14. Fixing the Bike
DAY 183 -185. Cochrane to Coyhaique in Truck
I'm supposed to be picked up today at 6 o'clock in the morning. That makes it for very early wake up call so I have time to pack all my camping stuff. It was still dark when I was getting up. It was strange not to have my bike around me. But I had a good sleep.
I got picked up as agreed just after six. My bike was sitting on top of a pick up truck which was sitting on top of the flat bed truck. I needed to stop by the shop where I first brought bike yesterday. On top of everything else yesterday I happen to lose my reading glasses as well. And I'm quite useless without them. Apparently I'm not 18 anymore. I was looking for the glasses in front of the shop but couldn't find them. I have to get new pair when I get to the town tonight.
It was a beautiful morning, there is nobody on the road yet, everybody is still sleeping. The sun was coming up illuminating the peaks of the mountains in front of us. Absolutely beautiful view. The ride in the truck on this road is even worse than on the bike. Only good thing is you don't have to breathe all the dust created by other vehicles. And there was plenty of them later on. I was told that the ride should last about six hours. But a quick math told me there's no way we will be able to do it. Traffic picked up around 10 o'clock in the morning when everybody woke up. I've been told most of those cars are tourists with rental cars. My driver wasn't thrilled with the way all those local tourist drive. They drive way too fast without caring about anybody else on the road and they stay in the middle like the road is theirs. There are many crosses on the side of the road marking the place of an accident. Somehow I am surprised they're not more of them.
It is still different to be on that road as a passenger. I have time to look around and to see stuff. It was beautiful.
My friend Kathleen was spending night in a little village about halfway up. She was coming south, so I should be able to meet her on the road. But we were quite early so I wasn't too sure. We stopped in that village and I went to get some coffee and sandwiches in the local coffee shop. And there she was getting ready to start her day. It's a small world. We had a little chat and she went south and I continued northbound.
It was very slow going with all the dust created by vehicles and bad road. But at the end we made it. Unfortunately, there was more damage done to my bike along the way. It appears that bike was not tied properly and fell on its side at some point. It broke the windscreen with the supporting brackets and also left turn signal light was busted as well. I was not happy at all. It is at least 4 - $500 damage. But I was mainly mad at myself. I presumed that the owner of a car rental business with a tow truck knows how to tie a bike properly. I was wrong and I didn't check. Expensive lesson learned.
It was no problem to find the bike shop in the town and we offloaded the bike there. At the end it was a 9 our drive. It cost me $600. What can you do.
I told the mechanic in the shop what happened and he start working on it right away. It was nothing on gages. There was just no power. He said he will work on it and I should come back sometime tomorrow afternoon. Meantime I was looking for a hotel which wasn't that easy. Everything is full. At the end I found a decent hotel within walking distance of the bike shop. I checked in for three nights because I know idea how long it takes to fix the bike. Hopefully not that long. Anyway, I had a decent dinner at a Mexican restaurant around the corner. It was early night, it was a long day.