Arrival on the Cordillera of the Andes

        Heading West, toward the Cordillera ! Eventually !
My little side loop on the Atlantic coast (4.000kms but it goes fast !) and this last week between friends in the relatively low landscape around Córdoba efficiently whet my appetite but I still considered it more like an appetizer before the great departure... And I was now about a few riding days far from these andean's curves & passes ! :)
Nevertheless, I begun by having my first real break since departure to recover from this long riding serie (only 3 days without moving along the 25 past :P), visit a bit Córdoba, do some cleaning & maintenance on the bike after this dirt session, install the two last jerrycanes on the front side of each lateral case, add some preload to the rear shock absorber to better balance the excess of luggages, and eventually have the waved front rim straightened, this being probably at least partly responsible for the annoying oscillation felt in the sandy zones this week... And it fitted perfectly with the weather : it's been raining all the week on Córdoba !
I also wanted to arrange a paragliding flight next to La Cumbre (north of Córdoba) with a guy met while training sky-diving in BsAs, André and his "Aero-Atelier", and get back to ripio in fully loaded version, just to see. A nice getaway through the R54 on the outward way where I noticed with pleasure the safe behavior of the bike in this pleasant dirt track passing close to the mount "Pan de Azúcar", and quick break in the Aero-Atelier to shake André's hand before going on to the paragliding spot in Cuchy Corral, a mirador on the Rio Pinto from which sails take off. Weather conditions weren't good enough despite the absence of rain - too windy - and I crossed on my way there the last para-gliders leaving the site. An amazing spot for a coffee break ! :)
Little sidestep about a technical point that I hope will remain transparent for you : I give up with the 100Mo of Blogger - 2'30" is really unmanageable, I'll now post YouTube links for full screen HD (720p).   ;)

        After these few days resting and doing mechanics, I eventually could leave toward the Andes with a short break at the "Casa del Che" museum in the house where he spent part of his youth in Alta Gracia, touching, and through a pass in the Altas Cumbres wrapped up in a freezing cloud. I learnt here to do more often breaks to heat up when the thermometer installed on the handling bar drops as low as 4˚C !
Once left Mina Clavero where I spent the night, curves began unfortunately to become more and more stretched and spaced until ending up in huge straight lines in the middle of desert landscapes, each time more arid as I was getting closer to the Cordillera. My next road step in Luján (3.000 inhbts) lasted only one single night thanks to Fernando's help, a local met around a burger that get me out of a bad trick : the day before the bike had been hitting on a stone at the central stand's attach point, bending and breaking the screw that unfortunately is also used to support the foot-pad... And I have to recognize it's really not practical knowing not where to put your foot while riding ! 
A part of this bended screw had thus been blocked inside its hole, and Fernando managed to get it out by drilling in the middle, allowing me to replace it by another I had in spare.
The two next days were limited to never-ending straight stretches where trees progressively left place to thorny bushes, the ground becoming each time more red and ocre, and the correctly shaped paved band each time narrower while I was getting deeper in these lands abandoned by State and men... Some animals individually or by group cross the road from time to time, and a few little houses made of adobe or assembled materials and covered by branches or metallic panels barely appear among the bushes, but globally time seems longer over there ! Nothing to underline about Chepes where I spent the night between those two days, I just don't recommend it for making a stop : housing and food were just the worst from far of the whole trip.
And despite an impressive and entertaining little ground slide eating the road consequently to 2014's flooding on my way to San Juan, it's only while getting closer to Villa San Agustín del Valle Fertíl (VSA for next) that the road began again to be nice with still no horizontal curves but at least vertical ones following the "vadenes" naturally dug in the landscape by melted ice flowing from nearby summits. 
You'll notice in the following videos a few plans where I dropped the GoPro on the side of the road to film myself passing in front... 10mn of interruption between manipulations & forward-back movement for 10s of funny images that vary from the repetitive helmet's view, enjoy it while you can because it didn't take long before I get fed up with it and I only did a few of them !
Arrived in the beginning of the night in VSA, I dropped my stuffs in a kind hostel and went to eat a grilled chivito while preparing next day's visit of the famous "Valle de la Luna" of which I had been hearing even before leaving BsAs from my friend Pingo.   :)

