Carretera Austral Forced Off Day #2 Puerto Rio Tranquilo

January 7, 2020
Puerto Rio Tranquilo
Forced Off Day #2 due to mechanical problems 
Tour Total Pedaled 784.36km

I slept well in my big cozy bed in the cabaña. I had spent most of yesterday at the hamburger place glued to the WiFi finishing up old posts. Once completed I began reading the news, which was depressing. 

I figured out how to turn on the portable heater in our cabaña, which was a game changer because it was cold here. 

This morning I had several bowls of Coco Puffs with milk before heading into town with Scott for our ice field tour. We recognized the hitchhikers standing near the bridge on our way to the same lousy cafe I went to yesterday. I had a cappuccino and Scott had eggs and bread. The ice field tour place was next door and we were told to be there at 8:45. Seven of us waited for an hour under cover because it was raining. The guide never showed up. We talked to a couple from Moscow who had driven up from Punta Arenas. It was cold and wet. Scott and I eventually gave up and retreated to the cabaña. The tour operator owed us a CP$40,000 deposit. 

I noodled around on my phone, looked at maps, and fine-tuned things. At 1pm we went for lunch at the diner on the main strip. There were a lot of travelers including cyclists whom had just arrived in the rain, including a man wearing a ginormous backpack. I looked at their bikes when I left, and two of them has clipped pedals. That’s insane!

We walked over to the burger place to scam some WiFi and then I went to the bus station to hopefully retrieve my new deraileur. 

The São Paulo bus from Coihaique arrived at 2:10pm, and there was no deraileur. I expressed my concern to the driver, and was told that the Don Carlos bus from Coyhaique would be arriving in ten minutes. When it arrived, I asked that driver if there was a small package for Felipe from Figon, and he replied no. I walked over to Felipe’s house and he called Figon bicycle shop in Coyhaique. Sure enough, the part had been shipped yesterday on the 4pm bus. We went to the bus station and there was a second Don Carlo bus. My new deraileur was sitting in the reception area. 

Felipe told me to come back at 6pm and that my bike would be ready then. It was cold and rainy so I went back to the cabaña for a siesta. 

The rain and wind this afternoon was intense. As much as I wanted to be out on my bike progressing south, I suppose I was lucky to be under cover, warm, and in a cozy bed. 

The rain broke just before 6pm. On the walk over to Felipe’s, I passed ducks splashing in a fresh puddle and newly arrived hitchhikers trying to go north. I stopped by the tour office and retrieved our deposit. Felipe was finishing up my bike when I arrived. He thought the cause of the failure was due to a short chain. I had to remove a few links the first time it broke. I used one of the bushings the second time it broke. If I had been smart yesterday, I would have ordered a new chain along with the deraileur. It was brand new when I started the tour. 

Felipe was unable to make the highest two gears work, which meant that I wouldn’t be able to pedal as fast. He commented that the broken deraileur was filthy, and I should have been using a brush with a solvent to clean it. I’m terrified of more transmission problems as I continue further south tomorrow into even more treacherous terrain. 






Location: Puerto Río Tranquilo, Río Ibáñez, Aysén, Chile

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