality. Our first night at camp we made veggie gnocchi which was less than perfect after a few stove malfunctions and too many vegetables to cook in our pot. It turned into a pot of “glop” that we were all less than happy to be shoveling down. It did at least set a nice low bar, so the food has been on the up and up since then.
Despite our best efforts to take it easy, the terrain has called for some challenging days. While there are not many hills here in the desert of Argentina (relative to Peru) there are lots of long stretches with a whole lot of nothing. We decided the best way to break up the longest of these stretches (150 km without any services) was to ride it all in a day, making it Noël’s longest day ever on the bike. Never mind that she was doing it with a loaded touring bike, we made it to our destination: an expensive gas station where we bought soda, beer, and food for breakfast and dinner. That night we camped out in a field, mostly out of view of the road and the next day enjoyed an easy 50 km of tailwind to get to Malargüe, where we took it easy to recover from the day prior.
We were shortly back into the fire, however, as we headed into a long gravel road stretch in between small Argentine towns. It was a terribly maintained road, where it wasn’t washboarded it was covered in loose river rocks, and it left our hands and butts hurting.
Noël has really gotten her full fill of bike touring antics in week one, because after returning to pavement, the weather took a turn for the colder and wetter. While we have mostly seen hot and dry climates here in Argentina, the fall weather has caught up to us. We entered the Patagonia region yesterday, and while we haven’t yet made it to the dramatic peaks, we are seeing some of the weather this area is known for. The bad weather has been a good opportunity to take a few easy days, however, and we’ve enjoyed hanging out and recovering.
Needless to say, Mark and I are really enjoying having a friend out here. Getting dengue was very challenging for us: we were physically and mentally drained and feeling a little burnt out on the flat empty riding in Argentina. It felt like Noël arrived at a perfect time. Our spirits have been lifted and we are enjoying having a fresh perspective on the trip as well as a good friend’s company. Noël and I had lived together and traveled together before this trip, so it’s no surprise that she is a good fit for our dynamic.
We look forward to more fun days, as the rolling goof troop continues south!
-Nic