Mountain Biking in Bariolche

For us, it just isn't summer if it doesn't include mountain biking. As we mentioned before, we have settled into Bariloche, Argentina for the next 2 weeks. We crawled around town to find the bike shops and ended up choosing the shop recommended by Backroads. We met a really nice guy named, Rodrigo, and we talked about our riding options. The plan was to ride together on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week. So, yesterday, we showed up ready to ride with our pedals and seats. Unfortunately, Rodrigo had spent the prior night sick and trust us, he looked sick. He agreed to prep the bikes and give us a ride option that we could do by ourselves. Seriously, as bad as he looked, we didn't want to catch what he had and he looked like he might not make it 15 minutes on a bike.

We headed off out of town. We eventually made our way to a dirt road that goes to a "refugio". You can think of a refugio as a back country hut or cabin. They vary in size and some are quite nice while others are very primitive. There is typically a shared kitchen and there may be rooms with bunks. At best, it is a place to eat and sleep. At the most primitive, it is a place to get out of the weather. Our ride took us along a river (very low water) and up the "Andean Step". It was a marked change from the open landscape with low scrubby plants into the forest. The forest is very different than the Pacific Northwest. The soil is sandy, the trees don't grow super tall, and there is a ton of sunlight that reaches the forest floor. This is a very light and open place while still offering shade. We arrived at the refugio and were able to buy a cold soda and a chocolate dipped Alfajore. For those of you that don't know, an Alfajore is a "sandwich" style cookie. In some cases, the two cookies are very soft almost like a molasses bread. In some cases, it is crumbly like a shortbread. In all cases, the center of the "sandwich" is caramel de leche (caramelized condensed milk). While the Peruvians lay claim to the cookie, the Chileans and Argentines much be given credit for the improvements --- dipping the whole sandwich in chocolate. Alfajores and cold drinks were really a great treat at the end of the ~2000ft climb.

Today, we met Rodrigo in the morning. He looked like a totally new man and completely recovered. We were shuttled out of town with the plan to ride 18km of single-track into another refugio. Things started out very well. It was very nice single-track with a few rocks and roots. The scenery was fantastic. And, then as things sometimes happen --- the trail changed. We were actually riding on a hiking trail. After 8km, the trail changed into a real hiking trail and we were reduced to pushing or carrying the bike. We forged on for a while, but the trail didn't change. The gringos called it we decided to turn around. It was a nice ride, while it lasted. It must be the case that the mountain bikers in Argentina love to carry their bikes. This was not a "hike a bike" section. It became a hiking trail with no room to push or carry the bike. We reversed ourselves and got onto some dirt roads that took us around a beautiful lake. The wind had whipped up and it whipped us. It was a good day --- 53km in total, legs mauled by torn bushes, faces covered in dirt, and a dinner earned at the steak house!

Tomorrow, we rest and ride again on Thursday.