Wednesday 5th November 2014. Stage 75b, Barrancas to Chos Malal. 94kms, paved 8%, Climbing 1489 metres, summit 2403 metres. Now that was one hell of a ride.

Last night we camped on top of each other in this very small campsite, and I got to hear all the noises that people make inside their tents.

As I said yesterday I decided to take the gravel road to heaven. I was well aware it going to be a tough day, but I'm not one to avoid a challenge. We left the campsite at 8am and rode about 2 kms out of town and took a sharp right where the dirt began. The other 15 cyclists continued on their way to Chos Malal on pavement for the next 125 kms.

Some of the riders who took the dirt were James, Alfred, Carmen, Julia, Rob the Boss, Joost & Michelle. I rode on my own for most of the morning and was later joined by Joost, Michelle and James for the run into the lunch truck.

As soon as we hit the the gravel road we headed for heaven. Up and up we went through lose gravel, sand and huge rocks for 45 kms. Some of the rocks we had to negotiate caused me fall over about 5 times. I couldn't climb the steepness of the mountain and the winds were horrendous once again.

As we got higher and higher towards our goal of 2400 metres the winds that were blowing off the snow capped mountains froze every part of my body. My face, feet, hands were freezing and there wasn't a darn thing I could do about it.

 I took the above photo with Joost up in the distance cresting the hill. I like how close the clouds look to the ground at this altitude.

That's my riding buddy for the day Joost. He's such a powerful rider and found it easy climbing the rocky road today.

 The above photo is of James standing in front of an extinct volcano. The wind and 4 degree temperature made our day one hell of battle.

With 43 kms on the clock we rounded the final bend to see the fire engine. The wind was blowing a gale and the dust was going all over our food. I didn't care, I was pretty hungry and wanted to eat quickly and get off this wind blown mountain. The only ones ahead of were Rob the Boss and Alfred.

 After lunch I came across the only house on the mountain.

I took off from lunch on my own for the final 55 km push to Chos Malal our destination for today, and our rest day tomorrow.

I thought we would be going down as soon as we left the lunch truck but that was not the case. I still had a lot of climbing through large rocks and lose gravel. When I got the chance to go downhill I had to be so careful that the wind didn't blow me off the road, or my front tire didn't slip out from underneath me due to the the sand and gravel  I was having such a hard time staying on the road, and it was draining me physically and mentally. On a couple of  occasions I screamed out profanities about the wind, the cold, the goats, the sheep, the lose gravel and the rocks. I didn't miss a thing, but I kept riding.

 I took the photo in the afternoon showing the El Tromen National Park. The lake in the distance is at 2400 metres altitude and has flamingos, I didn't bother to ride down and take photos as I more concerned with getting out of this gravel pit.

I took the above photo of some birds that I have no idea what type they are.

As I pushed along as hard as I could I finally came to the descent which would go down for 30 kms. I was worried about my speed as the wind took me by surprise a couple of times and put me into the dirt. I couldn't go much faster than 50 kph down the mountain.

I was joined by James with about 10 kms to go and this is when we hit the pavement. From here it was all downhill into the town. As we approached the turn off into town we could see Barry and the group who took the pavement just ahead of us. We passed them and headed straight to our campsite. The campsite is a pretty dusty place but in this part of the world, it's the only option. Some of the cyclists took a hotel, but me personally, I'll wait till we reach Bariloche next rest day. That's when I catch up with Peter and Ema from Australia.

After setting up tent and doing all the other things, I went for a ride up to the plaza to see where I could get my clothes washed. I found a laundry which opens tomorrow morning at 8am who might be able to help me out.

Dinner was at the campsite and a BBQ was on the menu. We had a sausage sizzle and salad and it was excellent.

After dinner I headed up to the service station to get on the Wifi and do my story. Tomorrow is a rest day and I'm going to rest and do very little. I will provide an update tomorrow night.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.