Day 106: La Rioja to Mendoza – National Park Ischigualasto, An Empty Gas Tank and More Technical Problems

WHAT A CRAZY DAY!!!!!! Another almost 600 km ride was awaiting us that day. A loooong day again but we had to make progress in order to be fulfilling our goal to reach the Southernmost City in the World. The first hours of the day…

were in fact pretty boring. Just kilometres of a straight long road without having any visibility since both sides of the road were planted with thick bushes. I was getting bored and also tired while trying to not fall asleep which is number one reason for many accidents on roads like that.

However, I was relieved that the landscape changed again after a while leading us through the fantastic national park of Ischigualasto. We stopped in the middle of it and missed the chance to actually drive along a gravel road through pure nature and beautiful landscapes with a guided tour.

We had no time for such an endeavour and had to dismiss the idea if we would not like to sleep under a sky full of stars. Actually, after all it would have been a great experience but we decided to continue our ride to Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina and South America.

The landscape continued to be beautiful and we enjoyed our ride until after a while I did not see Gerardo anymore in my back mirror. Shit… I hoped everything was ok and turned around to get back to Gerardo who I found one minute later with an empty tank at the side of the road, lol. Merda!!!!! The 130 km/h consumed too much petrol for Gerardos bike and I had to rescue my friend while trying to tow him into next town. Luckily we found just after 10 km a cafe in the middle of nowhere and by our surprise they were selling petrol in flasks for a super expensive cost. Of course, he could not refuse and we could luckily continue our drive.

We arrived late in the evening after we encountered ANOTHER technical challenge. Gerardo’s gear rim was not existing anymore and we had to make the last 40 km with very low speed while we had to be careful not to lose the chain again. It was frustrating but we were glad to make it to Mendoza where luckily Gerardo got an appointment with a BMW dealer the day after.

Desert Fox | Argentina | zenmotero

Towing my buddy to the next "gas station"

La Rioja to Mendoza