Hundreds Of Miles Of Headwinds

A visual representation of how we’re doing.

And some photos of the landscapes. Argentina has changed.

The cycling has been incredibly dull. Completely flat for hundreds of miles, an unrelenting headwind that slows us down to 6mph. Plus, temperatures reaching 44 degrees making it impossible to ride during the hottest part of the day.

It’s been the longest continuous days of headwinds we’ve ever had and it’s taking its toll on our bodies: extra pressure on our hands and bum. Even our feet are sore at the end of the day.

Two days ago we pushed too far during the hottest part of the day and Stew got really sick.

He turned off the road and I knew something was up when he did that.

Stew never takes a turn before I catch up.

He started to seriously overheat.

There isn’t much shade on the road side but there was one tree. 🌳

Stew lay down in the shade for more than an hour.

Luckily we had some ice water which we bought to drink, but it tasted weird so it was on the bike thawing.

Over the course of an hour, I poured ice water onto Stew as we lay on the roadside. It was quite scary at the time and we were considering trying to get a lift from a passing car or truck.

Thankfully Stew cooled down enough to get back on the bike and we continued to the next town.

We decided to wait at a shop until 6:30 and for the temperature to drop a few degrees before we pressed on.

This became the routine

6/7am – 1pm: we ride

1pm – 6.30pm: we sit outside the one shop that’s open while everyone else takes their siesta. We drink water, we wait.

6.30pm: we ride a final 10-20 miles to the town we’re staying in.

To add a little insult to injury we rocked up to the second most disgusting hotel we’ve ever stayed in on the entire trip. Second only to a hotel that was wet, can anyone remember that damp/wet hotel in China? 🤢

The next day we woke up and got out of there in about 15 minutes which is probably our quickest ever hotel exit.

Argentina might be our favourite country, but it is tough riding out here this time of year.

When we left the mountains for the flat lands, we were thinking, “great! We will burn through some miles and make some great pace, finally .”

Well, no we won’t, the wind and the sun has other plans.

We just spent two days in a hotel, it was much needed!

I replaced my shirt, replacing this purple one that I’ve worn since China with a WHITE one. It was the only shirt that was thin enough, it’ll be grim after a few days and I’ll end up replacing it again but it’ll do.

The shirt is ripped because it’s been worn so much and had so much sun exposure. Lately, I’ve soaked it multiple times of day which has just dried it out.

We’re back on the road today, two days to a large town. The wind is blowin’!

Just wait until I tell you about how I lost our wallet (again)…

I’ll try remember to post about that later!