Cycling The Globe

Distance: 96.42 km
Ride time: 7:09:12
Average: 13.49 km/h
Total: 21444 km

There was excitement in the air as we packed our bikes with 7 days’ worth of food. We would be riding into the mountains that we had been looking up at from Puerto Natales the last two days. Considering the size of town we had quite a hard time finding the way out. A guy stopped us to tell that the road we had planned to take was closed. We tried to convince him that it would be possible to cycle there and rode on.

Shortly after, I could see that Petter was working on his bicycle. A rather loud and not pleasant sounding noise was coming from the hub of his front wheel. Not a good sign, especially considering the isolated road we were heading for. We sat down, had a bite to eat, and considered our options. In the end Petter had to go back to town, wait until Monday to fix his wheel, while I decided to continue. It was a sad goodbye at the road side. We had been cycling for 600 km fighting the head winds together. Lycka til Petter, hope to see you further down the road.

I was now considering if I wanted to take the isolated road into the mountains by myself or go directly towards Argentina. My mind was full of doubt, but as I came to the cross road I took a quick decision and turned into the dirt track. Even though I was not sure if I would meet any cars I thought I could always walk through if something happened to the bike. If I was looking for adventure, this was it!

I few kilometers down the track I realized I had made the right decision. This was amazing cycling! The 700 kilometers since I left Ushuaia had mostly been flat and windy, but now I was in the mountains that I like so much.

As I rode on, the landscapes only became more and more amazing with the Torres del Paine massive revealing itself out there in the distance. At the same time my confidence in riding an isolated dirt road by myself was returning. This was good stuff!

At the end of the day I found a good spot to wild camp only a few kilometers from the beginning of the national park. Today was world class cycling, but I think I have reason to believe that tomorrow will be even better.