Thursday, December 31, 2015

Riding day 1: Osorno - Pucon

Leaving Osorno. We packed our bikes for the first time which took ages, about an hour and a half, plus some necessary group photos of course. 

Few things about the packing: 
First is the well known blue Ikea sacks. Why? Well, with Ikea sacks we were able to take our biking gear to the plane packed nicely and tight. Using a suitcase would be out of the question because there is no place for it on the motorbike. But the Ikea sacks can be folded to a size of a small letter. Another useful fact is that with those sacs it's really easy to carry your stuff from the bike to the hotel and back where ever you are. 

Another thing is the vacuum plastic packs which are great when you need to squeeze your clothes into a small space. These packs can be bought cheaply from your local home improvement store. 
Third thing about packing of the bike is using the available space wisely. The stuff you want and need to have available quickly should be in your tankback (yes, you definitely need one). The stuff you carry to your accommodation (your clothes) should be in the larger sideback because then you can leave your helmet there over the night and therefore you don't need to take that into your room. The smaller sidepack is for other things like sneakers, waterproof riding clothes, medikit or some other shit you might need for the trip. 
Last but not least, a backback. It's useful in any trip, but don't wear it on your back because you will eventually tire your shoulders. Tide it on your saddle behind your back. Best way to do this is to buy a small loading net ment for motorbikes from your local bike shop. 

After the packing etc. we rode through the small center of Osorno to the highway and got the first feeling of the bikes. Luckily the boring highway part of the day, and the only one in the whole trip, ended after 60km and we headed to the Pacific coast. After 30 minutes we ended up to a small village of Los Molinos. Before having lunch in a nice terrace, we went up to the hills and saw the magnificent view to the Pacific ocean.  

The first gravel roads came to us as a small shock between Los Lagos and Panguipulli and They were the worst kind of gravel there is. Big rounded rocks and no real riding lanes in sight and not to mention, it was our first whole day with the new bikes. There were some dangerous situations and at some moments where we wanted for someone else to take the hold of the handles because we could not handle it. Our recommendation is to avoid roads which are not marked in any of the maps clearly with some kind of line, grey or yellow. 
After we had changed our diapers, we got ourselves safely to Pucon next to the famous volcano Villarica. Before heading into the town, you should visit the volcano by riding up there with the bikes. The road is partly a gravel road, but an easy one and fun and the views from the top are breathtaking. 



Route: From Osorno to Pucon
Distance: 390km
Distance traveled total: 390km
Weather: Sunny (+25'c)

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