Distance: 59.40 km
Ride time: 3:59:23
Average: 14.89 km/h
Total: 24789 km
Nicolas was going to leave his work at 6 in the morning, so we were also up early, ready to cycle before sunrise. We were still going north from Santiago, and in front we could see the snowy Andes Mountains that we were going to cross soon.
As we got to a tunnel we got stopped and told it was not possible to cycle through. The road worker pointed towards a pickup truck and said that he would give us a lift – something that seemed to be a standard service for all cyclists coming this way.
Just as we got to the other side of the 3 km long tunnel, another two cyclists showed up. Perfect timing for their ride back to the southern side. The two cyclists from Argentina/Italy where coming down from the Libertadores pass and could tell us that all looked fine at the top – no snow and the road in good condition.
In Los Andes, the last town before the big climb, we sat down to have a pizza and a beer near the main square. There was a lot of life in this small town, mostly young students. I remember that Roberto had told me that students were now back at school after the summer holidays – that could certainly be seen here.
After our lunch we continued towards the pass. We planned to find a camp spot on the lower parts of the slope, saving the real climbing for tomorrow. By now the road had already started to twist its way up along a river, and we found a perfect camp spot right next to it. A dip in the fresh water was the perfect way to end the day.
