Let’s Go For A Ride....

Moon fades, morning breaks, coffee brewing…..let’s gittrdun!

Well rested and ready to ride. After another nutritious breakfast and another rare cup of coffee, we packed the vans, kitted up and rolled out of Punta de Lobos. A century ride with about 5000 ft of climbing. Similar to 2 days ago, to get farther down the coast to the south we needed to go inland first.

This Day Was a Technical BRUTE:

The first 35 km was a ride along the coast slowly moving inland with lots of rollers in the 5% to 8% range.

The next 25 km was a bone shaking ride on a washboard dirt/gravel road….this would have delighted BgBCC’ers Paul and Jennifer!

The next 25 km was a sweet ride back on paved road, full of rollers through pine forests with excellent views, that brought us into the quaint village of Vichiquen, where we stopped for a Coke and an energy bar. Thanks to Guide Bruno for getting me there!

The next 5 km was a 15% climb. At what I thought was the summit,there is a statue of Mary, or maybe the goddess of wind, not sure. So I popped in at the statue to take a photo, check my pulse, and say a prayer for tail winds for the rest of the trip….did it for the team lol.

But That’s Not All!

But that was not the summit…..we continued a series of 8% up and downs for another 20 km! And as I said, what goes up, must come down….an oh, what a descent!! Very steep and quite tight switchbacks made us try really hard to not come into the turns too hot.

After another 5 minute break to check our underwear, we rode the remainder of the route to Duao in a crosswind along the coastline. Even though I could not ‘smell the barn’, I was dreaming of an iced cold beer!

We started out rolling through beautiful coastal roads featuring oyster farms. Also saw indigenous Dragon Mouth flowers and Conejitos. Just before the dirt/gravel stretch were a series of salt farms. Salt water is dumped into the land and allowed to evaporate and the salt is harvested.