Day 27 – Sunday, February 22, 2026

i doubt this day would make road biking particularly popular. At the end of it, I still felt great. The start of this this Sunday was lovely.. As mentioned, my hotel, Aqua del lDeserto (Aqua?? Non! A nod for fans of the movie Adventures of Pabllo Pixasso).was hitherto the best one on this trip, with an excellent buffet breakfast- with two friendly waiters. I tried pretty much everything - for sure I would need the energy. At the start, I ran (biked) across a colorful flower shop, after which the road veered through nice sreets with ample shade (mind you, we are in the desert at 2,,250m).. Even though I was full to the brink (what my belly is concerned) and was pretty sure I would eventually run into a populated area, I stopped just outside town and bought some food items and then one more bottle of water. I was schlepping over 5 liters. The riding can be divided in four parts. The first one was up to the mine Chuquicamata- where I had been by bus three days prior - and had been dreading it since. I knew it would be an exhausting 21 km uphill ride. It went better than expected, an uphill of some 400 meters (to approx. 2,650m) The next section was much, much worse than I thought it would he. I knew it would veer downhill after the mine and I wasn't wrong - just that the the downhill section was a bloody far - and the altitude would go to over 3,000 meters. Big deal, you might say, I climbed 750 meter, just that almost the entire section after the mine was under construction. I was dodging huge lorries on a very rough "road" - which it hardly was. It was excruciating. Not a single road climbs forever - naking it to the top gave me a huge mental boost. This was the third section - pretty much downhill for a long time. No photo or video can truly return the atmosphere I was in. Contrary to my statement I just made, this section was seemingly endless - it ran STRAIGHT downhill as far as the eye could see. I doubt I had ever seen anything luke this. Downhill is good, but as I was nearing the coast (I was heading westward), the wind pucked up more and more. There was an increasing number of smaller whirlwind.

I found teo more pics that shoe the longest stretch of a straight road of my biking career. Ladies and gentlemen- I can't but emphasize just how nice Chilean people are. Not one, not teo, but three lorries stopped seeing me on this road and giving a bottle of water. Honestly, I get a bit emotional... Now I was nearing PanAmerican Highway 5, with a pretty named town of Rio Loa. I was looking forward to a nice restaurant and some shops. It had been 91 km of riding- ishould i find a nice place, I might as well stay for the night.The closer I got to Rio Loa,, the stronger the wind got - even though it was generally downhill, the going got quite though. I crossed a bridge - with sone murky water under it; and if there is water, there is also green - and this was my "town" of Rio Loa.. To set rhd record straight, I am not that dumb not to know that Rio means river . Well, there are other cities with Rio in their names - just think of a metropol in Brazil famous for its carnival. Here no carnival, as no city, no town, no settlement. It was but a crossing of Highway 5, granted, within a shabby kiosk, with excruciating prices (a good example of demand and supply). Here I met the first long-range bikers of my entire trip so far. They were from Uruguay and had been on the road for 10 months (!) having visited Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru - crossing many passes of 5,000 meters. Now THAT is quite an achievement! They were only halfway there, we're heading vacation to Argentina on a pass a high as a smaller plane flies. Bon voyage! Thanks to the lorry drivers, I had plenty of water, so I fave them a bottle. I decided to push on (not a lot of alternatives), the coast was still 75 km away. My map showed a small incline, after which came a large drop to sea level. It was 5 pm, by sunset, I should be at the coast. So began my fourth and last section of rhe day. The small incline meant 250m altitude gain, no biggie. Yes, biggie. For the longest time, I had the strongest headwind of my entire biking career. In three hours, I covered just 20 hm. Around me was an unfriendly, rocky and extremely windy desert - no country for old men.

So my only viable option was to reach the coast. I set all my lights at around 8 pm to blinking mode, I must have looked like a bloody Xmas tree. Alm the more I wonder the drivers did not swith off their high beams - roughly half did not bother. I still had 50 km to go and I told myself the drop would cone. Fodor the longest time, it did jot. Granted l, the going got easier, but there was still bit of a headwind and it seems all cars coming towards me came from above me. Darn. The surface of the road was anything but perfec - so I had to pay atention, .especially when I was blinded by a headlight. With some 20 km to go, I was still at an altitude of 1,00[ meters. Finally, at last, the long awaited drop came. Here, im contrast to the previous surface, rhe road was probably Swiss-made, the surface impeccable and lots of reflective material marking the hairpin turns. There was hardly any traffic, it was nearing 11 pm. I reached town, called Tocoplla - and it was surprisingly lively. Well, it is summer and there are beaches. I went for a one -szar hostel, They wanted €50, the same amount as my luxury hotel in Calama! Even though I was tired, I rode to another place, here I am paying €30. It has the weirdest corridor and my window opens to this, but whatever. So ended my 165 km ride...