June 20, 2016
Basecamp: route 38-km118 to near junction with route 40
My Norwegian sleeping-bag with a rating of comfort to -20, was fully tested last night. Of coarse this rating is optimistic, as I Had all my warm cloths on and while I remained warm enough, I could just about feel the frosty chill from without. I curled up into a ball and drew the hood of the sleeping-bag shut over my head and that seemed to work. I remained warm.
This morning I lingered inside the sleeping-bag over coffee waiting for the sun to appear over the brow of the hill enclosing the gorge. The water bottles near enough frozen solid, except there's just enough unfrozen water to make porridge and coffee. The stream by which I am camped, although having a swift currant, has thick shards of ice.
Today the long climb, which I've been on since Saturday afternoon, finally steepens and winds up to reach a summit, whereat a signboard has "Abra Blanco, 4060 snm" There is also a bigger signboard with historic information, stating that in 1915, a motorcar was driven from Salta to this summit and on to San Antonio de Los Cobres: the first time a car had reached such an altitude. This opened up the road which would become national route 51.
The road drops down about a hundred metres or so and continues upon the high plateau commonly called the altoplano. Soon I come to a point where there's major road reconstruction, with traffic diverted upon a temporary rough track to the side, though as a cyclist, I'm able to remain on the road, most of which is finished freshly tarmacked, though not opened yet.
Still on the unopened new road, I reach the junction with route 40, a left turn going south crossing Abra de Cay, my planned route; though, as I have nothing for lunch and it is now about one, a little late to start on the climb as it is perhaps very open to the wind without any shelter to camp, I decide to continue on upon 51, the remaining 12km to San Antonio, have lunch there and on the way look out for a campsite as near as possible to the route 40 turnoff, in order to get an early start on the climb tomorrow.
Sure enough, just two kilometres on from the 40 turnoff, I pass a good campsite, a sheltered spot in the banked opening to a road culvert; which later, having been to town, lunched and bough biscuits and coke, I return to, arriving shortly after half three looking forward to an easy two hours daylight to catch up on reading, but a soft front tyre curtains that by half an hour as once I've pitched the tent, I change the inner-tube and try unsuccessfully to find a hole in the tube I took out. Somehow with other bike maintenance things, its five when I've finished: the sun waning and temperature plummeting, so time to snug into the sleeping-bag
Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 10,943 km (6,796 miles)
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