Towards Tecka

January 26, 2011

Although only some 10m from the road's edge, from sunset to dawn there was no traffic on the road, so I slept soundly where I lay in the space amongst the thorns. I awoke while the brighter stars still shone brightly and the light of the coming day rose in the East. Again it was a cold start as I got out of the sleeping-bag. A light breeze blew and fragments of broken cloud had moved in overnight. I was anxious to get going as the wind and the weather in general here can turn nasty, so Is moving as the first rays of sun broke behind me casting a long shadow of bike and me up the road.

I reach a crossroads at a place called "El Molle" as the rising sun glows on the sign.

Taking the right towards Tecka, the road climbs a few kilometres to a summit where the vista especially at this early hour is amazing, wild hill country.

The way ahead is the most hilly stretch of Route 25. After a crossroads at a place called "El Molle" the road climbs a range of hills ahead to a summit with a great view ahead of the mountainous country which most be traversed before reaching Tecka, my goal for the day. There are sweeping descents, which end abruptly at the start of the next climb. But the splendor of the surroundings, out-weight any hardship in riding the road, and that breeze alluded to earlier remained just that. I rode this stretch before, on New Years Eve 2006, quite a windy day, it wasn't the strong gusty wind that stops you in your tracks, nonetheless strong enough to make it a hard long day and Is hoping that today wasn't going to be a repeat of that day. There's no shelter to stop and eat lunch should it turn windy, except that is at two different places, where there are red corrugated iron bus-shelters like sheds by lanes into sheep farms. It was the second of these I reached at lunchtime that day. Today I reached this same shelter at ten, so Is making good progress by now.

Perhaps the only shelter if the wind should get up.

"I'm going now. I don't normally come this close to humans."

I stopped to take many photos. It was after photographing something, that I turned suddenly and saw a little Armadillo with it's snout up-turned, curiously looking up at me. I see lots of them flattened on the road and on the rare occasion that I see a live one they're usually very timid and run away fast. But this one remained only a few metres from were I stood long enough for me to get some somewhat passable photos, though it was luck I'd the camera out in the first place.

The day was going well, with many photo-stops of signs, wildflowers and the mountain scenery. There was one big descend into a wide valley which is near 10km across and then there's a brut of a steep climb up out the other side. I struggled up a steep straight, after having turned quite a few bends preceeded by long steep straights, to a bend which I thought was the last only to see on turning it, that there yet remained two long straights ahead to climb. This part of the road has recently been reconstructed and at the top of the climb the road-builders had left a service road and piles of rubble separating it from the road which provided shelter for lunch as now the wind was picking up.

Actually this was what Is photographing when I discovered the Armadillo watching me.

Onward, I had a bit of a cross-headwind but nothing too serious, as I past through a valley with high hills all-around and a green lagoon off to the left, which I remember the last time had whitecaps on it. There was one last, not so tiring climb, out through the corner of this valley. On cresting the summit, it's all down hill to Tecka at the foot of the Andes which are usually obscured by clouds. It was snowing that evening four years ago in that direction, today it looked rain-like.

Last climb of the day. The road-sign car has had enough though.

Rio Tecka land company owns most of the land in the area, perhaps an area bigger than Belguim.

On arriving, I lingered for a while in the service-station cafe by the main road. It being the Summer holidays, cars were queuing up for petrol outside and the overnight stop area at the side was already full of camper-vans. At the rear there's a place where I can put my tent. But I needed to buy food first so I took a cycle through the village streets to find a shop.

I stop at a rustic old house containing a shop. Inside it's the typical corner-shop with counter weighting-scales and old fashion cashregister. There are shelves of all you need. And "All you need is love" as John Lennon sang, as the people in these shops are always so nice, except for the shopkeeper in Paso de Indios that is.

"Si senior, esta casa tene mas de cien anos" the proprietor was proud to tell me the shop is over a hundred years old. That may not seem old, but it was the 1890s before permanent houses were build in much of Patagonia with the event of white colonisation.

I buy a pizza base, a popular cheese here, a pepper and onion, also a bottle of wine as it's so good and cheap here. Later, with these ingredients, I made a nice and filling sandwich, as there are evenings, this was one of them, that I can't be bothered using the stove.

The shopkeeper, father and son, come out to look at my bike.

This evening at Tecka Route 25 ends as it joins a longitude road, Route 40.

Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 9,751 km (6,055 miles)

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