Carretera Austral Forced Off Day Puerto Rio Tranquilo

January 6, 2020

Puerto Rio Tranquilo

Forced off day due to mechanical problems 

Tour Total Pedaled 784.36km

I slept great in my bed in the cabaña at Cabanas Paraiso. My clothing and equipment was dry in the morning. I got up at 7:30am, and woke Scott at 8. His laundry was still wet, so he created a drying rack above the gas stove while I went into town for breakfast. 

The town uses thick pieces of rope stretched across the highway as speed bumps. It was cold out today. 

Most of the businesses were still closed, but I managed to find a cafe where I ordered scrambled eggs with toast and butter, and two machine made cappuccinos. Scott took forever, so I used the time to edit and publish old posts. I then went back to the hamburger place which, although closed, had excellent WiFi from out on the front porch. 

There were a lot of backpackers and hitchhikers here. People were waiting for rides in both directions at either end of town. Numerous tour stalls dot the waterfront and town. In addition to the marble caves, travelers come here to walk on ice fields at nearby glaciers. 

Scott finally showed up. As it turned out, he had accidentally burned holes in his pants trying to dry them on the gas stove. 

We rode through town and passed the same backpackers and hitchhikers once again. 

As I was climbing a small hill on the south end of town, my rear derailer snapped in two. The lower part laid in the gravel. This was it, I thought. My tour was over. There was no way to fix or modify it. 

We explored our options. I could return to Coyhaique by bus and get it fixed at the bike shop. We could continue south by bus and change the scope of the trip. We had gone a full day yesterday without a single mechanical problem. 

There were a lot of bicycles in Puerto Rio Tranquilo and I needed a part. I started asking people. I was directed to a mechanic who worked on cars. I met and talked to people milling about out front of his workshop, but the mechanic was not there. I inquired across the street and was told to return later. I walked back to the center of town, passing again and again the same people touting tours. A guy asked what the problem was and I showed him the broken part. He told me to go to Lerun camping. They had bicycle rentals there, and there was a person who could fix it. I tried to follow his directions, but came up short. I asked a young man who was dribbling a soccer ball, and he replied that there was no such campground in that part of town. I circled back around the mechanic’s workshop and no one was there. I passed a large bus parked on a side street and asked the driver when the next bus left to Tortel. At Tortel there is a ferry to Puerto Natales, which is considerably closer to my final destination. The driver told me that I would first need to take a bus to Cochrane, and that one left at 2pm. I wandered back to the burger place, which had become my de facto home base. It had WiFi. I ran into three French southbound cyclists. They all had different starting and endpoints, but were a pack for the moment. I showed them my mechanical problem. The most knowledgeable of the team exclaimed that it was simply bad luck. Their advice was to hitch or bus back to Coyhaique for a replacement part. I ran back into the tour tout and he asked me how things had gone at Lerun camping. I told him that I couldn’t find it. I then used the burger place WiFi to locate it on google maps. I set off on foot with the broken part in hand. It was a nice campground that did in fact offer bike rentals. I met the proprietor, Felipe, and explained my dilemma. I asked if I could buy a used derailer from one of his bikes. He reminded me that derailers are specific to the number of cogs on the cassette. He told me that it would be possible to order a part from Coyhaique and have it shipped by bus. The part would arrive tomorrow at 2pm. He had a friend with the tools and knowledge to make the repair. Scott, meanwhile was arranging an ice field walking tour on a nearby glacier. Our original plan had been to tour the ice fields in El Calfate. We were told by travelers last night that it was much cheaper to do it here. Felipe called Bicicletas Figon in Coyhaique and arranged for a replacement part to be sent to Puerto Rio Tranquilo by bus. We walked to a local supermarket to wire the payment to Figon. Scott and I booked an ice field hike for tomorrow. We arranged another night at Cabanas Paraiso, and I walked my broken bike over to camping Lerun. Felipe and his friend would have my bike repaired tomorrow when I got back from the glacier hike. 

I walked back to the burger place which was now open. Scott was doing his rocket science homework, and I began ordering food and drinks. 

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