Dakar Stage 12

Jan 14

Much like at San Juan there is a set spectator zone but it is 147km from Cachi, we thought about riding out to it but after 20km of pounding down Rte 40 we realized that by the time we got there the racers would be gone. Instead we turned back to town and scouted out a good photo spot along the way. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the competitors to pass by. The website has the riders at the spectator zone at 1pm and after talking with a fellow at the fuel stop he figured they should be here by about 4pm. Awesome now we can hang out around town for the afternoon then ride out to our photo spot and see what we can get for photos.

A little tow needed for #7

I set up the GoPro on my little tripod and then settled in on a ledge at the apex of a curve, a perfect spot to see some cornering. Brenda chose to be more freelance and moved from spot to spot as the wind changed and the dust clouds drifted in one direction then the other.

After a while the action thinned out and we figured it was time to head back to town and see if we could see anything at the biovauc. In Cachi they were in a secured area but completely visible from the street. This was mostly due the fact that for this stage the riders did not have individual support teams, instead they all go to share one very large rolling tool crib thus creating a much smaller space. Three of the Honda riders were busy swapping engines as their best hope for a podium finish (#7) blew his engine and a fellow teammate (#2) had to sacrifice his bike for the good of the team. I am sure they will get penalized for this but it is better than not finishing.

We also get a glimpse of many other riders as they swarm around their bikes trying to do all types of repairs before the start of the next stage. This also cuts into their rest/sleep time which is just as important as a good running bike. The Honda guys get the spotlight in front of the tool crib but other riders just push their bikes over and do their repairs that was as there are not enough jack stands to go around. Once all the preparations are make the bikes get bagged and tagged then the riders can go to sleep or whatever.

We assume that inside the rec-center there is a caterer and dormitory style sleeping quarters. This is an interesting contrast to all the hype that surrounded the San Juan biovauc, here it is very quiet away from the press in a sleepy little town. Not what one would expect for the biggest enduro race on the planet.

The riders started this stage at 6:30am, it is now 11:30pm and some of the competitors are still wrenching in the hopes of making the 7am starting gate. We decide to call it a night and as we walk back to the hotel two more quads pull into town, that would make 17hrs on the trail and now they get to prep their machines for tomorrow. One is the Argentine lady rider who is so tiny she looks like a 12yr old on the quad.

We awake to the sound of a helicopter, which can only mean that the race is about to start and the camera crews are taking to the air to capture the event. The official start line is supposed to be 40km south of town and was supposed to start at 6:30am, it is now 7am and they still here in town. Brenda rushes out to get some more photos as I spread out on the bed and try to catch a bit more sleep. I tossed and turned last night so did not feel very rested, in hindsight I imagine that the competitors felt much the same but had no option but to suck it up and get out there.

This guy looks rough and the day is just starting.But then his helmet does have a mohawk attached to it.

Yup that is a girl, there are a few ladies in the race.

To our surprise the Honda team left the carcass of the bike behind, at least for now, who knows if a support truck comes and picks it up but for now the only thing left in the secure area is the motorless carcass of a 450cc Dakar Rally bike

4 days 4 cities

Jan 10-13 Vicuna to Cachi via Copiapo

The lure of Dakar grabs us once again and we check out the route and schedule. Brenda figures that we can take a few days to travel to Cachi Argentina which is where the end of Stage 12 will be for the bikes and quads.  This means crossing the border one more time as well as another mountain pass but first we have to get there.

The beach in La Serena

The coastal highway is really the only viable route so we make the best of the pavement that follows the coast north to Copiapo. The scenery is very different from what we are used to, the desert here is very barren, not even any cactus, just rock and sand sprinkled with scrub grass and the occasional hamlet.

Copiapo is one of Chile’s primary mining centers, founded in 1744, so this is not surprising. What is surprising is that the second largest industry in the area is agriculture, the dry climate is perfect for growing grapes, olives, tomatoes, avocados as well as some citrus fruits. This is primarily possible due to irrigation as it does not rain here, statistics show that it rains on average here only 18mm per year. This is also the city where back in 2010 a mine cave-in trapped a group of workers for 69 days, they set a record by surviving underground longer than anyone else recorded and one of the workers even made it onto David Letterman.

From Copiapo we make our way to Fiambala which is 500km over the pass and no gas services along the way. This would definitely require more fuel than we can currently carry, so we take advantage of the 10liter gas cans that the Copec gas company sells at their gas stations. This gives each of us enough fuel to make the distance but the added weight will add extra stress to our luggage racks. After we load these up we are starting to look like the 1200Gs riders we see with all the stuff strapped onto their bikes.

The Chilean side of the pass is hardtop gravel that leads to a copper and gold mine, after that it is a good gravel road that slowly gets rougher and softer as it approached the border. Less traffic usually means less attention spent on maintenance in any country and Chile is no different.

A small oasis thanks to some creative water capturing by a local farmer.

