Cycling The Globe

Distance: 46.76 km
Ride time: 4:16:42
Average: 10.98 km/h
Total: 21490 km

I was feeling very excited when I passed the gate to the Torres del Paine National Park early in the morning. I had made it through the isolated dirt track without problems, and I could now expect to see some people again.

Cycling in the National Park was absolutely stunning with the road twisting past the blue lakes.

I parked the bike and made a 1.5 hour hike up to a viewpoint overlooking Lake Nordenskjöld.

At the viewpoint I met a friendly couple from New Zealand. It turned out I had cycled past their house on the South Island a year earlier. After 10 minutes the couple’s guide explained that they had to keep moving as they had a busy program for today. I enjoyed the freedom of my own independent way of traveling and took a short nap at a bench instead.

Later in the day the wind picked up. For the first time I was enjoying a solid tailwind in Patagonia. I almost didn’t have to turn the pedals on the steep climbs. This was a very good thing as the legs were feeling very tired at this point from the combination of cycling and hiking.

On a ridge overlooking the Torres del Paine I decided to call it an early day and sat up camp for the night. This spot would easily make it into my top 3 of wild camping spots around the world.

I’m truly glad I decided to make the detour to this stunning National Park. I would have been a shame to miss.