        This pretty zone between La Rioja & San juan hosts two major natural parcs of Argentina, one under provincial management / accessible with your own vehicle / cheap (100 Ar$ / 7 US$) - Ischigualasto alias Moon Valley, and the other under national management / accessible in organized buses / a bit more expensive (450 Ar$ / 30 US$) - the Canyon of Talampaya, separated one from the other by about 30kms. Honestly both are worth seeing, and are completely different one from the other.
Another thing they have in common is the lack of touristic housing in at least 70kms around, VSA being the closer on south, and Villa Unión an alternative at 80kms northward. The idea is thus to go from one of these two cities to the other in the day and try to do both parcs at one time - not easy considering that each one takes around 3h, or to settle in one of these and make some go&back trips from this base. I though I would manage to go for the first option, but I was forced to the second one after having not only let the bike fall to ground for second time in this trip (by putting the front wheel on a relief while getting down from the center stand... but still none while riding, I touch wood !), but more than nothing for having mistreated my back while trying instinctively to avoid its falling and by then trying to get the bike up without taking off all the luggages to try and save 1/2h !
I immediately felt I had screwed up and calmed down to discharge the luggages quietly. The day's planning turned down to an injection in the ass prescribed by the two hostel's owners (he kine & her pediatrist) and a severe bagage's selection session, letting the Moon Valley for the next day and theoretically Talampaya & Villa Unión for the day after. But I didn't realize yet how hard I had fucked up...
I was definitely fed up with this excess of weight, and thus passed all the afternoon splitting "really essential" stuffs from "good to have in case" stuffs. Eventually, it's one of the two waterproof bags fully loaded that I sent back to Carlos in BsAs, 10kg less that immediately made a difference in the bike handling ! What rushed out to go and fill the bag, in disorder : the moto leather shoes that I was using more for walking than other thing except when I gave my boots to Dany, a waterproof vest that was being spared by a larger walking waterproof vest, a wind-cutting vest that I hoped I could carry in treks like Machu Picchu, the camel-bag I was never using, the inflatable mattress  that I miss a bit now that I started camping, a kevlar jeans that I will finally nearly never have been wearing, the notebook case bought in Chuy to try getting some weight frontward - experience poorly convincing and abandoned, Nico's hammock, the moto battery charger & the multimeter, the mosquito net, the inflatable pillow (I also miss it), and eventually the travel guide on Brazil that anyway I won't be using before having passed again by BsAs.
And summit of the day, the same evening of this second bike dropping, after having loaded the moto with only one of the two remaining bags in prevision of next day's plans, I went for a third one, this time not while getting down from central stand but while maneuvering motor off and putting the rear wheel on the same fucking relief ! Fortunately I had learnt the lesson from the morning : this time I let it fall like a shit and took the time to completely unload it before to get it back straight. An incident visibly without influence on the backache remission nor any damage on the bike... At least I won't have covered it of protections for nothing !
Next day thus, waken up pain free and enthusiastic, I managed in the morning the postal sending of my stuffs to BsAs and despite a slight first pain of the day while starting the ride, I headed toward Ischigualasto.
And I have to say : this Moon Valley actually deserves its fame, it's a magic site where landscapes & colors just seem to be coming from another planet ! Eroded relieves & geological shapes tortured by the elements dating from 180 to 230 million years ago, grounds covered by an ultra thin dust, the whole going from white/grey to green through ocre, copper, sand, with as backdrop a huge bright red stony wall and the clouds running along this giant corridor... :P
Only a few bushes manage to survive here due to climatic and geologic extreme conditions, and this particular set helped preserving some fossiles among others things, of which a vulgarization is made inside the parc between two geological curiosities. And the fact to have been allowed to visit this parc on my own bike just added to my pleasure ! Apart from a few and slight pain feelings while doing "emergency maneuvers" in sandy zones to avoid falling, I didn't suffered from my back and maintained my optimism until being back to the VSA's hostel in the early night.

