November 27, 2025
Overlander C to wildcamp Route X91 KM 1
The other two, Yared and Quentin, were itching to go this morning, so I told them not to bother waiting for me, that I would catch them up. I had all packed, but needed to write up yesterday's journal.
Twenty minutes later I set off in pursuit. I had seen the way they ride yesterday. Yared on his relatively narrow tyre Pinnacle, handles the loose gravel well, nonetheless, such narrow tyres are limited. Furthermore, the road gearing means he is out of the saddle going uphill, lurching from side to side, grinding out each turn of the cranks. Slow, using up a lot of energy with slow uphill gain in return.
Quentin remains seated while spinning uphill. However, his German touring bike, is from the era of 26 inch wheels with relatively narrow 2 inch tyres and innertubes inflated to 50 psi. The small wheel diameter, the narrownest and hardnest of the tyres offer little grip, especially on the many steep winding descends, which Quentin rode with the brakes on. And if that wasn't enough, he is carrying away too much stuff, having packed everything including the kitchen sink, which slowed him down greatly on the flat.
The Kona on the other hand, with big diameter and fat 29er tyres, set up tubeless, so I run them at a grippy 29 psi without the danger of a puncture from hitting a large stone, cruises along over the rougest surface, even taking much of the buzz out of many a washboard section. The single small chainring and wide ratio gear rings at the back means I'm always spinning the legs. The bikepacking concept of my touring setup, means carrying only essentials, lighrweight with little rattle.
In a few words, the two were easily caught.
The warm weather had returned today as the three of us rode together for what would be the last time. We made an eleveneses stop in the shade of a bus-shether sized open-fronted cabin upon a gravel apron down to a riverbank, where Quentin made an unsuccessful adjustment to his brakes and confirm that he no longer had any brakes. Both brake-levers touching the handlebars with neither slowing or stopping. The steep descent onwards had him off walking downhill while we waited.
Soon we reached the turn off for Tortel, where we say goodbye to Quentin for now, as he would leave his bike at a farmhouse for safe keeping and hitch a lift to Tortel, and hitch back tomorrow and resume the trip, hoping to get the brakes sorted at a bike shop further south.
Yared and I began going are separate ways too. I remained at the junction taking photos for a bit, none of which were any good, while he continued up the steep long hill onwards. I caught him again, but then, I stopped at a stream to fill my depleted water supplies and when I caught up with him again, he was stood eating his lunch a little too close to the roadside for my liking with it's passing vehicle dust. After a few words, I continued and found a place to lunch well out from the road, near a precipice with a good view on three sides.
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After lunch I descend to Puerto Ungay to catch a 16 hrs ferry across a wide body of water. There was a couple in a pickup-camper waiting but no Yared. A little later a talkative Chilean motorbiker with his wife riding pillion turns up and in the half hour remaining before the ferry backed up to the ramp, he had my whole itinery talked out of me.
Arriving the other side, Puerto Bravo, Yared was stood outside a refugio. He made a one hour earlier sailing and said he is staying the night in the refugio. We said our goodbyes as I wanted to press on, continuing roughly 11 kilometres more, to a split in the road, where I continue left. The road number becomes X91 at this point. A kilometre in, I turn off along wheel tracks leading to a reasonable wildcamp posibility, which is best discribed as a cross between a small sapling dotted field and a clearing in dense rain forest.
I now write, having set up camp, with a waning sun, having solar charged the phone to 100 percent and hoping to get away early in the morning as its 87 kilometres to Ville O Higgins, which I would like to cover in a day.
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