January 3, 2011
Villa Cerra Ventana - Tornquist
Ah, I should not have had another beer last-night as I felt the effect of it this morning and so was slow getting out of the tent. My neighbours on the camping-site, a family in a caravan and two motorcyclists, were up as early as me and waved me goodbye when I left at seven.
The morning was blowy and the mountains were enveloped in a Scottish mist. There was an occasional spit of rain while cycling back to the junction, thence I turn left for Tornquist and the Cerra Ventana but I won't be seeing the mountain today. If only I'd been left to look at the map in peace yesterday evening, I would've gone on straight and seen the mountain when it was clear.
The valley narrows and the road rises as the rain is now a steady light drizzle that just dampens the road, rain which isn't a burden. It was pleasant and enjoyable riding on a Monday morning after a long day yesterday. I thought then that I wasn't going to see the mountain which I had looked forward to seeing but did it really matter as the scenery was stunning yesterday and even this morning the misty mountains had a certain charm.
The road gets steeper for the next kilometre and passes through a very deep cutting in the mountain to a summit where I see blue sky and the mist retreating on the other side. On exiting the cutting, there's a monument to a local climber that lost his life in the Himalayas. These were his local mountains and they named the pass which I've just rode over in honor of him.
It was only a few hundred metres more to the viewpoint itself to Cerra Ventana, but as yet nothing could be seen.
I am in no hurry and a half hour later I could be seen sitting at a picnic table in a little plantation. I had made and drunk tea accompanied with cake leftover from yesterday. In that time the mist has come back down again and presently looking in that direction it's raining horizontally.
How quickly things change! A few minutes later the mist has lifted completely, but the mountaintops are covered in a blanket of cotton wool cloud. The wind is now blowing coldly against my back so I take a place in the shelter of a tree and read a while.
Still I wait. It being the Summer holidays lots of cars stop, there occupants pose for photos before driving off or some like me wait
I was now joined by Juan Carlos to whom cycling is a passion. He has cycle-toured in Europe riding from Madrid to Verona riding the greater part of the way along the French and Italian riviera. And Italians he didn't mush like, "the worse characteristics of Argentines come from the Italian immigrant" he maintained, though he told me later his ancestors were Italian. He complained that now he doesn't have the time what with supporting a family. They were with him, wife Fedra and three beautiful little girls aged from 2 to 7 years old.
I was making tea when he joined me. Tea was now ready and he went to the camper-van and returned with provisions in one of those polystyrene box things. Wife and children came over moving in around the table and help themselves to cheese and ham on bread which Juan shares out. I was eating cheese and ham on bread soon too as he offered and I heartily excepted as I'd only a few biscuits left to eat.
Later Fedra and the children were playing in the long grass when Fedra shouted out "es La Ventana" the window, and we all turned and looked.
At first it was hard to say what all the fuzz is about, as from this distance, stood down by the road, it looks like a tiny hole in the mountaintop, but I suppose the closer up one would climb to it the more impressive it would look.
After many photographs, I bade Juan and the family goodbye and set off to cycle the remaining 20km down to Tornquist. I arrived at a time in the afternoon which most have been the siesta as the streets were deserted and everything was shut.
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Dark cloud rolled in and I took shelter in the veranda of a shut restaurant as the rain began to bounce up off the street. It lasted fifteen minutes and when it had finished I cycled through the puddled streets to where I had earlier seen an ice-cream parlour which when I got there was open and there was wifi so I remain there till after five when the shops again open.
Juan past me in the camper-van on the way to Tornquist and tonight we are reunited, as the family are on the same camping-site as I, a few kilometres North of town.
Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 8,031 km (4,987 miles)
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