My time in Santiago was a hazy mix of spending over 10 hours a day on the computer and trying to do some preparations for what lay ahead. The Goal Zero people came through nicely with the warranty of my old solar panel (3rd panel connection was broken and overall efficiency below 50%) and Maxxis refered me to their Chilean distributor which hooked me up not with one but two 4.8” tires (not tubeless compatible but i managed to seat it tubeless)

Aside from that, I put off bleeding my front brake for the last moment and this is a perfect example of why I avoid doing maintenance on my bike. I set up the bleed to discover that I dont have one of the adapters, ended up unscrewing the rear brake lever and tried to bleed the front brake, in the meantime i touched the lever (some fluid came out) realized my mistake, closed the rear lever bleed screw and went out to look for the right adapter. Bleeding the brake all that came out was black fluid… odd… i closed it but doubt the front brake was done correctly, would the rear one work? we’ll find out… too late to get it done at a shop as they need few days for that.

turns out the route I have in mind is quite interestingly controlled - the creator requiring you to sign something OR search for 7 GPS unlock codes in a 700page PDF manual, full of rather redundant information for an experienced hiker (few chapters were very informative and specific to the trail though). I will have to chip on that on the way. I zoom down santiago with headphones playing some of the over 500 new songs that I discovered while in town.

I finally near the valley I was going up on and bam - its some national park or a reserve. The guy tells me that you cant stay overnight and I can only go 3km in, I say ok - I am going for a picnic. He charges me $8 and the ticket reads “nacional” which means he passed me the chilean resident rate. I find the trail and go, from there things escalated kind of quickly…

I get to shorten my chain a little bit, i am still running the same drivetrain since I got the bike, miracle its still working.

The topography is rather rough - presenting different bumps on either side of the valley and requiring a fair bit of up and down. The trail is quite difficult and I manage to get some pain on one of my knees from the steep descends. up and down, up and down - sometimes i take the wrong trail and need to backtrack a bit, as openstreet maps shows various trails on either side of the valley.

I wonder how far up the pass I can push it today as it is still early but a quick tasting of water of the last two streams proves disappointing. Very strong flavour or something funny and I wonder if its safe to drink. So i opt to set up camp and do 1hour round trip hike to the last good water source.

Two arieros show up that are gathering up their animals at the end of the chilean summer. They point me the right way and assure me that the trail can be done by horse (so no crazy rock ledges or too narrow hillsides). Note the medieval-like shin guards he is wearing, i need something like this, my legs are scratched up by thorns.

I slowly crawl my way up from 7am, the arieros pass me like a roadsign few hours later.

Not exactly the easiest trail but flat ridge sections were fairly rideable, i bounce confused between the two shown trails on the map until I realize that it is best to just aim to the right place and if i see a trail - good, if not - at least i am going in the right way

I finally set up behind some rocks which was the best wind protection i have seen all day and end up watching one of the best sunsets on the edge of the andes.

The morning is straight up walk to what it appears to be a mining road up on a 3500m ridge and toward some amazingly looking mountains. I choose the grassy part which although wet offers great traction and definitely easier than the rocks or the sand

remember how I tried to bleed my brakes? well the front one is completely shot and doesnt work at this altitude, I employ some creative rear braking combined with lowering my saddle and dragging my feet down the bumpy road.

A pickup spots me few switchbacks up and stops, waiting for me. This is “kind of a public road” and they are miners working way up. The boss invited me for lunch, shower and wifi at their camp and then actually turns around to make sure i dont miss it. This is Rio Tinto Chile, quite different from the welcome I got at Rio Tinto’s Kemano in Canada where I had to leave on my boat into the wind and across the bay and sleep in one of the cabins broken open by grizzlies!

the road winding down and up and it gets that kind of remote feel, i burn the rubber of my boots some more until the front brake starts working again.

Ever since Peru and especially Bolivia, you may have noticed that there is definitely less footage of people in the videos as I have been quite hesitant taking the camera out. In bolivia some people would run away when they see you or just step out of the road and face your back toward you. Or try to charge you money for passing near their house. This is certainly not the case here, some arieros waved me down from the road and invited me to some asado and even offered to sell me a horse (!). After two big lunches I obivously wasnt in such a rush to get down to town and began looking for a good place to camp. I skirted around the biggest underground mine in the world and set off for a nice hill to relax, no point in dropping into the populated lowland this late in the afternoon.

in the morning I quietly roll down the dusty road back to civilization

really unsure of my plan I get a room in Rancagua and do a shopping spree at the walmart. I figure all of this should last me about 10 days. Matt - a english/chilean whom I have been in touch and has helped me figuring out how to send things to Chile mentioned a route - La Travesia De Los Volcanes which was exactly where I planned to go and unlike my previous wandering between red lines, it will offer a tough but reliable track through the many possible options. Just two days to rest while riding pavement and then up in the mountains again.

once upon a time in Montana, the waitress at a bar said that she had never seen somebody order a pizza and fries at the same time but here in Chile - that’s a combo!

all of a sudden this brightly colored workers joined the road and pedaled like crazy for few kilometers.

big confusion with this chilean roads and signs, i am pretty sure i was on a 120km/h highway at some point.

I absolutely wandered to the wrong dead end alley as well…

but in the end I found peace on the quiet (although fenced) country roads and ended up camping on grass!

somehow, luckily there was always a way for bicycles

and while thinking that its so bad to be riding in so much dust, some people actually live by these roads.

and I was on the way to that smoking volcano

there were these parrot-like birds that can sometimes land on a tree and they are so loud that is almost painful to listen to, just like when i try to sing.

the following day I got to catch up with Matt who was able to take a day off and meet me here. He loves flying drones and a style that is FPV with goggles and quite more challenging than what I am used to. Basically it gives you complete control of the drone but it would take a couple of months to learn how to do it, I crashed once trying that. Luckily many of the drone parts are replaceable.

we drove up to a lake to fly around there

there was a group of pro mountain bikers training here and were about to descend, oddly I just got caught up talking to their trainer who knew that there was a trail across that ridge which should connect to my route, so instead of starting down below, I can start here - already at altitude of 2500m