The last three days have been spent on the bike doing the hard yards. The desert heat and hills certainly take their toll on the body and mind! Currently I´m in a city called Copiapo which is in the heart of mining country. There seems to be random mining for all sorts of minerals scattered all over the landscape up here but I believe it is a huge boost for Chile´s economy. Anyways, after a long day in the saddle out from La Serena I finally found a drain under the road to camp in. It sounds bad but to me getting some shade and food it looked like heaven! I was there out of sight from the road and anyone else for safety reasons for maybe two hours before I had a couple of random visitors! This was enough to scare me into packing up and back on the road to the next town, thankfully only a few kms up the road. Once there an old guy who had the keys to the church let me spend the night in there. So much for my first night under the stars camping wild!!! The next two days were much of the same, lots of riding in the sun and trying to find shade and food/water as often as possible. Whenever I come across a Posada (Truck stop) I usually stopped for some food or at least fill my water bottles. The truckies and locals all steer at me and my bike in amazement. Trying to talk with them is aways great fun as they don´t speak English and my Spanish is terrible so there´s a lot of sign language and laughing. The people in Chile are very friendly and always helpful which makes a huge difference when travelling. Yesterday while cycling along a guy on a touring motorcycle coming in the opposite direction toots and waves. I´m doing the same but think nothing of it as this happens about every km or so with random motorists. Then about two minutes later he pulls in beside me for a chat and some photos. This was awesome and made my day as it was good talking with someone who is also travelling through South America. A funny Brazilian guy who also thought I was a bit crazy!! Well, that´s most of the news. Emails and blog comments are always appreciated so keep them coming! Take care
Riding Stats
Jan 13th - 101km
Jan 14th - 97km
Jan 15th - 152km
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11 comments:
Jeez Pete - better slow down or you'll the ride will be over before you know it! seriously though - I'm amazed a plump little hua can jump on a bike and start clocking up K's straight away like that - good effort!
You've done a solid two inches according to the map on my wall. That's reasonable i guess. ha! it's awesome. Do you look like a local yet?
Incidentally, if you keep this up you'll be back for your performance review at the end of March...
Thanks for the comments!! There is just nowhere to stop so I have to keep on riding. Trust me if I could stop riding to avoid the midday sun then I would!! I cycle to the coast tomorrow then up there for a few days so I might have more chances for midday rests out of the heat.
Turtle becomes the Hare! Wicked km's that you are putting in fellah. At this rate you might as well ride to Asia for the second half of your grand tour!
What are you feeding the furnace with? '000's of torillas or have you found a secret roadside cactus to chew on?
Hey Pedro..
Nice updates and reports keep them coming. But what confuses me is you sleep in drains under roads etc, but they all have internet connections so you can upload the latest blog info? whats with that?
Batts.
Hey just a suggestion for those of us who aren't so flash on their South American geography - could you put a link to a map site on your blog so we can look up where you are
Enjoy the coast - hope you get can find a cool spot to chill out for a few days!
woo
Hi Pete, having a great time in Queenstown, hope you get a chance to rest up and chillout for a few days. We look forward to watching your progress and feel tired just listening to what you're doing. Always take care, Love Barb and Jono
What/who visited you in the drain? You can be so dramatic sometimes...
What about the women, spice it up a little turtle, youve got a repuation to maintain....
B
Bloody hell turtle, sounds like you are truely getting off the beaten tourist track! Take care under those drains. Will you still be in south america in June? I may well be heading that way. C
Hey Pete, great to hear you're well on your way. Sleeping in drains and staying out of the sun...you're not hitting the local 'produce' to much are you!!!! Weather sounds the same as London, except less rain, hail and fog! Got some quality pics of everyone from NZ, we'll try to put them on a photo site so you can see them. Bella is now perfecting saying "Uncle Pete" so will be ready to tell you when you've made it the whole way!! All our love, Jo, Neil and Bellaxxx
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