Patagonia, Day 4 - Bariloche to Esquel

Last night, anyone with a room overlooking the street was woken in the wee small hours by a live band playing rock and pops songs. Apparently they were quite good, but in my foggy haze I couldn't tell. Duff says the drumming was dull but in time. It stopped at about 430 in the morning. Despite this, we're all at breakfast bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Well, we're all at breakfast.

The morning's riding starts with a trip to Llao Llao; the place we rode to last night. We spend a little longer at the famous hotel than we did yesterday, before the whole group dissolves and somehow leaves me alone. Even Cory has gone. Realising something's up, I head back down to the main road and catch up with Cory, who seems rather bemused that I'm behind him. As sweeper, Cory should always be at the back of the group picking up the pieces.

View from Llao Llao Hotel

After the Llao Llao hotel we complete the Llao Llao circuit. This is a loop of about 50km that takes in some very beautiful and tranquil scenery on or about the various lakes and islands here. On one island in the distance is what I presume is a large hotel, but set on a hill top among the tree, it could equally be the lair of an evil James Bond villain. What ever it is, it looks impressive.

Moving on we encounter a short gravel road which links to the main road south, Ruta 40. It gives me a chance to experiment with the "Enduro" mode on my bike. It had been in rain mode after already playing earlier, but I soon discover that makes the traction control kick in way too early and results in a very juddery lack of progress. Enduro mode allows a certain level of wheel spin, essential for getting anywhere on loose gravely or sandy terrains. With Enduro enabled I am able to traverse the road; the alternative is to turn off traction control altogether, but with 125 wild ponys to control, that's for men with hair on their chests.

Joining Ruta 40, we make good time to our lunch stop by a lake. No fine dining, today we make our own sandwiches from a collection of savoury goodies. Before lunch is setup, AJ and I go for a swim in the lake. Cold at first, but very refreshing; and I've always wanted to be a commando.

The afternoon sees us running along roads surrounded by mountains that could be the Alps, Italy even, perhaps the Dolomites? Later we enter another forest filled with the same dead grey trees we saw yesterday on the Chile/Argentine border. The road winds its way through the hills and emerges eventually onto a plain. A long road, holding hands with telegraph poles, goes on forever, straight as a die and just invites right hand abuse.

My experimentation with the Electronic Suspension Adjustment on my bike has revealed that "hard" is best in the twisties to keep good control, but for less demanding roads "soft" or "normal" smooths the ride very well indeed. Never has ESA worked so well for me! (Professional joke there)

Dynamic ESA - where the magic happens

The afternoon is sweltering again, and most of us are riding with minimal outers and relying on our riding armour to deflect the flies from our delicate Nivea softened skin. Doesn't work so well where there's a gap in the armour; a fly, wasp or bee hitting you at 100kph can be painful. My bike temperature gauge says 28C, but it feels hotter. We stop for an ice cream, but the small bespectacled serving girl ('Surly Sally') refuses to serve us unless we speak Spanish and pay first. The queue thus moves very slowly. At some point we stop again for petrol, typically every 250km, and in the heat we all huddle together under the shade of a tree, looking very much like cattle under the only shade in a hot field.

Our stay for tonight is the Hosteria Angelina in a small town called Esquel. Seems to be thriving and busy but there's no obvious sign of what supports it. Steve and I go for another run and make our way through the poorer end of the town and all the way to the top of the local rocky hill overlooking the urban landscape. The view is grand as we're over 250m above the town.

Aye, a grand view, lad

Another early start tomorrow as we cross the border again back into Chile. Hopefully that band that woke us this morning, isn't on tour and won't be playing Esquel tonight.

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Sent from the dusty road using my rusty BlackBerry