7th of January – Rio Mayo to Gobernador Gregores via Las Horquetas – 480km, 8:15 hours

Next day wind in the deserted streets of Rio Mayo. Coffee in the first class restaurant of the village (the food was really good the evening before), breakfast with some bought items from the local store on the street. Start, and once we were over the first hill wind, wind, wind with some strong gusts. Later this developed to a serious storm. On the flat surface of the Pampa the storm was so fierce that I was hardly able to keep the bike on the road. Down to 40km/h and in a 45° angle I needed my whole lane to steer straight. I tried everything to lean into the wind or to make us as small or as streamlined as we could be to cope with the storm. Two times we were just pushed over to the other side of the street, I felt the front wheel lifting! When additionally a sand storm occurred I thought I could take a picture. At this moment the wind came from the back. I stopped the bike in 2nd gear and why fumbling to get out the camera we were just pushed forward, crazy. No chance and it became also clear that we would be in serious trouble if we would have to stop somewhere. One cannot hide anywhere from the storm, out there is simply nothing to hide. Maybe one can just lie flat on the earth with closed helmet and wait for better conditions?! According to my GPS we passed already Las Horquetas and there was nothing. Then all of a sudden a brick building appeared on the left hand side. I was hardly able to steer from the road to the left behind the building. In the courtyard of this U shape building parked already two cars and an overland bus. Even the big bus dramatically shook in the wind even though it was protected from three sides of the building! I was hardly able to get the bike reliable on the side stand due to the storm. I pushed the back of the bike between two wooden poles of the entrance of the Refugio. Inside were around 40 people from the bus, hiding from the storm. I talked to the bus driver who said that he cannot continue to drive his tour to Bariloche if the storm stays like this. 150km/h wind speed he estimated and he said that he had never experienced such a wind on his tours. So we had to wait as all the people did. One hour passed and I negotiated already the prices for an overnight stay. With 400 pesos (around 50 Euro) pretty expensive for basically nothing, but in the middle of the desert or Pampa... We decided instead to buy a bottle of wine in case of a stay in front of the door:-). After two hours the bus drivers said that the storm slowed down a bit and he let the passengers enter the bus. Hmm, really? We waited for another half an hour and yes, it became better. At around 7 pm we arrived in Gobernador Gregores and found a reasonable hotel with friendly people. If you have such a wind you are not really keen on setting up your tent.





Street impressions in Rio Mayo...








..also nothing




Breakfast with love seeking dog...or maybe it is the food?




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Here the gasoline was just finished...when we arrived we saw still cars fueling up. After our coffee this source was dry. Tjaa, one have to set priorities! :-)