  

        The lumbar pain being unfortunately loudly back once returned, I had this time to respect a 3 days full rest break with one injection per day of a visibly explosive cocktail, prescription that I carefully followed for once. At least it will have helped me progressing a bit on the blog !
The forth day eventually, having correctly recovered from my back, I headed with my whole stuffs toward Talampaya where I arrived in the late morning. A really awesome and impressive canyon with reds rocks and ocre sandy tracks, with here again a bit of archeology and animal's reconstitution circuit at the entry. Once paid his visitor fee, the tourist is gathered with a tenth of his pairs, loaded into a minibus with a guide, and carried from one side to the other of the canyon & back with some breaks along the track... Not as pleasant as having your liberty of movement, but it makes you spend some time with other people. Gorgeous canyon anyway, be it seen from a minibus or from a bike !
After a final hang around in the Sendero del Triásico, I left toward Villa Unión where I would eventually reach the mythic Ruta 40 ! A stretch still globally rectilinear but I could already see more and more precisely appearing in the horizon some majestic summits with varied colors, this time it was really the arrival on the Cordillera of the Andes... Nearly 5 years now that I was dancing on my seat about it ! :D
Quiet night in Villa Unión, ghosty little town lost in the middle of a remote valley. And next day I was introducing my wheels to a firstly under construction Ruta 40, that quickly turned into a gorgeous brand new paved road (they had opened again this road just the day before after a few months closed for pavement works) through the awesome Cuesta de Miranda, a pass cutting its way through rocky walls using the whole variety of reds and scattered with green & yellow clumps of dry grasses and the first cactus of the journey ! Some strong wind guts along the day made me remember of a "Zonda wind" that locals were talking about last days and though it would probably be it... I was far from reality as I would soon realize !

  

        I didn't particularly liked Chilecito neither and only stayed one night, but I was satisfied to be done with the boring straight stretches from plains. From now on I would enjoy andean's curves for a while ! :)

Off-road initiation in the Córdoba's Sierras

        "Vamos" ! This injonction regularly shouted by Carlos will have been pacing our strolling week, in response to our morning laziness, to my frequent "little mate break ?" propositions, and to Chincho's growing hunger notifications ! :D
Despite our impatience to go and discover the superb surroundings of Córdoba, the first day will have been more a warm-up lap and a reminder of a merciless reality : "we can't negotiate with events, we just can adjust to it" ! After a hard wakening, collateral damage of our reunion night, and the last moto's preparations and stuff's selection for the week, the Cabrito's group was ready to start in the late end of morning : Carlos on his Honda CG125-Storm, Chincho on his Yamaha YBR125, Dany on his brand new Honda XR125, Toto on the Honda CB250-Twister lent by a friend for the week, and myself on the Kawa KLR650 lightened of most of its luggages - what a pleasure to feel it light and reactive again !
I precise here that this little group already showed some notable disparities, although we managed it without any difficulty : on motorbike's side, the ones of Carlos, Chincho, & Toto are models designed for paved roads in terms of suspension and tyres, not exactly appropriated for our week's program... But their pilots at least already had some experience of this kind of road surface, contrarily to Dany and myself that were complete beginners on "ripio". To be more precise, Dany was actually a nearly complete beginner whatever the surface considered, showing here an undeniable courage and optimism with regard to the challenge to be faced ! And on my side, the more or less 230kg of the KLR were adding some spice to this off-road initiation, compared to the much more manageable 130kg maxi of the others motos, without even talking of my front wheel undulated rim which effect I would soon discover...
After having filled the tanks and finished the previous day's barbecue rests, it's thus in the early afternoon that the band eventually started with the day's menu : a route of a bit more than 150kms essentially composed of dirt tracks going from Tanti to the zone called "Los Tuneles", passing close to the summits of "Los Gigantes", and ending theoretically in the city of Mina Clavero some tenth of kms south. Unfortunately a first puncture on Chincho's rear tyre occurred a few kms after leaving immediately brought us back to Tanti's "gomeria" (tyre's workshop) for an express reparation, after some funny attempts to use a foam as volatile as useless. Having left again around 15h, a second puncture of Chincho, probably due to a bad work in the gomeria, imposed us a new stop hardly farther than the first one... No shitty foam this time, back to the good old method of self-patching the air chamber, and "vamos" !
But the unshakeable willing of Carlos to stick to the day's program despite the delay already taken nevertheless couldn't resist to the day's third puncture which he was the victim some tenths of kms before Los Tuneles, leaving us appreciating from faraway some summits bathing in the sunset's light... We eventually changed plans and deviated toward the town of Villa Cura Brochero, a few kms before the foreseen final destination of Mina Clavero, leaving for the next day the Tuneles zone !
Really good impressions for this first dirt tracks day, this taken route being globally favorable because well compacted and without any trapping zone. The KLR behaved safely and I could appreciate without worries this floating sensation such new to me after eight years of clear adherence to asphalt ! :)

