Next challenge?

[Chile Pepper]

I'm back from vacation--had a great time cycling in Napa, and I really enjoyed the Healdsburg metric. My ride time on that was 3:55, which is faster than my usual (solo) avereage speed.

For my next challenge, I am considering the "Conquista de los Dinosaurios" here in Chile. The thing that puts me off is that it's on a dirt road, so I would have to use my mountain bike. It's 82 km (= 49.2 miles), and it involves a steady climb of 1,410 meters (= 4,626 feet). If I'm doing my calculations correctly, that's a 1.78% slope on average. Here's a link to the climb profile: http://www.mundoterra.cl/datosinteres/Altimetria-de-un-corredor.html

Would this be fun, or just painful? Crazy or doable?

[onimity]

I think that sounds like a lot of fun! I googled it and some of the pictures on the site look crazy. :) That's definitely a good deal of climbing, especially on dirt but at least the starting altitude isn't too bad. I did a little mountain biking in San Pedro de Atacama in December and the altitude killed me (not to mention the heat!)

Another great ride is the so-called (<-and with good reason!) World's Most Dangerous Road out of La Paz, though the road sees a lot less traffic now that an alternate route has been built. Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking (www.gravitybolivia.com) is great. They do a lot of other rides as well, all MTB.

I have this crazy idea of cycling the length of Chile some day. I was reading the blog of a guy that did the same and saw the entry where he approached the Argentine border at Paso los Libertadores. Crazy!!!

Anyhow, I hope you do give it a shot and post pictures!

Anne

[tygab]

Chile is such a beautiful country. I can't wait to go back someday and when I do I would love to cycle (and do more kayaking).

I think the ride sounds like fun. You won't know unless you try it! Post pictures, too!

[Chile Pepper]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll have to get out my MTB this weekend and see if we get along better than I remember. Most of the organized rides here are on dirt roads or trails, so MTBing would certainly open up possibilities. California was impressive for all the options in terms of roads--it's tempting to move back just to have somewhere to ride! Here, if you want to go anywhere, you wind up on the highway (or dirt).

tygab, do you sea kayak or whitewater? I used to whitewater--that's one of the main reasons I stayed in Chile! Beautiful rivers in the south.