we made it to chile...and it´s still hot outside!

i remember the first day i began this tour. the first day on my bike that is. i was intensely wondering what it was i was supposed to be doing on tour. what should i see? what should i be feeling? what should i be doing with my days...

as the kilometers started piling up and the roads changing and the scenery becoming more intense i began (and still am) learning what it means to be on a journey.

the most reoccuring question on this trip has been ¨where are you going?¨ most often we tell them the tip of south america. it is the end goal...it is the point at which we will run out of terrain, without turning around, to keep riding and thereby the question answers itself. but whether or not we´ll actually make it there remains yet to be seen. and the reason being is that the journey actually unfolds differently. for example, yesterday we stopped to eat lunch under the shade of a tree in a small town before crossing the border into chile. the road was rough and we had taken a wrong turn earlier and then found a short cut via asking two laughing girls that put us back on track. in this small town of about one city block was this tree where we lazily set up our lunch. at this point we were suddenly aware of about ten people gawking at us. the curiosity on both ours and their part was laughable. we quickly broke the silence by asking for hot water for a cup of matte, chatting with the children, and buying some bread and juice. this whole event of lunch then took three hours and as a parting gift we were presented with a frozen bottle of water which at first we thought was going to be difficult to carry but in the end we were really grateful for. it was hot outside. as we were later riding to the chilaen border those same people had piled into their car and met us shortly before the border to wave us goodbye again. it´s moments like these that happen time and time again that make this more than just a point a to b journey. i sometimes feel like i might be letting down the entire cycling community by not riding as hard as fast as i can but what is the use? so much of the scenery isn´t in the mountain scapes it´s in the experiences along the way. well, all of you out there knew that and i suppose i did too but as i look at a map of where we´ll go and what we´ll see i realize i can only keep a tentative plan...

for this moment, we have made it into chile. crossing the border on our bikes was a thrill like nothing i´ve experienced before. there among the line of cars come four girls on bike and a puppet (who by the way did not need a passport...whew!). the border guards kindly offered us massages should we need them...uhhh right. our farmer, loni, has now gone back to her farm. she was a fabulous edition to our expedition. we miss her already. we have taken a spontaneous rest day here in futeleufu, chile. we met a new friend jorge whose opening line to us was ¨i like anything 80´s¨. when i have a moment to post the pictures you´ll see it´s true. he showed us where the river was and where a nice place to camp would be. for this bit of information we are grateful. we have only paid for a place to stay on occasion and a free spot with a spectacular view is always preferred. the other night, for example, the fire department outside of trevelin allowed us to camp outside of their firehouse and even let us use a well earned HOT shower!!! in exchange we delighted them with stories of our adventures...the treacherous roads, the silly repairs, and the idea of an open adventure that i could tell pricked their imaginations!

chile itself looks the same as argentina though the border patrol assured us the days would be a bit cooler, the roads smoother, the men sweeter, and more shade en route...we´ll have to see about this won´t we?

to say it´s beautiful here would be redundant. to say the roads are difficult would also be somewhat redundant. we are now on days without pavement and we don´t expect to see it again soon. we remain curious to see what kind of gravely roads are ahead of us. but, everything is temporary...an awful road can only last so long, a hill can only be so high and in the end when we are tired mentally or physically we need only seek out a tree to rest under and enjoy the company of each other, a horse, a cow, or other weary travelers on the road. our community exists everywhere we go.

on a side note...well not so much a side note...cari ¨bomber down the mountains¨ stebbins took a spill on a winding gravel road. her bruises indicate that she hit a bump and skidded sideways down the mountain. thankfully she is only left with some hardcore markings and a fantastic story! believe it or not, this hasn´t slowed her down...it has however put the fear into me!

well that´s all i have to say today. well, one more thing...in the park in trevelin we ran into two portland cyclists who are connected with the eugene mountain biking community. their names escape me now but for those of you who know of two portland cyclists in argentina, we met them by happenstance.

