Ushuaia to Rio Grande the first leg

Up early as usual for me on big days. Getting that pre rowing race feeling in the pit of my stomach. This was going to be a big day if we were going to get over the mountain pass ahead to somewhere reasonably warm and sheltered. For some reason it pelts rain in Ushuaia till 11 or so when the sun raises the cloud cover over the mountains so we ignore the weather outside while packing.
It takes us till 11 to pack, we post our postcards home on the way out of town getting odd looks from traffic and the post office staff. The road out of town is very scenic and the mountains look even more spectacular up close. Theres even a tail wind to send us on our way.
We´ve heard the pass ahead is tough from the other cyclist but we just put one foot in front of each other and cycle, getting used to the wobbliness of the bikes with a full load on and keeping an even steady pace. This might be a long day!
In the excitement of leaving town we forgot to pick up bread so I ask at a winter ski centre along the road. They give us a load of bread and refuse to take any money. The Argentine people are very hospitable and friendly.
We stop for lunch later on at a husky sledding centre, thankfully the huskies are tied up as I´m not sure we could outpace them on bikes just yet. Its a great feeling eating soup and sandwiches while sitting on a wooden bridge on the valley floor with a clear mountain steam flowing below you.
When we get to the start of the pass we see it´s not all that bad. It´s a steady gradient, very doable and we definitely don´t mind that we can´t see the end of the corkscrew. We grind up the pass in our bottom gears, watching for the lorries who seem to take the racing line down the pass. The road is plenty wide with two gravel run off areas but even small cars use the gravel to get a better line through the corners. The truckers are friendly though and most will give a wave. We wave back which is an acquired skill when you have panniers on your front wheel.

After a few false summits and about 10km of climbing we reach the top of the pass and see the other side of the mountain. The photos are here Below us we can see the old road, I think it´s in one of the photos but it looks lethal, gravel surface and no crash barriers so we´re glad to see the new road stretching down the far side of the valley at the side of lake fagnano.
We coast down the road hitting speeds of 45Km / hr and having to hold the bikes back from doing more. Some well earned free wheeling at last. Cycling with a loaded bike is a different kettle of fish and I joke that we´ll be qualified for our artic licences when we get home.

On the way down the pass we see a sign for a hostel but decide to push on. Bit of a rookie error as we are short water and later on the road is surrounded by swampy marshes with dead trees and no running streams. We needed water but knew the lake ran close to the road from our maps eventually so pushed on.
When we saw the sign for lago fagnano we followed the dirt track to what turned out to be a naval base. The C.O. let us camp on the lawn and use their hot water and jacks while their two massive alsatians made friends with us and watched us cooking up our stew. Very disciplined dogs as even though they are drooling they behave themselves till I throw them some bread.
A good end to the first day on the road with 70 kms and one mountain pass in the bag.

25-10-08
We wake, eat porridge and break camp. It takes us 2 hours from waking till we hit the road but I´m sure that will improve later. We hit the road to the next town, Tolhuin, its in a logging area and we get lunch and 2 days supply of bread to get us to rio grande.
We cycle on paved roads through miles of swampy half dead forest till it´s late in the evening and we pass an estancia. We go in and ask can we camp and some gauchos let us stay on their ranch. These fellas were proper tough gauchos; riding round bareback rounding up horses, rough houses with the radiators pegged outside, pups eating what looked like a horses head out the back and we had a job trying to figure out which one of them was in charge. Turns out the toughest loooking buck among them living out of the roughest house with the worst set of teeth I´ve seen in my life was in charge of the operation. Later we saw them corral horses on bareback with lassoos, very impressive and they seemed to enjoy what they were at.
We camp up the back of the farm beside the water shed and go to sleep to the sounds of bats night flying round us. 60kms today.
Sun 26-10
As we cycle along the road in the middle of the day we see lots cars pulled over to the side of the road. There´s smoke rising from the the trees opposite most of the cars. Turns out its a big tradition to head or the country with the family for an asado or BBQ. Good thing we´ve got enough food or the smell of the BBQ might be too much for hungry cyclists.
We have lunch at the side of the road not far from where a minibus full of family are having a BBQ. The sun is out and we´re sheltered from the wind which has been picking up and we both crash out and sleep. Later the younger people from the group wander over to look at our bikes and say hello. I think they´re not too impressed with our packet soup and ham sandwiches lunch so they return later, first with a steak and then with a big hunk of patagonian lamb. In the distance I hear the men in the group joking "ask them if they want red wine with that"
We´ve just ate lunch but the food tastes fantastic and later we chat with all the group as they are moving on.

Later when we hit the road the wind is strong. Normally on the flat paved roads we can easily do 15km 7 hr all day long but now we´re grinding out the miles at 10. Late in the evening when we see an estancia I call in to see if we can get some water I get chatting to Adrian the ranch owner who generously offers us a place to camp for free. His Son in Law Thomas even introduces us to the farm cook who throws our names in the pot with the farm hands. Thomas shows us to an old farm cottage where we bunk up for the night on old slatted beds. Estancia Viamonte has quite a history to it and Thomas who is originally from Buenos Aires seems to really like the place. Turns out he was educated by the Irish christian brothers in BA.
At dinner in the workers dining room The farm workers Adolfo, Pancho and Alfonso are a good laugh and they invite us back to their quarters to drink a mate. We chat for an hour in spanish and manage to pull off a decent conversation.
A great day for Argentine hospitality, we´re stuffed to the gills, have eaten two massive feeds of lamb and have a roof over our heads for free. Such friendly people.

Next morning we hit the road early to avoid the wind which picks up around 10 and peaks mid afternoon. I´m a bit sorry not to have stayed around to see the workings of the farm and chat to Thomas who is a real gent but we need to push on so we leave a thank you note and hit the road at 7 am to avoid the wind. The last stretch into Rio grande is tough as my porridge only seems to last the first hour and a half so I´m running on empty by the time I hit town and hour later.
Town is a windswept and unimpressive sprawl with a fair few derelict buildings. The camping we were headed for is closed. I´m very cold so I change into dry layers to warm up. and we manage to find hostel argenino. The owner is lovely and she makes us hot coffee with liquor and biscuits to warm us up.
We rest up for the remainder of the day and stay the next day as we´ve planned a rest day.
A good start to our travels so we do some planning for the next leg.