...and we're off!

Another Man's Treasure

Standard -- High Def

Live from The Windswept Restaurant

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What's Mike's New Favorite Food?

Standard -- High Def

The One Road South adventure will be chronicled in the News Journal this Thursday!

For all those living in Delaware, check the cover story on the Crossroads section of the Thursday News Journal, December 18th! We’ve got a pretty big article in there with a few great pictures.

This week, we left the haven of a tourist town, Ushuaia, and began our bicycle journey North. It was a bittersweet departure because we knew where everything was and had all our needs filled. With loaded water bottles and food supplies, we exited the town on Wednesday the 10th and slept near a river a few miles outside of town. Morning came, and with it, a visitor from across the river. His name was Fabriccio, and he wanted to show us a nearby waterfall. We were wary, and didn’t know if he wanted us to pay him, or if he just wanted to lure us away from our gear. It turned out that he just wanted some company. He runs a campground (that happened to be a few hundred yards from our "free" campsite) and didn’t have many guests at the time. http://www.kawiyoppen.com.ar/ is his website!

Que Babaridad! That basically means "wow"; which is what I said I the team and I rolled out of Ushuaia’s airport on our overloaded touring bikes. As we cruised down a long hill I looked down at Susan (my green Fuji touring bicycle) and said, "Well girl, here we go!" I believe accurately describing my feelings during the first two weeks in South America in a blog is pretty much impossible; but I’ll give it a go.

Welcome to Saturday afternoon:

I’m riding head into the rain, cranking slowly in a gear that’s really too high for this speed. Even with the high winds blowing in my ears, I can hear my bike creak with the excessive force of each pedal-stroke. We’re carrying too much weight, and these hills accentuate that fact. The wind blowing against me doesn’t help either. But I know I can’t shift to a lower gear, because the higher RPMs hurt my knees.

!A mi me gusta Argentina!

I really like Argentina!

Today is a great day! The sun is shining, there is no wind, and I am inside with a full belly. We are taking a rest day.

Stark contrast to our days on Friday and Saturday, which included hours of headwinds, rain showers, mountain passes, and three broken spokes.