By the time we reach the border the road is quite rough as it switchbacks down to a salt flat and the border control station. We are the only people there so the process is very fast and while we are stopped we top up the bikes with fuel, at this point we have done almost 200km so most of the 10liter jerry can is used up. From the border station it is back up and up to the actual border line and the elevation of 4747m and then down the other side. The Chile side is under construction as they try to keep up with Argentina who have paved their side of the crossing. Somewhere in the road construction Brenda lost sight of me and ended up taking a turn off into a gravel pit. The soft deep gravel was a bit tricky for her to turn around in and she ended up tipping over. Not to worry though, there were a few gravel truck drivers on hand to help her upright the bike and get on her way.

By the time I turned around and backtracked to find her she had already been rescued, sometimes the bike-to-bike intercoms don’t work as well as required. Anyway, after a quick snack at the border-line we head off in search of the Argentina border control station. We pass another one of these little refuse cabins along the road, the first one we seen was at the border sign and they seem to be spaced out along the highway for people in need.

Once we reach the Argentine border it is no surprise that we are the only people there as we did not see any cars since the other border control.  In any event there is a fine collection of motorcycle related stickers on the windows and we see a couple that we recognize. The officer said that the Dakar had passed through this station, the support vehicles and such, not the racers and with that came a bunch of new stickers.

This donkey dreams of being a mountain goat.

The long downhill slope is scenic in it’s own way, lots of volcanic rock and little greenery. We do however get great gas mileage as the bike sputters to a stop after 308km, only 12km short of our destination. Another roadside fuelling and we proceed on into Fiambala for a quiet evening walking around town and eating supper on a sidewalk table in front of a nice little restaurant. The desert weather is very nice in the evening and a cool breeze makes the 24C weather rather pleasant.

The next morning we enjoy the typical breakfast of bread and coffee then we off to Santa Maria and what should be an interesting cut across through the mountains on a “local” road. This section of highway has evolved from days past when the main road went through the center of town. Now the road is paved but not much wider than the dirt track that it replaced. The adobe brick houses and creative fences line the road.

We are greeted at the entrance to the “local” road with a road closed sign. This time it seemed as if it were true as there were very few tracks on the road aside from the garbage trucks, a quick discussion and the decision is made to take the longer route around the bottom of the jagged mountains then pick up the road at the intersection on the other side where it intersects Rte #40. Although less exciting we do make good time which allows for a little maintenance on Brenda’s bike as once again the skid plate bolt has broken off. The friendly guy at the gas station helps me find a hose clamp in the storage room and this works a temporary fix.

Santa Maria is also just an overnight stop but we manage to find a clean Hosteria right on the central square. Once settled we find a restaurant and no matter how small the dining room the Argentine beef is plentiful and done to perfection. I don’t think I will get tired of 10oz steaks that are 1.5” thick and that you can almost cut with a fork. Simply delicious and served with a fresh garden salad. $7 well spent.

The final push to Cachi would be far more interesting than we could have predicted. First the scenery and landscape was out of this world and photography just does not replace what the eye can see. In any event we take a ton of pictures and sometimes just stop to have a good look. The dirt road does demand our attention so we have to be careful not to get caught being wonderstruck by the scenery.

We pass through a geological attraction where the plates have shifted and are pointing straight up resembling the backbone of dinosaur that is half barried in the sand. The scale of it is just beyond imagination.

 Cafayate is a popular tourist spot due to the location in the middle of some well established vineyards dating back to 1835. There are also olive plantations as these two things seem to go hand in hand. 

Cafayate is jam packed with everyone who plans their holidays based on the Lonely Planet books, this is evident by all the handicrafts for sale and the never ending choice of Hostals to stay at. A while later we stop to add some fuel in what appears to be a safe spot, of course once we stop three trucks go by and we are almost immediately approached by a few young boys touting a water bottle.

We kindly refuse the water but the boys are curious and ask a few questions about where we are from and such. They walk away after we give them some Canada stickers and we wonder if they have even heard of Canada. To our surprise they return to get some pictures with their iPhone, one of the boys says what sounded like Ottawa, we ask him to repeat and he says “Ottawa capital”, wow he has heard of Canada. Then just when we thought we had seen it all we meet an antique Ford car being driven down Rte 40 from Bolivia to Ushuaia.

After a quick roadside chat and a few photos it is time to get going and get out of the sun, it must be 35C today and full bike gear does not make it more comfortable. Brenda has a different idea as she picked up another nail and has a flat tire. I push the bikes into the only shade available and get to work on fixing the tire. I could not find any nail in the tire but figure it may have fallen out or it was just a pure puncture and the tire never did pick up the nail. In any event the tire needs to come off and the tube pulled to find the leak. It appears that the only hole in the tube is the one I patched back at the thermals by Pucon and the patch has let go. That spare tube I have been packing around comes in handy as it is much easier to replace the tube than it is to patch it, that is until I try to stuff the heavy duty tube in to the tire. Damn that is a tight fit but after 45 minutes of fighting with it the tire is repaired and we are able to make the last 15km into Cachi. 

The farmyard we stopped beside to fix the tire decided it was time to move his herd.

All is good and we are a day ahead of the Dakar.