January 31, 2019
Between Two Volcanos
Today we bid farewell to Villarica Volcano and headed towards
LLaima Volcano, one of the most active of the Chilean volcanoes. It was a crisp, blue sky morning and after a short transfer from Pucón to Villarica, we headed north along the western edge of Lago Villarica on nice tarmac road. After about 9 miles, it was back to adventures on gravel. The route wound over some fairly hilly terrain, with sections of firm roadbed interspersed with stretches of loose sand and gravel. A couple of the hills defeated me, but more often than not I found myself enjoying the challenges (and thrills?) of avoiding imminent disaster. These feelings of joy were aided by the low traffic and the surrounding landscape - vistas of distant mountains, open pastures of sheep and cattle, and rivers and streams criss-crossing my route.
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I soon came upon a series of caution signs followed by two flagmen, who waved me onward. The reason for the caution was soon apparent: the road was being resurfaced with fresh load of dirt and gravel. Ahead of me was a narrow lane of fresh and soft roadbed flanked by two parallel berms of dirt and gravel. The only surface firm enough to ride on was a narrow strip on the edge of the berm, leaving little room to maneuver when I encountered approaching cars. I kept my nerve and continued onward, when suddenly I heard an ever-increasing rumble from an approaching vehicle - no doubt indicating that the approaching vehicle was a large one. Indeed, around the bend came a grader. It was clear that there was not enough room for the both of us, so I dismounted and inched as close to the berm as was possible without actually falling over. Fortunately, the grader driver took it very slowly, smiling and waving hello as he passed. Remounting, I continued around the bend, where the dirt road ended. Suddenly, I was on smooth tarmac – going downhill with a bit of a tailwind. It felt like I was on my road bike – pure joy!
We stopped for lunch in Los Laureles and continued on toward Cunco. Our stop for the night was a small tourist center where I celebrated the day with a refreshing dip and a relaxing poolside afternoon.
Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 295 miles (475 km)
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