Osorno to San Martin de los Andes
This was a cold day very reminiscent of England, even the scenery looked familiar. I was riding with Gerald and Ed and Lorraine and we stopped at a very nice small car museum outside the town, and had coffee while we waited for it to open. We then proceeded up the pass to the border and exited Chile fairly quickly just before a buss load of tourists.
As we proceeded between the borders we then hit snow on the high pass but with full off road tyres and taking it easy we had no problem negotiating the winter wonderland we found here. Again the crossing of the Argentina border proceeded well and we continued along. The road was a wet dirt road for some miles with sleet and snow, very potholed and had quite a lot of gravel on the bends to negotiate. All along the way there were spectacular views of the lakes and snow sprinkled mountains in this area of the Andes. The village appeared shortly after we turned onto tarmac.
Miles
Today 152
Total 18436
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Tuesday 10th November
San Martin de los Andes to San Carlos de Bariloche
Today was to be a short road ride but with an option for some 50 miles of extra dirt around lago Nahuelhuapi. I and 8 others decided to take to optional route. The road to the turn off was spectacular, a smooth winding road between the peaks of the Andes here in Patagonia. It was quite cold, more like winter weather than the usual summer weather here, after a fuel and coffee stop we turned off onto the gravel and dirt road. Some 15 miles in we came to a view point over the lake.
The views were spectacular with snow sprinkled mountains framing the blue-green lake. Continuing on the journey the dirt road dipped and twisted through a lightly forested area at the side of the lake giving the opportunity to stop for lunch at the lakeside. Towards the end of the road I cam across Kevin and a few others waiting for the van, one of the riders, Andy had hit a very large embedded rock and broken the entire swing arm on the 1200GS.
The damage was extensive snapping the casing for the drive shaft and the swing arm all the way back to the swivel point, he was very lucky not to fall and brought the bike to a stop some 30 yards down the road. The front wheel was badly damaged and it is now not certain if he will have to ride the rest of the trip in the support van. Once in the van we continued the rest of the dirt road with some deep gravel bits and soft earth where the road had been graded, then back onto tarmac to the hotel in the lake side town of Bariloche.
Miles
Today 225
Total 18661
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Wednesday 11 November
San Carlos de Bariloche
Day off
Miles
Today 0
Total 18661
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