        Next day, having this time managed to get off earlier and having avoided any new puncture, we quickly reached back the Tuneles zone by a superb track going along the sierra's west edge, with a diving sight on the neighboring province of San Juan. And a mirador on the end of this track also allowed us to see some condors that favored ourselves with hedgehopping us... What a great beast seen from so close, with a good 3-4m wingspan and a sound silky but loudly present while overflying us ! After having enjoyed an offer of "free braised goat" in a restaurant close by ("Las Aguilas"), we headed back south and reached the city of Merlo, just at the border with San Juan's province, in prevision of next day's outing to the famous "Pueblo Escondido" ("hidden village"). A good new day totalizing 90kms of ripio and 200kms of asphalt, but studded this time for my part of some frights in sand patches where my front end begun to dangerously oscillate, forcing me to get back down below 50km/h in these zones to avoid falling flat... No concreted fall nevertheless, even if I though several times I wouldn't be able to avoid it !

A slight novelty from hereon, I give it a try to posting some lights videos just for fun, and yet I beg for pardon for its amateurism... I just start discovering the whole of it between two hostels :P

        At the program for this third day, the famous "Pueblo Escondido", a tiny village isolated from the rest of the world which access has to be deserved whatever the mean chosen to reach it (even GoogleMaps only finishes its layout in dotted line !). Effectively, the Cerro Aspero's track followed in 4WD or moto to reach it is worth the nicest adventure excursion's posters, and it actually requires combining both a really adapted vehicle and a minimum of driving skills to be able to take advantage of it, or otherwise to end-up going walking... as we would soon discover !
The morning was fresh and cloudy, and before we even have time to warm-up, a hopefully low damage accident of Dany cut short to our expectations to defy these adverse conditions... A combination of some of the great classics of motorbike learning : a curve taken too early at the inside lane, an excessively quick return to the exterior to go away from a car that appears in front, a crispation on the front brake that picks the bike up and makes it go straight forward, and Dany went rubbing against the guardrail before to get over it, doing itself an ankle's sprain, not helped by the light sport shoes he was wearing ! Hopefully more fright than damage, and he even managed then to get his bike back itself to Merlo where we accompanied him to the "guardia" (emergencies) first and then to a clinic until getting the reassuring sprain diagnostic, which would anyway complicate a bit the end of his week...
After having lunched a good winter meal accorded to this day's climate ("guiso de lentejas") and once reassured on our injured health, we decided to go in the late afternoon on a reconnaissance tour of this famous cerro Aspero's track : "Vamos" ! And for my part I took advantage of Dany's unavailability to temporarily drop at the hotel the heavy KLR and go for some fun with his super-light XR125. Thanks for this loan amigo ! :)
The difference in manoeuvrability was just huge and offered me some really brilliant hours, allowing me to be more and more playful whatever the surface and to fully enjoy this time the pleasure of dirt track riding. And I have to say it was highly appropriated for this clearly "enduro" track, on which we had as much pleasure as difficulties without talking of the cloud enveloping our getaway... And it would have been impossible to pass through some hard points with the KLR, whatever the pilot's skill level : far too heavy to slow its descent, and far too low to cross over some high steps ! After having highly enjoyed the first kms of this funny track, we resigned ourselves to turn back at sunset, after a particularly hard zone where even in 125 we hardly managed going through even helping each other one at a time, pushing forward cm by cm, lifting and repositioning the bikes to find the best way forward...
Back to the hotel, and after having passed some moments laughing on this day's videos, we arranged Dany's ankle in my boots I lent him for the end of the week, back for my part with the moto shoes I hopefully had carried in case of excessive heat.

