Distance: 37.69 km
Ride time: 5:01:48
Average: 7.51 km/h
Altitude: 3142 m
Total: 25676 km
After I heard the cracking sound from my back wheel yesterday I knew that I had put more weight on my bike that I really should. I had 10 liters of water, and thought this would be where I could safe some kilos. In the morning I dumped 5 liters, which meant that I would have to reach Refugio Peñon in one and a half day instead of 3 days. I thought that was still realistic, but I was on my bike early.
During the night the wind had picked up, our first interaction with the famous Zonda awind coming from the mountains. In the first part of the day the road only climbed gently, but the wind made it hard to cycle faster than 6 km/h. I was happy that I had downloaded a number of interesting podcasts at Omar’s Hotel in Vinchina that I could listen to now.
In the 2nd part of the day I was now cycling in a narrow gorge. The views were beautiful, but the wind had picked up with some very strong gusts, sometimes nearly throwing me off the bike.
Earlier I had thought that I could reach Refugio Peñon at 3600 m in one day. At four o’clock I was only 10 kilometers away, but 10 kilometers on a steep climb from 3000 m is not the same as 10 kilometers at sea level. I was slowly starting to feel the effects of the altitude.
Instead I decided to put up the tent and leave the last 10 kilometers of climbing for tomorrow.
The wind was still strong so I needed all the extra lines and stones that I could find to secure my tent. Despite the wind I had comfortable night’s sleep at 3000 m, where the temperature inside my tent didn’t go below 5 degrees C.
