The full story of "At the Limit"

I had to do a lot of miles as there is really nothing between Comodora Rividavia and Rio Gallegos. I got a good early start and headed south. From the moment i left town the wind was strong from the west. I was heading due South so it was a broadside.
Immediately leaving the town you drive an Ruta 3 which is a beautiful run along the Atlantic coast. Very blue sea and long, deserted pebble beaches.
The road is a mess. The trucks (carrying oil & gas supplies) have created two monstrous ruts in the roads. They become about 6" deep wherever they stop or slow down (police check points, hills or tight bends). Not only that they also squeeze the tarmac up into pimples and 6" high, some times in rows. It was bad enough to run along the "tram lines" when the road was straight & the the wind not blowing but with 6" ruts on a tight bend and the wind trying to blow you over it was a bloody nightmare. There was a lot of roadwork going on to the side so no doubt in a year or so a new road will be here. At one point you have to join the construction road and drive along the gravel for a mile or two - this was actually easier than on the road!As I got further away from town the ruts got better, I assume due to less trucks using the road or perhaps they used better Tarmac.When the road turned left I could get a wiggle on as the wind was on my back.

Every time the road moved to the right i got it right in the ear and it tried to rip your head off..

If I thought i had seen barren open land earlier on this trip then i was wrong. The further south you go the more barren it becomes. What little vegetation is there is small, dark and sparse. It is still great to see but you feel more vulnerable the further you head in to it. Comodoro to Rio Galleghos is nearly 800 kms. The short version of events is; "Long wearing day on the bike". If you want the long version......

Despite looking for a town that hosted an hotel part way along the road, I couldn't find one in either of the two towns marked on the map -Santa Cruz or San Julian. I got an early start as there was no bail out plan and no short cut to the town is was heading towards.

Despite the less than comfortable start i got to Fitz Roy and got fuel. The bike got the usual attention especially from a guy who lived in Rio Grande, he also noticed the fishing rod, "very good fishing in Rio Grande". A friend of his had the same bike and toured Australia with it.......until he had a heart attack and died. That cheered me up!

With a full tank i got back on the road and fought the wind for another hour.

I saw a signpost for the Petrified Forest - it was 50kms each away on a gravel road. That would be an hour there (dead into wind) and an hour back. It felt wrong to pass but i couldn't afford 2 hours out of my day & there just wasn't anywhere nearby i could break my journey. I was petrified enough anyway.

Then i saw a bike & biker at the side of the road. I stopped to make sure he was ok, for a chat and an excuse to stop battling the wind for 10 minutes. Emilio was fine, swigging water from his bottle (he reminded me of Marc Devis with his easy smile). He is a Cartographer on his way south for a holiday from Mar Del Plata. His bike, a 200cc Honda.

We discussed the difference in horsepower and fuel capacity/usage. Whenever i say "we discused" I only understand 10-20% of what is going on! In the picture you can see what appears to be 2 large containers of Ribena. This is his fuel! He could only do about 140 kms on a tank & in this country that ain't enough! He could also only do about 100 kph. He was going to be on the road a long time!. He made a comment about no fuel, i took this to mean "it is a long way to the next fuel", which i knew and I still had virtually a full tank having only done 130 kms since filling up. I had the YPF (state pertol company) map and it showed two coming up at Tres Cerros and San Julian.

He also put a finger to his eye and pointed to the side of the road - "look out for animals" & then made a tumbling motion with his hands & whistled. I had been fighting the wind so hard that i had lost concentration on the animal point, it was a helpful reminder.

We shoke hands with "Suerte's" and headed off, i felt a bit guilty leaving him in my wake but there was no malice just practicality.

Shortly thereafter i passed Tres Cerros (not even a town really), still at an angle and still cursing the wind but now scanning the hinterland for animals. They seem to like to wait at the brow of hills or on bends. A large fluffy bundle of Guanaco was at the side of the road and further on, the tyre skid marks to show the point of one impact. This one looked recent.
I still had plenty of fuel and San Julian was only another 140kms.

The wind seemed to be getting even more fierce, it was getting into my helmet, making my eyes water and nose run. It was also a strain on my neck and shoulders as the wind tried to rip my head off. There were times when i just couldn't keep the bike on the right side of the road, the gusts were so strong i was nearly in the dirt on the far side. Luckily the oncomng traffic was light otherwise who knows......

Another issue was trying to pass the big trucks. With the gale force wind from the right and passing the trucks to the left you started the overtake leaning into the wind. Then you got buffeted by their wake. Once you got past the turbulence, you got sucked towards the side of the trailer so had to stand the bike up sharpish. Then you go to the bow wave of the cab which throws you left again at which point you lean towards the cab as you know you will get another blast from the wind as you pass in to the open.

The truck drivers seemed to appreicate the effort being made judging by the waves & flashes of lights. (i suppose they may have been concerned i was going to scratch their paintwork).

It got to the point where i would sit behind the trucks and wait for a left bend which put the wind more to the back which made it a little less frightening.

Sound too dramtic? Try it sometime! I have passed trucks in the UK many times but never with this degree of sideswipe.

I was pleased to tick off the miles to San Julian and a bit of lunch (I had missed breakfast in my rush to get going). The White YPF station stood out against the barren, slightly yellow tinge of the patagonian countryside around here. I pulled in and immediately saw no queue & orange cones by the pumps. This did not look good, but perhaps they were filling the tanks.
Nope! There was no fuel at San Julian! Judging by the pumps they had not been in use for some time. It is clearly marked on the YPF map. I thought back to Emilio's comment - this is what he was telling me! I wish i had done better in Spanish class!

Ok, how far is the next fuel stop? 120 kms..............F'ing hell! The last range reading i had from the bike was about 160kms. At face value, enough but with the wind and the hills there wouldn't be much left. I was also concerned that "what if this didn't have fuel? The next one at Santa Cruz was 40 kms further on - so that would be fumes at best!

This may seem like a huge margin in the UK where the biggest inconvienience would be a few miles walk & you would probably get a lift. I can not impress upon you just how remote it is down here. You drive for hours and not see any habitation and the amount of traffic is tiny.

I had my sticky bun and got going. The wind was as fierce as ever but now i was more worried about the fuel. There was a ridge to climb and the computer range dropped off far too quickly for my liking. I slowed down to 55 mph. And just to cap it all I could see rain showers on the next ridge ahead. Happy days!

A car had pulled over with a family stood beside it. I assume he had run out of fuel. I was glad that a truck had pulled up to help them! I was dreading my "low fuel" light coming on.

I made it with about 40kms left in the tank, so the computer was about right (allowing for my slowed progress) and the first station did have fuel! I was a great relief and i was very pleased to see the full gauge when i headed off again.

The wind would just not let up and the miles seemed to click up very slowly. Eventually i got to within 30kms of Rio Galleghos and a police check. They just asked where i was going & where i had come from, no problem. The last 30 kms were downwind and, somewhat bizzarely on a 2 lane highway (why would they build that here?). The sun also came out so i arrived in town the happiest i had been all day!

Enjoyable? No, not if iam honest (although the scenery is always impressive).

A challenge? Certainly.

Room, shower, beer, pasta (used their wifi to send the note to blog last night as the hotels wasn't working) and bed!