This bike touring blog post covers my day's ride from Atocha to a wild camping spot near Tupiza in Bolivia. Part of my Alaska to Argentina bike tour.
A tough start to the day's cycling
Blog post written October 25th 2010
A breakfast over at the railway tracks of two fried things and a couple of cups of coffee before I left wasn’t quite good enough to get me up the initial steep hills without pushing the bike.
This was due to a combination of factors, such as every time a piece of my gear breaks, I have to replace it with a locally sourced alternative which is usually heavier. I was also tired from the day before, and the uphill really was very steep.
Not a great start, and in fact, this was to become a bit of a theme for the day, with me doing more pushing than I remember doing throughout the trip so far.
Today was a brutal, painful day.
A day where I could easily have become weak had alternative transport been available, but with rush hour traffic being a vehicle every hour, this wasn’t really an option.
This sign was not an exaggeration… It really was that steep, and I had just cycled up it!
Much ascending, descending to a dry river bed, and ascending again. Much to forget in fact!
At 18.30, and with 70 kms covered, I called it a day, and set up my wild camp at the top of a mountain. Pasta and tuna never tasted so good!
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