short updates/comments

So much has happened in the past few days, it really seems like Chos Malal is a distant memory right now. Before I forget, a few things that I believe I forgot to mention in the last posts.

Cat 1 = Stop for less than a minute, bathroom break and such, riders keep going
Cat 2 = Minor mishap, other riders slow down or take a water break
Cat 3 = This will take a little while, up to 10 minutes for a flat or a broken pannier in my case, usually solved with a ziptie (I love those things)
Cat 4 = Alright, let's find some shade, we're going to be here a while. This is a major repair such as a broken spoke or a fairly nasty crash, could take a long time to fix.
Cat 5 = We're hitching a ride to the nearest bike shop or hospital

Flies, they are to be feared. I don't know what kind of animal they've had practice on, but these things are aggressive, and they draw blood when they bite. I've had some of these little bastards follow me for over 1km on the bike! Neuquen is the province with the two largest dino museums in the world since so many fossils have been discovered here, so I'll assume these things are prehistoric and leave it at that.

Argentinians 2, Chileans 0 - Almost nobody waves to us on the Chilean side! I don't know what's going on, but the Argentinians definitely seemed to be more friendly and genuinely curious about the trip. Not only that, but the roads in Chile are steeper than the stock market fall right now! Despite the ripio and serrucho, I definitely prefer Argentinian roads and drivers.

The spork - I've got a little eating utensil that has a spoon on one end, and a fork on the other. It is made of plastic, or was I should say. Now I have a mini spoon and a mini fork made out of plastic. I pulled it out one day and found it had snapped in half, shit! Now it's as if I'm eating with my fingers, which have a permanent layer of grime caked in on some areas, at least until the trip is over. Oh well, at least I'll return with a stomach of steel. Note to self: metal over plastic, folding over stiff. Got it? Good.

We're getting close to the planned Chilean border crossing, so perhaps by the weekend we should be in Puerto Montt, Chile, for the Superbowl. Since I've slacked a bit, I'll retroactively (as has been done before) post about the last week or so.