Villa La Angostura

We arrived in Villa La Angostura on Tuesday, April 17^th. We will be here for one week. We drove into Angostura excited. We had a good time in Bariloche, but we were ready for a little change. Villa La Angostura is a relatively new town, less than 80 years old, it's much smaller than Bariloche, in addition, we were told that it caters to the wealthier Argentines. From my research, Angostura, is supposed to have some awesome mountain biking as well! We arrived in town and found a place to stay, Cabana Akermann. This place is beautiful. See the pics…The service we received at the cabana was truly exceptional. I’m all about the little things that make the difference. Cabana Akermann included those little things, ie. Special hand soap, Listerine, personal coffee bags, candy on our pillows and most importantly they remembered how much dulce de leche to have on the table for Jen and Payton at breakfast.

Wednesday I made a new friend, his name is Marcos. I met him when I went to Pegaso bike shop in Angostura. This shop has the typical upper end athletic clothes and bike rentals. I initially went to the shop inquiring about mountain bike single-track trails. After a couple of translation problems, Marcos decided that he would take me out on a ride. As I was leaving, one of other employees informs me that Marcos is an X-terra participant. Oh shit! Angostura, just had the Panamerica Xterra race 1 month prior. We left that afternoon in the pouring down rain. Let’s say that Marcos is in great shape. He has a single suspension bike that is geared for racing. On the other hand, my Yeti dual suspension bike is made for x-country with an emphasis on downhill. Marcos kicked my ass on the hills (on the road/dirt, not on single track) but technically, I was better. Much has to do with the bike I’m sure, but I’ll credit my skill and ability as well. After an amazing ride doing the Panamerica circuit I had one broken chain, bent hanger (rear derailleur) and my rear tire started to leak. All in all, hell of a fun day. What’s better, is that we are planning on going riding again later in the week.

The weather hasn’t been the best for us while staying in Angostura. One of the good things however, is that Payton found a friend. She is the granddaughter of the owner, her name is Martina and she is 3 1/2 years old. They have played a few times so far and Payton’s loving the time running in the parquet around our cabana. Thursday, we drove the Seven Lakes drive to San Martin de los Andes. It was a beautiful drive, despite the rain, which I do recommend if you have the extra time. Otherwise, if you have limited time in Argentina, there is more to do and see than this particular route. Oh well, it gave the Kangoo another day of driving on dirt and adding another layer of filth to the car. We haven’t washed the car in nearly 3 weeks. I should add, we haven’t vacuumed the car since we purchased it back in January. Very unlike us! The biggest reason we haven’t taken care of our car is the lack of accessibility to public car wash/vacuum.

Friday, another amazing ride with Marcos and his “triathlete specialist,” friend Caesar. Once again we did the Xterra circuit, but this time we added Cerro Bayo to the ride with amazing downhill. I tried to take pictures to show everyone the trails, but my camera battery died. I will always have my memories. Caesar reminds me of my friend Matt, lean, fit, and even handles the mountain bike in technical terrain the same. Caesar, again like Matt, knows how to push pedals. Unfortunately, Caesar isn’t as comfortable on his mountain bike as he is on a road bike, he took a pretty nasty spill attempting to climb a ladder bridge and fell backwards onto a jagged log. He ended up with his pride and nasty bruise on his left iliac crest.

Saturday we reented a bike for Jen and we all went on a ride to Parque Nacional Bosque Arrayanes. I pulled Payton in the Chariot. It was a little steep at first, but the 26 km round trip excursion was well worth it. Payton slept most of the way to the Bosque Arrayanes and back. We had lunch on the pier and enjoyed our time mesmerized by the views. We followed our biking adventure with a hike Sunday to Cerro Bayo and walked to the same trail I went biking on Friday to enjoy the views of Villa La Angostura, the lakes and mountains. Despite the weather, it was a good uphill climb with worthwhile views. I think it was easier riding my bike up the trail than carrying Payton in my arms. Oh, we also washed the beast, the Kangoo, on Sunday. We washed away the layers of dirt and borrowed a vacuum from the owner of the cabana to clean the inside too. It is like a new car again!

Monday, I was feeling a little under the weather. The worst thing, I had to tell Marcos I couldn’t ride with him today. I hate cancelling, mainly because I hate when people cancel on me. We exchanged emails and salutations. I will miss riding with Marcos. Hopefully he will be able to go to the states and stay with us some time to ride. I told Marcos that we have Xterra in Central Oregon. He appeared excited at the offer. Before we pulled away from the shop in our vehicle Marcos ran over and gave me a bike jersey with the logo of the bike shop, Pegaso! I feel awkward receiving gifts! That’s just me. It was very nice of Marco to give me a gift. I had thought about giving him my Deschutes Brewery jersey prior to going to the store, but I didn’t think it would fit Marcos.

We rented a car and left Tuesday morning for Chile. I am very excited about leaving Argentina and experiencing a little taste of Chile. We initially plan on going to Osorno, Frutillar and then to Pucon. We will have to wait and see how it plays out. You never know, we might not like Chile. Which in the long wrong would be better. It's supposed to be more expensive.