Peulen

October 27, 2022 to October 28, 2022

Thursday 27th October 2022

Sunrise is at about six thirty here at this time of year and we were on the road as the sun popped up over the eastern horizon. It was pretty chilly and we had a light westerly wind to start off with. The route over the past few days had been gently undulating, a series of small ridges separated by shallow valleys. At the sixteen kilometer mark we climbed the first real hill since before Villa General Belgrano, a four percent climb gaining just short of a hundred meters in elevation so it was really only a "climb" when compared to the flat countryside through which we have been riding for much of Argentina.

The climb brought us to a plateau with more gentle undulations. The wind started to shift to the north east and gained in strength. Along with the a great road surface this meant we were able to maintain a good pace up until around the forty kilometer mark where we encountered a sign indicating that the road surface deteriorates. This slowed us down a bit but it also meant any passing traffic also traveled slower.

Good roads, light traffic, blue skies and a wind on our right shoulders. Almost as good as it can get.

Not what one would expect on a national road.

Unfortunately, with about twenty five kilometers to go the wind shifted to the south west and the mecury started to climb towards the thirty four degree mark that was predicted for the day. It now was a bit of a slog into the wind and we stopped often to take a breather and to douse ourselves with water. In reaction to being short of water three days earlier we carried far more than we needed and even though we poured almost as much over ourselves as down our throats we still had water to spare at the end of the day. There wasn't a single tree along the route to provide us with shade so the extra water really came in handy.

There wasn't much to see along the route except this lovely blue lake that appeared at the hundred kilometer mark.

Pullen is a dusty little village off to the side of the RN151 but it has a simple hotel that allows the use of a kitchen. So it is more like a hostel. To fit in with the predicted wind conditions we are spending two nights here.

Friday 27th October 2022

A standard rest day. Laundry, phone calls to family members and a chance to have bacon, eggs and tomatoes for lunch. The breakfast included at the hotel the usual Argentinean offering of bad coffee and little else.

We have decided to change our route slightly and instead if going to Vienticinco de Mayo we will keep on the RN151 to Catriel where will sit out two days of bad weather in an AirBnB.

Today's ride: 119 km (74 miles)
Total: 2,842 km (1,765 miles)

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