Drag Race!

Penguins!

Standard -- High Def

“So I’ll see you guys up there then.” These were the last words I said to my teammates before I boarded my Fuji spaceship, hit the launch button and blasted out of the city of Temuco. I was so excited to finally be on the home stretch to the grand city of Santiago that my legs did not stop pedaling for the first two hours out on the highway. I knew it was a week’s ride to the capital, but after the initial 30 miles, my legs told me that I’d reach Santiago in less time. Four days later, I reached the outskirts of the “city of smog.”

The mad race to Santiago!

The guys left Temuco on Thursday afternoon, eager to get on the road. I stayed, and kept talking with Lorena about missions and life. Time wore on, and I ended up staying until Sunday.

Mike and I had been riding hard for four days. 465 kilometers lay behind us, and there were 250 kilometers between us and Santiago. It was near the end of the big push. The team had split up into ones and twos, traveling light and and fast to make good time from Temuco to Santiago. The night before, we had found a beautiful golden field to sleep in.

Now this was a bicycle trip!

I couldn’t deny this sentiment inside of me, but why did I feel this way this week? I think the five days of riding from Temuco to Santiago looked a bit more like my bike tours in the United States than the first four months of South America. First of all, Chris and I could see each day’s progress on a map, something that was difficult to do when we were battling headwinds all day in the pampas, or dealing with broken racks on the rocky Carretera Austral. This week, we had nothing but smooth, straight highway in front of us, so all we had to do was crank.