Mariano Lorefice

In Patagonia, Argentina

In Argentina, almost every climatic and geographic condition can be found. In what we could call “the country of five continents”, it is possible to train fro rough circumstances abroad.

In Patagonia, the cold can be extreme, but the wind is what makes conditions truly hostile. The terrible dirt roads on highway 40, intransitable because of the violent gusts of wind, make one feel lonely in the long distances that separate one population from another. In these circumstances, one discovers the necessary willpower to get up after every fall and to bow down and overcome obstacles that, with patience, are only a matter of time. In the desert stretch between Bajo Caracoles and Tres Lagos (in the province of Santa Cruz), 340 uninhabited kilometers, I spent the night on highway 40, with my tent full of rocks to keep it from flying away.

The wind made it hard to keep the bike standing when I stopped. I remember the surprise of a hospitable man who awaited me, hoping to tempt me with the backdoor of his truck open. I said farewell, lying down on my saddlebags and eating the oranges he had left me, as I watched my bread fly away with the wind.

170 kilometer stretches of trying to stay close to the ground and working for 14 hours, only averaging 11 kilometers an hour! All of this under the punishment of the wind, whom I learnt to befriend.

What should I say about the slippery ice? Traveling from Calafate to the Perito Moreno glacier, I found myself, after descents, in areas where the ice cracked and made me land harshly on the floor.

In the Garibaldi pass (Tierra del Fuego) the ice, after being coated by the rain, didn’t let me walk without slipping. I had to find snow to continue a difficult, but not impossible, struggle to make it through.

Patagonia was a good teacher. I admire her, not only for her harsh manners, but also for her beauty. But above all she was a test that allowed me to confirm my taste and conviction to face difficult adventures.