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Back in the USA?

By Mike Beris - 2009-06-14

Now this was a bicycle trip!

I couldn’t deny this sentiment inside of me, but why did I feel this way this week? I think the five days of riding from Temuco to Santiago looked a bit more like my bike tours in the United States than the first four months of South America. First of all, Chris and I could see each day’s progress on a map, something that was difficult to do when we were battling headwinds all day in the pampas, or dealing with broken racks on the rocky Carretera Austral. This week, we had nothing but smooth, straight highway in front of us, so all we had to do was crank.

Second, we didn’t have to worry about carrying days and days worth of food. Our smoothly paved highway had enough small towns, gas stations, and truck stops along the way that we only needed to carry enough food for the next meal.

Another pleasant change: it was warm and sunny almost the entire time. When it’s nice out, problems like getting my first (and second) flat tire don’t seem to bother me. Chris and I have a similar riding style, so we appreciated the ease at which we rode, took breaks, and relaxed at the end of the day. We also stopped to get a lot of photos: vineyards, bridges, controlled brush fires, even a Carabinero station succumbing to a sinkhole.

Even though this stretch of highway looked a lot like some I’ve been on in the US, I appreciated its "easiness," and the opportunity to have some of our longest mileages on the trip.