Two Wheeling in Chile

January 20, 2019 to January 21, 2019

The hiking trip was spectacular, but I was pretty tired and I had two long days of travel to get to the start of the bike tour –from El Calafate to Buenos Aires to Santiago the first day; from Santiago to Puerto Montt to Frutillar on the second day. Frutillar is a small somewhat touristy town on the shores of Lago Llanquihue in the Patagonia Lakes Region of Chile. Much of the architecture and the ubiquitous kuchen reflect the influence of Germans who settled here in the 1850’s. Looming across Lago Llanquihue in the distance was the Osomo volcano, which was barely discernible on this cloudy, somewhat dreary day. I met the tour leaders and the rest of the group and we all headed off for dinner.

Black sand beach of Lago Llanquihue in Frutillar

Sailboats and lifting clouds on Lago Llanquihue

German architecture is a characteristic feature of Frutillar and this area of the Lakes Region

The following morning, I got my bike, a Specialized Rockhopper, which would transport me up and over the Andes and back. After a couple of spins around the block we headed up and out of town. I found the bike to be a bit unwieldly, and within 5 minutes I ran into the curb and was off the bike walking up the hill. Not the way you want to start a group ride with a bunch strangers! I turned into a side street to get back on the bike, and was soon pedaling up the hill and out of town – with no one in sight. I was have a bit of a hard time adjusting to the bike and trying to catch the group, wondering if I was too tired and sore from the hiking trip to finish, let alone enjoy, what was sure to be a challenging two weeks of cycling. The route headed northeast, along a paved highway (V-55-U), for about 14 miles before looping back to Frutillar on a gravel road. After a bit, I caught up and passed some of the trailers as we left the pavement and headed back to Frutillar on a gravel road. There were a couple of steep declines on loose gravel, but once I passed the grader I was able to find more solid purchase and began to enjoy some of the bike’s off-road handling.

After lunch headed to Puerto Varas along the Circuito Lago Llanquihue, with most of the ride on a dedicated cycle path running. The clouds were lifting, as were my spirits. The snow-capped Osomo volcano rose in the distance, sandwiched between the blues of the sky and lake. About 5 km outside Puerto Varas, we left the pavement and rode into town using a narrow track that had been described as the train path. I was thinking of a rail trail, but in actuality was a single track alongside a train track! Once in town, there was a nice bike path that took us through the city center and to our hotel. Before dinner, we were briefed on tomorrow’s ride – which ended with a 12 km climb up the side of the Osomo volcano, with an average grade of 10%. I decided not to worry about it today, and took advantage of the plentiful seafood in Chile for a tasty dinner of salmon ceviche and sea bass.

Snow-capped Osomo volcano clearly visible across Lago Llanquihue

Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 55 miles (89 km)

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