Santiago

I'm probably not going to write much (if anything) over the next couple of weeks, so I thought I'd post a little map to show you a rough outline if what my route has been so far.

I arrived in Santiago by bus yesterday, which was a relief to get on for about 10 minutes, after that I couldn't shake a feeling of guilt. Fortunately that didn't last once I realised I had to cycle some 15km ride across Santiago during evening rush hour. Come back Ruta 5, all is forgiven.

Sadly (not to mention ironically), Toops did not did survive the bus journey unscathed. As I took her out of the luggage hold I realised that the handlebars had turned a complete 180 degrees and were facing back. As the bicycle minded among you will know, this is impossible in most bikes as the brakes hit against the down tube. Precisely. One of the brake arms had been bent back, which doesn't stop the brakes from working, but it does mean that the brake shoes are now out of line by about half a centimetre, which doesn't help either. To add further injury to injury, the kickstand finally gave and snapped as I loaded the bike when I arrived. It wasn't much of a surprise as it was obvious the weight of Toops fully loaded was too much for it to take from the start, but a nuisance nevertheless. Still, hopefully she will be good as new for the next leg; as I type, she is in a bike shop having her bearings greased, gears cleaned, cables replaced, brakes tightened, wheels trued and being all-round spat and polished. And nice as the rest is, I can't wait to get her back on the road.

I've also put up some more photos, same address as before: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=224005&id=866160056&l=3331bd7cce