        Next day, this is with the full group that we headed again toward this fucking village so well hidden, Dany being prudent but present, and for my part on Chincho's YBR after having left to him the Kawa. Although the clouds had renovated their participation too on first part, we had the chance to see them dissipate once arrived in the most spicy track's part, revealing wonderful sights unsuspected the day before.
Having left the KLR in the entry of the (too) steep zone, I followed the others cabritos as the official cameraman and occasional substitute on Dany's XR for the few bits where his injured ankle didn't allow him to go on riding. Progressing slowly but surely, the group bravely fought until Carlos, as a good opener ("vamos !"), made his clutch discs melt by asking the impossible to its modest city-oriented 125 !
It's thus walking that we - nearly - ended the track to the Pueblo Escondido, a nice 5kms stretch that Dany covered in "Gandalf the insane" mode leaning on a stick. Actually we stopped once we had the village on sight, approximatively another 5kms more down below, considering the advanced hour, the bikes & stuffs dropped some kms behind, and the pending route to our night staying point : Villa General Belgrano, more or less 90kms away. Without forgetting that Carlos's cabrita was still needing an improvised reparation to rebirth from its ashes !
About-turn thus after having rested a bit observing from faraway this fucking village that will eventually have kept us away (undeniably well "escondido"), and open-heart operation for the Carlos's Storm, in the shadow of a providential tree, cutting and modifying the shape of clutch discs foreseen for the Chincho's YBR125 to make them fit in the Carlos's Storm... Some great Argentinian's style art !
After having quietly covered the nice track carrying us to Villa General Belgrano, where a secondary house lent by Chincho's boss was awaiting us, our night was organized around an improvised barbecue as a warm-up for the more serious one foreseen for next day.

        For the last getaway day back to Tanti, the route being nearly exclusively paved, we took advantage Toto and I to interchange our bikes all day long, giving me the occasion to remember how the Twister is definitely not designed for guys as tall as I am... On his side, Toto visibly loved the KLR ! Having taken the time in the morning for some maintenance / reparations, he even could enjoy a resuscitated velocity counter (so much dirt had entered the endless screw making turn the cable that it had broken a tooth of the transmission ring).
After a nice road without surprises, we had a fantastic barbecue ("asado" in local term), managed by the expert hand of Carlos, and accompanied by a good Fronsac wine bottle brought by my father during his holidays in the end of 2014. A pure feast, as this week with the cabritos ! Thanks a lot for this good vibe shared during these few days the porteños ! :)
Next day, the one of their way back to BsAs, a nice morning rain and the week's accumulated tiredness carried away Carlos's last "Vamos !", and the ultime getaway program in Tanti's surrounding turned into a resting session and peaceful house cleaning & stuffs tidying up. After separation and having wished each other a good continuation / way back home, I left back for my part to Córdoba for a short resting week and some motorbike's maintenance (trying to arrange this undulated rim creating me front end oscillations), waiting also for the rain to pass by.

        Going back to the "heavily luggage loaded" configuration was quite painful, despite the few stuffs left to Carlos before his departure, but this dirt track initiation week's balance was clearly positive : although its high weight was a clear handicap in comparison to a light 125 manoeuvrability, dirt tracks seemed globally to be within reach of the Kawa at the condition of mastering the skills to drive it on this kind of surface and as far as the tracks stayed compact enough (sandy zones being still a real issue nevertheless), and more than nothing these tracks give access to such wonderful landscapes ! Up to me then to go on learning how to ride those surfaces by heading in new stretches along the journey... :)