I rode down into Argentina through one of their ski resorts and it was a quintessentially tourist resort... Lots a log cabins and monied people and expensive outdoor gear shops etc... Reminded me completely of Whistler in BC Canada.
Then I rode on to the major tourist town of Bariloche... I got there after a bit over an hour of riding and found a bank machine to get out some local money. Then I found a place to eat and discovered that things are just as, if not more, expensive here as in Chile... bummer!
It was now late in the day (almost evening) but I didnt like the feel of the town that much... Too yuppie and full of tourists on their "manic" holiday breaks... So, I rode out of town and found a nook off the side of the road to camp... Much better :)
It rained quite a bit overnight but it was dry in the morning when I packed up (though the tent was sodden).
Then I set off South (as per the new plan). The "ruta cuarenta" starts from Bariloche so it was no problem getting on the right road. Then it was good pavement winding through the beautiful lakes district for a couple of hours.
Then there was a short break of an hour or so while I had to wait for a fuel truck to arrive at the gas station in a tiny little town along the way. Seems they are having trouble keeping up with the demand from all the tourists here too!
So, I had lunch while I waited,
Then South again and the road quickly became dirt... They have a name for these dirt roads down here..., Ripillo! (Which I thought meant "ripples" on account of the corrugations; but apparently it just means gravel!)
The road is wide and its covered with that coarse gravel that I dislike so much...
But its not as bad as that, because the traffic has moved the loose gravel off the firmer base layer into long high lanes. And those loose rows of gravel can be easily 30cm high in places! There are anywhere between two and seven wheel ruts to work with (though two to four is most common) and if I stick to the wheel lanes Im OK and can often go quite quickly... Up to highway speeds of 100 -110 Kmh. But the lanes are only narrow. Usually 30 - 50 cm wide or so.
And if I should stray into the loose stuff (for example when a gust of 100Kmh wind should blow... as it often does down here!).... Well, Just dont do that!
And there are plenty of other little aspects that just add to the fun of these roads. They include cattle grids where a fence crosses the road... At these points the wheel lanes diminish to just two but in doing so, the loose gravel gets smoothed back out and the bike gets "dancy".
There are of course plenty of potholes and then there is lots of corrrruuuuggggaaaatttiiiooonnnsss!!!!!
For those people who dont know, there is a definite technique to driving on corrugated roads. And that technique is quite simple... You go as fast as you possibly can! :)
It actually works very well... You end up just skipping along the tops of all the little ripples. This makes for a fast and surprisingly smooth ride, and it definitely saves the vehicle from being vibrated to pieces.
But there is a down side... Which is that travelling at high speeds on loose gravel roads does rather diminish ones control!!
And thats fine if the road is straight (dont even need it very wide). But if the road is windy, or there are obstacles like sheep or potholes or trucks coming the other way etc... Well, then things can get interesting!
Actually on a directly related note, the most common cause of vehicle related deaths in the remote parts of Northern Australia is called and SVO... It means "single vehicle roll over" and its because people are driving fast on corrugated roads when something gets in the way... This is usually a kangaroo hoping out onto the road... Though Id suspect that there is often alcohol involved and sleep deprivation too... Anyway going fast on loose surfaces can be tricky!
So, back to my tale.
Im doing OK on these roads. Ive gotten through about 300Km in the afternoon and its looking good. The bike is holding up (only had to tighten bolts up twice) and Im making good progress. Ive had the bike go all swimmy on me a few times but the procedure to solve this is to imediately apply more power and to "stand" on the foot pegs. This stabilises the back end of the bike and moves the CG much lower... Works great if you do it right, but of course if you do it wrong then it just makes things worse and you are then going even faster with even less control!!!
All good fun :))
Its late in the day again and its now started raining in patches which is just adding to the "Sport" of these riding conditions :)
Im about half an hour from my planned destination and its about 7pm...
But the roads are very wet and there are plenty of sections of road where the water is laying in large puddles and in the corrugations... Water pretty much always makes driving conditions worse... Things get slipperier (if thats possible in these conditions!)... I have no choice but to slow down and get the RRROOOUUUGHGH ride.
But there comes a section of road where they have used just a bit too much clay in the dirt mix. Its very slippery. I slow right down to about 40Kmh and am going carefully. There is evidence of big trucks getting stuck on the steep bits... One even used a bunch of sheep skins to get traction out of a slippery spot!... Guess thats what he had available?
Anyway... just when I think Im about through this slippery bit it turns out that Im wrong!... The bike goes all squirmy on me and then I find Im sliding along pointed at about 30 degrees to my direction of travel! Im going at about 40Kmh and it doesnt seem to matter what I do with the throttle or the steering... It just stays how it is (the big bikes inertia is holding it there)... for several seconds!
... and I think to my self "Oh dear; I bet I know what happens next!" :))
And yep, Sure enough, finally the front wheel catches on something and then the big bike goes down real quick... Its called a "high side" crash in motorbike terminology :)
Im thrown off ahead of the bike... But Im going slow. I almost step of the bike but not quite, so I "tuck and roll"... As I come right side up, I push off with an elbow and dig my heel in, and Im up on my feet and I run two or three steps while I come to a stop... All good :)))
I look back, and the bike is just "relaxing" there on its side in the middle of the muddy road :)))
OK, It takes me a couple of minutes but I just manage to stand the bike back up. I get on and start it up and check things out. I get it off to the side of the road and reload the tank bag and straighten out the hand sets etc... And I thought I was wet and dirty before I fell off !!! :)))
Back on the bike... Riding very slowly for about a Km... Then things get better and Im up to 60Kmh again... Then I finally hit pavement and can go at normal speeds. Twenty minutes more and Im in the next little town and filling up with gas.
I think Ill call it a day here, and I think Ill spring for a nice warm dry room tonight as well :))
A good day.
