January 8. - day 4, Carretera Austral

So far, with only a little bad weather and manageable winds, I questioned everything I had read about the constant rains and crazy winds.  Today, as we left Coyhaique, I started to understand.   The road, still paved but deteriorating condition, wound through the huge valley the city lies in.   As we wound our way out of town, the winds continued to grow.  at least the weather was cooperating and although a little cloudy, when the sun popped out it was quite nice.  we stopped in a village about 75km from town for a coffee, knowing the road again turned to gravel from this point.

Once on the road again, the winds became almost unmanageable.  You have to keep the bikes torqued with power to stay going the way you want, and if you coast, the wind tries to blow you off the closest cliff.  as I struggle with the wind, some guy on a BMW 800 drives along side of me and asks if I was going to Rio Tranquillo, and then said something along the lines of " on a 150cc!!" And laughed.

A few minutes later, i find myself behind him and he is struggling with the wind and loose gravel.  He is riding at just a few miles per hour and his feet are near the ground.  Because I am now going so slow, a gust of wind catches me and nearly blows me over.  All i can do is gun it, nearly clipping the back of his bike as the little 150 rockets past him.  Now, with better speed, everything seems to be easier and i let the guy that laughed at me eat my dust, the bastard.

With about 80 km to go, things get worse.  The pouring rains begin.  Al later points out, if you look at the size of the storm drains, what would you expect.   Between the rain, the wind, gravel/dirt road, and the fact that our little bikes don't have off road tires, we struggle on to Tranquillo.   I have personally never experienced riding in conditions this difficult, and can see why few come here.  It's grueling, and just a couple hours on the bike is exhausting. However, if you want to see this part pf the world, a beautiful, pristine and secluded land, then you have to deal with what gets thrown at you.  Even with good gear, we arrive soaked, and hide out in a restaurant for a bit.  We all have burgers, huge burgers.

After eating, Xavier shows up, he has been riding with a couple from Brazil.  Apparently in the rain and wind, he had a minor crash, but was no worse for wear.  He said he was busy looking at scenery, and the next thing he knew....

A few minutes later, a man comes in the restaurant and asks us, using the waiter as an interpreter, if we are part ot a bike group.  Apparently about 30 km before town, a motorcyclist has crashed, and has been taken in the back of a truck to the nearest medical hospital.  We let him know all in our party are here, but hope whomever it was is ok.  A couple minutes later the Manchester guys show up, and i find out that the accident was the younger guy with them that i had met the night before.  Nobody knew his exact condition, since they had been ahead a little and had pulled over to wait.  By the time they went back, he was already in a truck.  Apparently the small local medical centre was sending him by ambulance back to Coyhaique.  I hope it is nothing serious, and wish them all the best.  We had already decided not to go further in this weather before this news, and certainly like our power restricting and light bikes more even now.

 Although the day came with bad news and bad weather, it was still an amazing day of views, and an experience not to be forgotten.

End of the day update:

Met a young man, 19 years old, names Julius from Germany.  He sat with us over coffee.  Julius has been backpacking for almost 8 months and has been through Canada and then headed down to south America.  He is doing it all by himself and was quite something to talk to.  At the beginning of his trip he stayed with an Aunt in Canada, and apparently about 5 or 6 days in she went to a family reunion.  There he met a whole bunch more relatives and managed to spend months and months visiting various ones.  Julius has arranged for a 9am boat to the marble caves and we are joining him, sharing in the costs.  Xavier may also join us.

Meet the Manchester guys again a little later in the evening.  Turns out the rest of the group stayed in Tranquillo and I Found out that he young guy who had fallen off earlier in the day is for the most part fine, just some scrapes and a concussion.  another batch of really nice guys, Rob, Simon and I had a few beers and chatted.  Sitting with these 2 guys didn't really seem like hanging with new friends, after a short time it felt like i had known them a while.  Simon at first made me feel comfortable and had a great sense of humour, and Rob races motorcycles, including the isle Of Man each year.  I hope to take him up on the offer of his hospitality for that race one day!