Day 13: Santa Bárbara de Casa to Aroche (35km, 800m)

Sep 26

We started with a big bear hunt this morning while Ryley made oatmeal, then we ate, packed up and rode 35km to the next town and also stopped there for the night.

I was very intrigued riding through the logging section, where land prep involves mini terraces for pine. There is very little undergrowth so it looks very manicured, beautiful and green but also very weird compared to the messy cut blocks and forests in BC. The deciduous trees are qll💩😉😉that grow up in the cleared blocks are mainly eucalyptus – the mature ones were wafting eucalyptus smell at us for most of our morning ride today which I found quite delightful (but also a hit like you have a cold, since that’s the main thing I associate with the smell of eucalyptus). Also, a nice change from the cow and pig smells of the farmlands. We climbed up to our highest point today and really did get a stunning view of the surroundings.

We lunched up near the top in the shade of a pine, and happened to have stopped just in sight of a clearing machine that was sawing and de-branching trees. Axel was incredibly into it. He also found a stone monument he thought was cool which he made sure to pee right next to.

Ryley had looked up a hotel with a pool in the next town, Aroche, and asked if we wanted to do showers and laundry tonight. I said yes, probably. Then it started to rain lightly, we stopped for Axel to go to the bathroom and he also wanted to walk. We wanted to make some progress but are trying to balance that with his requests. As we started our Axel walk, Ryley rode 10 feet forward and realized that despite several adjustments tightening his brake cables, he had essentially no brakes, front or rear, so as it continued to rain he changed out his front brake pads with the non-help of Axel being an assistant mechanic plus rain and dirt getting into everything. But, success! Brake pads changed and braking power for our last two long and steep descents to Aroche. We were soaked by the time we got to town and very sold on a hotel stop for the night.

We had a hard time winding our way to the top of town to find the hotel in the rain and we were so wet it was hard to navigate using our phones. Hotel Casa Palacio is a restored 18th century Palace House and it was beautiful, quiet, dry and warm when we stepped in, with very much a feeling of entering a spa. We were welcomed warmly despite being soaking wet and filthy, and the only hotel staff who spoke some English acted as our hoat/guide/server and all things helpful for the evening. They had a room for us and assured us we could walk our wet bikes through the hotel and into the courtyard of the second floor for safe storage (which did take a bit of doing). We checked in at 5pm and were informed the kitchen opens for dinner at 9pm and breakfast at 8:30am. We asked if there was somewhere in town we could find food earlier than 9pm for Axel and they said “umm, no, we’ll try to make you some toast”.

We went and showered and came back to the restaurant for 6pm coffees, toast, a muffin and a piece of carrot cake – dinner for Axel. We did Axel’s bedtime then left a phone in the room on a one-way call as a monitor and went and had dinner at 10pm. We hadn’t seen anyone all day but the restaurant was full at 10pm. This is giving us a lot of insight into Selena’s inborn schedule 

We were recommended an excellent dinner and wine by our server and had a great meal, ending in chocolate lava cake around 11pm, and bed. We decided to stay a second night and have a day off tomorrow as we’re feeling pretty tired, and to give Axel a break day, too.

https://strava.app.link/h8Uj8H6CeNb

Poop story (at the end so skip if you want! It’s funny not gross): as we’ve already pointed out Axel is much more comfortable having nature poops then using toilets. We have a trowel for digging holes if it’s that kind of ground and if we’re pretty far out, we also have a roll of doggie bags so we just scoop it up if it’s not a very appropriate place to dig a hole and bury it. Today he picked a spot beside the trial way out but it was very Rocky and raining, so we bagged it. But, it was also the first time we put the rain cover on the trailer, and we’d previously been stashing any bagged poops in the rolled up rain cover above his trailer until we found a garbage bag. We tucked it in in the usual spot and part way down the hill Axel was clquite upset saying “Poop fall on Axel! Poop fall on Axel!” we didn’t really get it but his poop had indeed fallen on him in his trailer (it stayed bagged, not to worry!).  Fairly, he wasn’t that into it.