I recall clearly that when I started working with Carlos, my cycling coach last summer, I sent him the tour itinerary. He replied and asked if I knew about the Patagonia winds. He and his wife had visited (not on bikes) and the winds were fierce. “Oh, I read about them”, I glibly replied, “but this tour has been run before and they must be manageable.” Ha! Then when we experienced the wicked winds on the Argentine Pampas, I thought, “Well we survived that day. Can’t get much worse.” Ha!

Our first day out of El Chalten, a popular tourist destination near Mt Fitz Roy and Glaciers National Park, we road with an amazing tailwind for the first 85km. Smooth road, sunshine, super-strong tailwind…we finally have it easy.

After a somewhat gritty peanut butter sandwich (from blowing sand) eaten behind the lunch bus to hide from the wind, we zoomed down the road. “Oh no! We need to turn!” Holy moly, the wind became a side/headwind, my speed dropped from 60+km/hr to 10! Heads down, we were able to grind into it and reach our destination, a remote estancia or ranch that had once been the hideout of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There was a bar and tv for the World Cup obsessed among us with much joy and despair as England beat Wales.

Due to changes in our itinerary because of the multiple cancelled ferries a few days earlier, the group was bussed ahead for the equivalent of a day and a half of riding to put us back on schedule. The plan was to get off the bus in the afternoon and ride to our next border crossing once again back into Chile. As we drove, the winds became stronger snd stronger often shaking the bus. Our trusty guides debated “Where should we stop the bus, feed the riders lunch, and send them on their way? These winds are sooo strong!”

Finally they found a somewhat sheltered bend in the road and we parked and made lunch. It was now time to ride to the two border stops and get to camp. I figured that I was tough, got on my bike and started down the hill and around the curve in the road out of the somewhat sheltered area. OMG!!!!!! I WAS IMMEDIATELY BLOWN ACROSS THE ROAD!! Luckily there was no traffic so I survived to tell the tale. I got off my bike, turned around to walk back up the hill to the bus. To my amazement, the wind picked up my bike as I held on to it and blew it away from me so that the wheels were flying straight out into the air. It was all I could do to keep it from blowing away pulling me with it. Fortunately two of the staff came along in their truck, gave me and my bike a ride back up to the bus. Just a few of the larger men were able to ride at all with their stronger legs and more greater ballast. We ended up driving to the Argentina border crossing and then walking our bikes most or all of the 10km to the Chilean border crossing. The bus and truck that had been carrying us could not proceed across the border. It was unbelievably difficult to walk into that wind as each time you lifted your foot the wind would nearly blow you backwards!! Never again will I see wind in quite the same way!

That night a few of us found lodging and were able to dine and sleep out of the wind.

Fortunately the following day the wind was not nearly as strong. On to Puerto Natales and another amazing national park, Torres del Paine.

Ciao!