May 9, 2016
Slow Start: La Serena to km562.
A slow start today. First, not wanting to get out of bed until finally making the effort, making my way up to breakfast on the hostel roof-terrace, where the sky's not only grey, but its freezing cold. Then, have to wait for both my camera and computer to fully charge. Lastly, get it together to leave: the panniers all in place on the bike, tyre pressure checked and an over all bike check, then say goodbye to the receptionist as I wheel the bike out the door.
I follow the one-way traffic through narrow streets downhill toward the waterfront and turn onto the Pan Americana, north, a motorway with a no-cycling sign, but there is no alternative; in any case, it has a lane width shoulder, so is safe to cycle upon so long as I look for traffic at on and off slip-roads.
There is a Copec petrol station and services 9 kilometres north, leaving the city. The very next such Copec is advertised as being another 184km on the petrol companies distinctive white and blue logo tower 2 kilometres beforehand. So I turn in as this is my last chance of a descent coffee for a day or so.
When I return out of the coffee shop with my paper cup of espresso, a touring motorcyclist has just arrive and is taking off his helmet to reveal a red face and silver hair and after taking an interested look at my bike, asks do I speak English. I reply that I do.
"Where ed I geit some breakfist?" he asks. I tell him that unfortunately there's only a small coffee shop at this services, but other services have large cafeterias with really good food at a reasonable price. He then goes on to tell me about his motorcycle tour. How in Patagonia he'd a tailwind, so he stopped the engine and let the wind push the bike along and looking ahead to the far distance where the road blended into the sky, he saw a dot which gradually got bigger and getting nearer, he saw it was a cyclist battling in the opposite direction with a headwind.
The Pan Americana, or 5 is a smooth wide shouldered dual-carriageway curving its way up and down along the coast, then heads inland where there's a long switch-back climb, at which point the cloud closes in and it looks like rain. Over the highest point of the climb the way opens upon a plateau with a gradual descend lasting the rest of the day. Though it doesn't rain in the end and about half five, the sun starts breaking through.
After six I halt at a big culvert with sufficient level area down the bank from the road between the culvert mouth and fence to pitch the tent.
Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 9,153 km (5,684 miles)
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