(November 3 – written by Dave) Today Ruta 5 got everything right.  No heavy truck traffic like we saw on Wednesday.  No crazy holiday travel traffic like we saw on Thursday.  No rain like we saw on yesterday.  We had nothing but a calm, quiet, dry road all day.  It was so quiet that we … Continue reading Falls day –San Carlos to Salto del Laja (106k/23,794k, 1,450ft)

(November 2 – written by Dave) First up a report on I-5, it’s been such a big part of our lives the last three days.  Today it was almost a completely different road in terms of the amount of traffic.  It is day 2 of a 4 day weekend – meaning most folks heading out … Continue reading Fun highway day, mostly – Linares to San Carlos (89k/23,688k, 450ft)

(November 1 – written by Dave) Yesterday we discovered the lower fun factor of riding I-5.  And while yesterday was a Wednesday, it was technically the last day before a long weekend.  Today and tomorrow are holidays here in Chile (today is All Saints Day, tomorrow is Reformation Day).  So a good deal of the … Continue reading Un-Highway day – Talca to Linares (71k/23,599k, 700ft)

(October 31 – written by Dave) Today was a long day, but a lot of it was ridden on Ruta 5, what we have been calling “I-5”.  It is not technically an interstate but that’s our story.  I-5 riding was not overly exciting except in perhaps the stressful way.  I-5 is a dual carriage way … Continue reading Highway day – Santa Cruz to Talca (132k/23,529k, 1,350m)

(October 30 – written by Dave) On our rest day today, we had to very simple goals.  Number one, build Nancy a new kick stand for her bike.  Number two, find a vineyard where we could sample some of the area’s Chilean wine varieties.  I am happy to report that we were successful on both … Continue reading Wine tasting and “kicking back” in Santa Cruz

(October 29 – written by Dave) We got rained on!  Stop the presses.  Last night at camp, we had about 20 drops on the tent, creating a flurry of “get everything under cover”.  Then the rain stopped.  It rained several times overnight, at about the same level.  Then today riding we had about 1 minute … Continue reading Rain day, sort of – Lago Rapel to Santa Cruz (64k/23,396k, 650m)

(October 28 – written by Dave) Last night, as expected, our neighbours kicked on with the karaoke machine.  But honestly, they didn’t have the volume overly loaded and they seemed to tire pretty quickly.  This morning I had vivid memories of a really bad falsetto rendition of the Bee Gees “More than a Woman” rattling … Continue reading Re-routing – Melipilla to Lago Rapel (61k/23,332k, 1,600m)

(October 27 – written by Dave) I am happy to report that we only used two of our six beds last night, temping as it was to hop around a little.  The hostel was quiet and we slept well.  This morning we had brekkie in the hostel dining room and visited more with Daniel and … Continue reading Backroad Chile – Casablanca to Melipilla (68k/23,271k, 1,500m)

(October 26 – written by Nancy) We were up relatively early this morning to try to get out of Valparaiso before the morning rush hour traffic got too bad.  Well, maybe not as early as Dave wanted, since I was in charge of setting the alarm last night – actually I only gave us an … Continue reading Backtracks – Valparaiso to Casablanca (56k/23,203k, 2,500m)

(October 24-25 – written by Dave) We’ve spent the last couple days relaxing and being tourists in Valparaiso, Chile.  It’s a pretty interesting city with an eclectic edgy feel to it.  Until the Spanish arrived in 1536, the area was home several nomadic native populations that didn’t really have the need for a port or … Continue reading Valparaiso, Chile – graffiti city