cheers to all.
the crew.

gear update: my cycling gloves fell over a bridge. cari has one left glove which helps. gloves seem like a pansy thing but sweaty hands mean slipping around on the bars which can be dangerous. my left arm is also shorter than the right so if i naturally slip to the left so it´s kind of essential to have a left glove. crazy story.

the tent has a few holes in it. it blew away one day and flipped over two barbed wire fences. we finally got it back and i put some tent repair tape on our little turtle shell.

my topeak road morph foot pedal broke but i made a new one using a sardine can pin that we found on the side of the road and cutting off a piece of plastic from my patch kit.

and now, for your reading pleasure chapter one of ¨tales from the back of the bike...the life of a puppet¨ by margo

it was a bitterly cold morning that morning we started. i was snuggled inside the tent squished under someone´s foot and someone´s head. after managing to wriggle myself out i gently whispered in the riders´ ears to wake up. jude, woke up in usual groggy fashion and gave me the ¨five minutes more¨stare which is different than the ¨puppet..shhhh¨ stare by only the movement of one eyebrow.

after finally managing to wake the crew up we sat around the stove silently eating, shivering and waiting for the sun to come over the mountains. the dew still on our tent our bikes and the back of the bag i ride in. thankfully this morning jude remembers to save me a crust of bread and secretly slips me a sip of matte and a cookie. afterward i get tucked into the back of the bag where i´m able to see the world go by and the wind rush through my purple hair without any effort!

i can tell when we´re going up hill and how hard of a hill it is. we slow down so much i can see a bright orange butterfly coasting by us. i can hear the sweet giggles of the butterfly as she passes us. sweat comes flying back at me like a thunderstorm and i can see cari´s strained face in front of me. she looks concentrated as a hammer thwacking a nail as she´s climbing. i get scared...we´re going higher and higher and if we fall did we bring enough thread to put me back together again? then it comes...i can see the expression change on cari´s face...her smile doesn´t even fit on her face...there must be a---wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! we´re going so fast now. we rattle over the washboards in the road trying to avoid the big rocks but this isn´t always possible. i get bike sick on occasion and i keep my focus on the turqouise lake to my right. how sweet it looks...who lives under that glassy blanket?

when we finally stop for lunch i take a moment to fix my hair. it´s rumpled. i need another cookie. on this particular day there are a bunch of school children gathered...wait, they´re staring at me!!! i´m popular with the little ones...that´s how come i´m so dirty. their fingers get in my eyes and on my striped body. they leave behind smudges from their lives and their adventures. the dirtier i get the prettier i get, i think. at this moment jude notices them and we begin our routine. she gently puts me on her right hand and in that instant my inner thoughts are given a human voice. i have perfected a smile, a grimace, a laugh, and a burp after delighting my audience with my number on trick...eating a cookie!!!

after lunch i take a little nap before finding my way back to my riding position. this time leah is in front of me. sometimes leah makes faces at me and i laugh so hard i almost fall out of my pack. i try to make faces back at her but i´m laughing so hard that i can´t. i wish i had a tongue. leah always sticks her tongue out at me and i wish i could do the same!

this particular afternoon is good for my imagination. i´m pretending i´m an explorer discovering these lands for the first time. i make mental notes of the geologic formations we pass through--the various striations in the rocks and in particular their colors. i trace the horizon with my eyes and commit it to memory to make contour drawings later. i pretend i have to report back my findings and use a glove hanging off the side of the backpack as my communication device...¨hello mission control this is margo c. puppet reporting from patagonia do you read me?¨ i wait for a response. it comes in fuzzy and i begin to report my findings starting with my location. ¨we are just below the big jagged mountain point that looks like a hook finger heading north. the rock is a creamy vanilla color...¨

by the end of the day i´m exhausted and as i drift to sleep even before everyone has brushed their teeth i can´t help but wonder what tomorrow holds...