Patagonian Winds

Time certainly is flying by. We are now on a Chilean ferry traveling for 4 days up the Pacific side of Chile. t is a beautiful area filled with glaciers, mountains, volcano’s and fiords. Our shipmates number 120 hearty individuals from maybe 20 or so countries, 8 motorcycles and maybe 100 cows on their way to slaughter. The ship is decent, not luxury but it has an open bridge allowing you a different perspective on where you are going.

We started in Puerto Natales in Tierra del Fuego came up thru the straits of Magellan and north thru what seems to be an infinite labyrinth of canals and channels. Dolphins, whales and various flying birds follow us. Our destination is Puerto Montt. A little fishing port where the road begins again. We will try to visit Chiloe a small island accessible from Puerto Montt. They believe in a distinctive mythology based on forest gnomes, ghost ships and witchcraft all intertwined with a dab of Catholicism. It is also the king crab capital of the world.



We have been gone for nearly four months now. Driven 10,000 miles or approximately 16,000 kilometers. Visited 5 countries with more to come.

We have definitely spent the most time in Argentina which I now call Largentina. It is huge when you have to ride across it. From the southernmost city to the north is well over 5,000 k.

We put a more aggressive off road type tire to help us through the ripio or gravel roads. Other than the lack of vegetables it has been my favorite country overall. The meat is great I just can’t eat it everyday. You know what they say,” The first kilo of meat is kind of hard to digest but the next two are much easier“. Fruits are plentiful seasonally, the folks here smile and are extremely friendly. Except one night when we could have used a little more help.

The story starts with a road called Ruta 40, a road that cuts about 3,000 kilometers, north and south down Argentina’s western border with Chile. It joins many small towns some with attractions others with only sheep and cattle. It winds down through the lakes district following the Andes all the way to Tierra del Fuego and then onto Ushuaia the southernmost occupied city in the world.

It is good asphalt, bad asphalt, dirt, gravel(ripio), and everything in between. There are herds of wild guanaco’s alongside the road( a beautiful llama like animal), rhea’s ( Argentina’s version of the road runner) running as fast as us, and if you are really lucky condors and flamingos. You can ride for an hour or more without seeing another vehicle approaching you.
The scenery along Ruta 40 changes from snow capped alpine mountains, to dry Grand Canyon like vistas and lastly the forever Pampa. I say forever because you can ride on one for a day or so. Beautiful landscape!

The only problem we had were the winds.The winds constantly blow at 40k per hour(26mph) gusting to 80k(53mph), with speeds often recorded at 120k (80mph).

The day started as usual, 250 miles to do, no big deal. The winds were crossing the highway perpendicularly at between 40 and 60 k (26 to 40mph).Enough to keep your bike leaned 30 degrees, with the occasional gust blowing you into the oncoming lane. No big deal we had done this before and it really couldn’t get any worse, could it? We were about to change direction on the pampa or so the gps said and we were thirsty so we stopped for a beverage at the last gas station for the next 75 miles. Seventy five miles, its only 4:00 P.M. no problem!! A man we met at the station told us in his broken English just "to be happy" and that the winds were stronger when there was a black moon. Whatever that meant!

We started off following a custom car group that was heading our direction. Safety in numbers. We were soon left behind. The wind had temporarily changed direction and was coming at us head on. The bike could hardly muster more than 25 mph. I checked the gps and it was now 6:00 P.M. and soon the road would make a 90 degree turn.

That worried me a little not knowing what would happen with the wind when we made that turn. The turn came and miraculously as we headed up another 300 meters the wind stopped. We came out on top of our new pampa and got hit with the big Kahuna! It blew form the left, then it would switch to the right and once in awhile slap our backs. I couldn’t control the motorcycle and with the wind shifting so rapidly it would put the front end into a freaky shudder.

We stopped on the side of the road and struggled to speak to one another over the howling wind. Sunset was another hour away. Should we go on or prepare to spend the night in a ravine. The bike was sitting on its side stand with the two of us holding it up so it wouldn’t fall. The gusts were lifting the front wheel from the ground. The appeal of spending the cold night out in the open was not high on our list. After 30 minutes we decided to inch another 4 k to a cross road on the map.

When we arrived there appeared one light, a three table restaurant in the most god forsaken place. Just a cross road with one building and several trucks outside. We managed to park the bike in a semi protected area and went in. Three or four other people were inside so we ordered a couple of bowls of soup and mapped out a strategy. We would wait till closing and maybe one of two scenarios would play out. First the winds could die down, (wishful thinking) or second we would throw ourselves at the restaurant owners feet and beg him to allow us to sleep on the floor of the restaurant. The wind was howling outside, the soup was great and the terminator was on television. We felt safe, this was all going to work out. We would get up early the next morning and continue into Comodoro Rivadivia at a reasonable pace. Closing time came, the owner collected his money from us and we asked the big question. The answer was,” no way “ and his gestures suggested that he wanted us out of there. We suited back up and walked outside feeling pretty warm and fuzzy after the 12 bowls of soup we each had.

It is now 11:00 P.M. We immediately realize the wind or viento had not diminished at all. We could only try to make the last 40 k as sloooowly as possible. The idea was ominous, we started and managed to respectfully control the bike in second gear maybe even third at 20 kph. We couldn’t drive forward when a truck or bus would approach us since we would be blown right into their lane. Stopping and holding on was all we could do. As we approached the city we were relieved when we began a descent from the pampa towards the coast and the wind temporarily stopped. We can do this we both thought. Our minds turned to positive thoughts.

We arrive at the outskirts of the town and there is the same velocity of wind only this time it is moving half the Atlantic coastline with it. It was like being in a sand blaster. We inched our way towards the city center, small cats and dogs were flying across the road in front of us. The first hotel appeared, we stopped the bike nearly fell over and checked in for $200.00 a night. Way over budget but at 3:00 A.M. We just kissed the ground in the parking ramp, went upstairs, showered, fell into bed exhausted and wondered how lucky we had been that the other scenarios running through our minds hadn’t played out. The next morning we found out that the winds had been clocked at 120 kph (80 mph).

Check out this Patagonian babe trying to talk in the wind.

We are now almost to Puerto Montt in Chile and we are hoping that there are no winds in the Chilean Patagonia. After that night in the open it really can’t get any worse, can it.
All the Best,
Happy New Year