Tuesday 28th January 2025 Fitz Roy to Comodoro Rivadavia
Another very windy morning, we could hear the wind rattling the windows all night long, not the best preparation for a tough day ahead. Breakfast in the room cold porridge and chocolate, we are all ready to hit the road at 5:45 in the morning, some holiday this is . Off we set with the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean on right shoulder, trying my hardest to be poetic, but to be truthfully honest it was bloody hard graft . Slowly edging towards Comodoro Rivadavia, a lovely sounding name, but once again I spent more time muttering to myself about the wind, I can assure you there is no candle in this wind, would not stay alight and as for whistling in the wind no chance. Swearing at it did not help either, so it was all down to riding an hour at a time, taking a rest then repeat again and again. In some places it was getting pretty dangerous, the traffic doing its best to give us plenty of clearance but the more tired we got, the harder it was to keep the bikes going in a straight line.

Finally rolled into Comodoro Rivadavia , just around 5:30 in the evening both a bit puffed out to say the least. When we booked into the digs, I said to the guy at the desk “El viento es muy fuerte” the wind is very strong, he just smiled and said in perfect English, you are in Patagonia what do you expect, think he had a fair point.

The good point about having long lunch breaks siestas, is the offices and shops stay open far later than we can. So after a big meal in a bar that had hosted many touring Rugby sides down the years and a frank chat about how we both felt. We did the walk of shame and headed to the local coach station to see if we could put the bikes on a bus!

Armed with my pigeon Spanish and of course goggle translator, off I went in search of salvation. First counter a firm ‘no’, second counter, possible ‘yes’ but need to return in the morning. As I was going back to Bingo who was waiting patiently (totally different characters) a guy stopped me and said try the counter at the far end. Duly turned around and made my way there, here we go again “¿Puedo poner dos bicicletas en el autobús a Trelew, por favor? “can I put two bikes on the bus to Trelew please “ she smiled and said manuan. ¿Puedo comprar los boletos ahora por favor? Can I buy the tickets now please, she just looked at me blankly. Then a charming girl asked if I needed any help, which I always do. She did the translation with consummate ease, before I knew I had brought 2 tickets for the bus that leaves at 7:45 tomorrow morning. I wished both of them Beuno Noche and thanked them so much for their help

Both feel a bit weird but I can assure you, this cycling touring malarkey is so much more than just cycling, it’s not all about riding, it about how you get over little disruptions on a daily basis. Well that my take on it.