Tag: Cuyo

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A Rite of Passage: Malargüe – Buta Ranquil

Friday 3 November

Elapsed Time Moving Time Distance Average Speed Max Speed Elevation Gain
04:30:20
hours
03:57:28
hours
65.10
km
16.45
km/h
54.36
km/h
756.00
meters

 

Friday’s ride is relatively short at 65 km, but it includes a climb up to about 2000 meters before descending to Bardas Blancas. Indeed the climb started soon enough, but it wasn’t too hard. There were some steep sections interleaved with easier climbs and even some downhill. The weather was sunny with little wind and the scenery was very beautiful.

The only downside is that I forgot to take the big bottle of apple juice out of the fridge in my apartment. I later learned that I also left my shampoo in the shower there. And the next day I lost my camera’s lens cap in my room. All not super important and/or easy to replace, but maybe I should pay more attention.

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A Shortcut to What? Mendoza – Malargüe

Sunday 29 October

On Sunday morning I had a lazy start. I had made a pretty big mess of my room over two busy rest days. I had bought some new stuff that needed to find a place and I wanted to reorganise some other things. Thus packing my bags took longer than usual, as I’m normally pretty efficient about putting everything in its fixed place. I’ve had enough practice after all.

Then I noticed that the rear light on the bike wasn’t working and I tried to fix it. I thought my fix had failed, but later I saw the light was actually working. Tape and tie wraps for the win! All in all it was 10:45 when I left.

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Take it Easy: San Juan – Mendoza

A few days before reaching San Juan the bite valve of my Camelbak broke when a dog was a little too interested in my bike and gear. It generally still works fine, but occasionally it leaks and I may lose a lot of water. Thankfully that hasn’t happened on the road so far, but it did at the end of the day. In San Juan I went looking for a replacement. I tried two outdoor stores and a bike shop and they all had the same option: buy a whole new bladder of a local brand. This wasn’t what I wanted, so I just tried to glue it shut and hope that will stick – literally.

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Cuarenta Is Sixty Six: La Rioja – San Juan

That sounds like an extremely bad Spanish lesson, cuarenta means forty after all. But it’s not a language lesson, this is about culture. More on that later. First we go back to the events following my arrival in La Rioja.

Tuesday 17 October

The first few hours of Tuesday afternoon I spent in my air-conditioned room, updating the blog and taking care of some other online business. I left at 16:00, since I hadn’t eaten since the ice cream before noon. As soon as I walked out I was hit by the oppressive heat, so I quickly walked to a rather fancy bar, where I had an excellent burger and a large beer.

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Here Comes the Sun: S.M. de Tucumán – La Rioja

Friday 13 October

Elapsed Time Moving Time Distance Average Speed Max Speed Elevation Gain
05:39:56
hours
04:03:12
hours
77.39
km
19.09
km/h
34.56
km/h
89.00
meters

Friday started at 10 after a very meager breakfast at the hostel, which is normal here. A cup of tea, a glass of carbonated water and a few small pieces of bread is usually all you get.

It took about 20 km to get out of town with much stop and go at traffic lights. The Ruta Provincial was initially quite busy, later less so. The ride is easy so far. It was still cloudy in the morning, but the sun came out a bit in the afternoon. The predictions say that the coming days will be very hot.

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