P
icture a service station with the big awnings over the bowsers, then get a metre of snow
and fill the whole driveway with it. The bowsers were covered with snow half way up the sides
and there was no way of even getting to the pumps let alone asking for a tank of fuel. So, I
thought I’m out of here until this guy stopped in a car and came over for a look. He was amazed
that I had actually tried to get over the range so quickly as the gates had only been open since 12
noon and it was still dangerous for cars even to travel let alone a bike. He said that the road
going down was good, just watch out at the bridges for ice, and I had about 55 kms to the next
service station to go. He was right, it was great going down. The road still weaved and bent
around this massive mountain as we descended. I was amazed at how the guys had etched this
vein of travel, how they had worked to get such a smooth road and how it was cut into the
mountain at some points where the rock formation was nearly vertical, at some point I was riding
right next to a rock face that went up for 100’s of metres, straight up and covered with snow on
the peaks, this kind of scenery is addictive even if I was frozen, it was great. Other parts the road
went into a tunnel through the rock, some tunnels were quite long and it was great coming to the
exit and seeing the mountains up ahead dripping with snow.
I finally got to the bottom and to a town called Uspallata just on dark; I fuelled up and found out
about a hostel on the edge of town. I was cold, hungry, tired and very, very happy.
It was one hell of a challenge and I did it, as I always try and tell myself, nothing is impossible, it
just depends on how much you want it and how far you are willing to go through to get it.
I will never forget this day.