Puerto Varas to Hosteria 20 kms short of Los Lagos

Distance: 100.85 miles

Average speed: 17.5mph

Moving time: 5h43

Door to door: 9h58

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First day of our week long challenge to cycle 100 miles each day.

Still determined to reach Cartagena in 120/130 days we realised that we needed to make up some time after the ‘ripio’ of the Carretera Austral had tried its best at slowing us down. Somewhat foolishly therefore we decided that by setting this challenge we would have no choice but to keep going even when things went wrong, although neither of us imagined that we would end up setting up the tent in the dark on 5/7 nights.

 As Monday morning dawned and the reality of the challenge ahead began to hit us, our preparations for the week ahead could not have been worse as the symptoms of man flu threatened to thwart us before we even got going.

However, after a successful trip to the pharmacy we persevered and joined the Ruta 5 out of Puerto Varas. The Ruta 5 acts as the main artery linking North and South, making it Chile’s busiest highway and its hard shoulder our home for the next 7 days as it would be the fastest way for us to travel North.

With the wind on our side and finally smooth tarmac stretching for miles ahead of us we soon made quick progress, both remarking how ‘nice’ it was to be on the main road.

Our good spirits were sadly soon crushed as Roos front tyre practically exploded after 50 miles meaning a time consuming repair job and any prospect of finishing in the day light over. As a result as the sun went down we still had a further 30 miles to cycle, on a narrow hard shoulder with only heavily loaded lorries to keep us company.

Fortunately we had amazing lights from exposure which illuminated the path ahead, some great petrol stations to keep us going and the fact that a 30 mile cycle in the dark on the hard shoulder of Chile’s busiest motorway seemed like just another mini adventure or hurdle, with us both enjoying the challenge.

Finally at 1130 we pulled in to a roadside cafe, relieved that our speedometer flashed 100 miles and we could finally stop.Too tired to look for a better spot, we set the tent up practically on the hard shoulder, passing out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.