Far From Anywhere: 40km before C Pringle to Serra Ventana.

November 17, 2015

The long grass drive from my campsite back to the road.

There are lots of ponds with bogy margins.

Route 85, about forty kilometres before Pringle, with rain on the horizon.

The sky is uniform grey and shafts of midnight blue meet the grey outline of low hills to the south. Rain, the very last thing I need with a hundred and forty kilometre day ahead of me. But, it is still far off and perhaps, is only a passing shower and will have cleared when I get as far.

At least those hills mark the country beyond Pringle, and the end of this very long road. And it's a bit breezy coming from the rear, meaning I pedal along effortlessly and am making fast progress. Before long, I see the welcome sight of a truck moving along from the left at a right-angle toward the road. The other road, the junction of which is just ahead.

Crop sprayer. Taken on my way back out of town.

"Empalme" a word for where two roads converge. Forward view from previous pic.

There's the usual long detour access road, route 51, to the town, a sizable place built to the side of a railway station, with huge grain silos by the track. The streets around the main plaza are cobblestoned, slow and jarring to ride upon. It's one thing to ride cobbles when you know where you're going, know how far more until they finish, but when you don't, it just adds to the frustration of being lost. The main commercial centre not being obvious.

With directions from a street-cleaner, I locate a street with three banks, as although, I've enough food and enough cash to buy a bottle of soft drink for the day, it would still be nice to relax a while over a coffee.

There is what I've come to expect, the usual long queue of customers outside the bank waiting for ten o'clock opening. In fact during the day, the inside will look like an employment office, with rows of seating, every seat taken, every customer has a ticket with a number waiting their turn to be served at counters with digital number displays over each. And the three banks this morning are no different. The queue outside. However, still, I have no joy in receiving cash at either of the three: a predicament I am getting used to. Leaving one ATM, I bottle my anxiety and smile and answer questions pleasantly from a man waiting, curious to know where I'm from.

A couple of blocks away, I stop at a car wash garage and ask to top up on water, where I also fill a two litre mineral water bottle together with the three bike bottles, making a total of four litres.

That breeze earlier, has swung more to the south and is now a tough headwind on the ride back upon route 51, a road I plan on following for forty-five kilometres, to a right turnoff (route 72). I struggle pass the roundabout where I came off 85, then, a few kilometres more of slow holding steady as not to be pushed off onto the verge, the wind slightly to my left, I come to another big roundabout, or empalme, where route 85 continues off on the right. I stop and take out the map, open it and hold it firmly to prevent it being blown away. I see 85 is a good alternative to 51, and in the circumstances, I'll have a tailwind, so without more ado, I go right. It is about forty kilometres to route 76, where I've then to go left to get to my planned destination, Serra Ventana, which will be against the wind again and it worries me that, the wind will be even stronger by afternoon when I get as far.

Yerba mate, a stable beverage here, which perks the drinker up as much as strong coffee.

Blown along with the wind I reach the empalme, big grassy roundabout, where route 76 crosses, about one. There's a petrol station and hospedaje by the side, where I lunch on yesterday's extra "lomito" sandwich and mate in the sheltered backside of the later. Then, it seems the wind is my friend again, because it has settled when I'm setting off again.

The remainder of the day is of little that is noteworthy, except for more impressive country, as the road steadily climbs, increasing closed to the sides by sparse rocky hills.

I reach the car park and adjoining picnic area at Serra Ventana, where I wait the hour or so until nightfall before pitching the tent. Tomorrow will be a short day's ride to Bahia Blanca.

This guy was slow moving, unlike a large green snake seen earlier, that glided rapidly across the road in a fluid circler motion of it's body.

The woodland picnic area by Serra Ventana, where I end the day.

Today's ride: 146 km (91 miles)
Total: 780 km (484 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0