So, the idea is to start (and finish) at sea level.
On January 11 I departed from Valparaiso and rode north along the coast to the town of Concon where I picked up International Route 60 and headed east.
Ten hours later I arrived at ´Casa de Ciclistas´ in the city of Los Andes where a warm meal awaited me. A french expatriate has his doors open to anyone that shows up on a bike. Two Germans, a Swiss, and myself stayed up until 2:00am talking about carpentry, while Daisuke nodded off in his chair.
After a day of rest and internet, I was back on the road and climbing. The picture to the right shows the first fifteen of twenty-nine switchbacks. I climbed about 7200 feet that day.
The world famous Portillo Ski Resort.
A break after the 19th switchback.
The border patrol was going to call a truck to carry me through this tunnel that crosses the chilean/argentine border. I begged them to let me ride through the old train tunnel. I finally saw the light after 4.5 km of dark and cold. The argentine military officials at the other end were pretty angry that the chileans let me through. A 75km/hr descent and I was at Puente del Inca a half hour later.
A Colorado license plate in the chilean customs office. I thought I was hallucinating. Some yuppy climbers shipped their car so they could drive to Aconcagua.
