The Carretera Austral is truly a myth amongst cyclists and not riding it is like missing out on a piece of Mozartkugel when being on a visit to Salzburg.
It is simply a must!
My heart beats for road cycling but when riding down SOUTH you just gotta hit that one!
It is a tough call because the term „ripio“ on the Carretera Austral has hundreds of variations and it reaches from baseball sized rocks to massive sand bumps! But at the end of the day it is a hell of a ride!
You curse, you cry, you wish for it to be over – but altogether you have to give credit to the Chilenos who no matter how bad of a road they are riding on – they are still muito tranquilo!!!
During those hundreds of kilometers of dirt road I tried to come to terms with the fact that the road is simply not the way I want it to be – but after all the real pleasure I took from this ride were the numerous other cyclists, hitchhikers and bikers that made the Carretera Austral so much more special than just a scenic bike tour!
