In this entry we ride a long section of the Chilean coast from Cobquecura to Pichilemu. Our riding days were necessarily shorter in distance because of all the very, very steep coastal hills. Initially we were dreading these hills a bit, but in the end we enjoyed the interesting riding in this area. It was much easier to find places to stay, just as we had hoped. We also haven’t had any unpleasant weather, and we even had one day with a raging tailwind. What a new and wonderful experience that was!

Days 111-113: Rest days in Cobquecura

We spent three rest days in this little town eating sushi and walking the sandy beach. We honestly didn’t do much else! There is a big sea lion colony on a rock that we walked past several times, but the ocean was always so wild we had little interest in getting close to the surf.

Day 114: Cobquecura to Rio Chovellen (40 km / 25 mi)

It was hard to pull ourselves out of our lovely little house by the sea, but the road is always calling to a cycletourist. Our first stop of the day was just north of town in the ‘Iglesia de Piedra,’ or ‘Stone Church.’ It’s a huge rock on an even bigger beach, and since it was low tide we could run through the big empty spaces and passages within. It was pretty magical and a little spooky.

Back on the road it was up and down and up and down all day. We climbed the same 300-400′ over and over. The climbs were pretty steep but short and the descents were fun. It helped that we had a strong tailwind that pushed us up and sped us along the flats.

During one flat stretch between climbs Jason pulled out his phone to take a picture… and threw it into the air on accident! I saw it fly through the air and hit the sidwalk with a loud THUNK. Then it bounced into the grass. Alice hopped off and grabbed it, then handed it back to Jason to inspect. It was unharmed! I didn’t believe this news and insisted on inspecting it myself. Sure enough, the case had protected the phone completely!

Right before the final climb we saw a stand selling strawberries. I pulled over and bought a huge clamshell with about six pounds of berries for $5.50. Luckily it even fit into one of my bags! That evening we ate well.

Day 115: Rio Chovellen to Los Pellines (60 km / 37 mi)

We were expecting another day with tailwind, so when the tailwind didn’t appear the day felt harder than we were hoping. It didn’t help that the morning’s ride was full of very steep, short climbs right next to the ocean. This region is quite heavily built up with vacation homes from the very, very fancy to the downright ramshackle.

We stopped at a beach boardwalk to take our 3000 km photo. The girls ran around on the sand making shapes with their footprints. H drew a heart and A drew a star. It was a pretty wholesome little rest stop, overall.

Despite begin hungry for lunch pretty early in the day, we pushed on until the afternoon when we reached the town of Chanco. It is a smaller, agricultural town a little inland from the beach. It reminded us of some small towns in Spain. We stopped for a lunch of chicken sushi bowls and sushi burritos that we ate in front of the municipal building. The various politicians coming in and out were all extremely friendly. One of them even offered us a place to sleep inside free of charge. They are trying to encourage more cycletourists to stay here. We had plans though so we carried on.

Thank goodness the road leveled out after lunch. It was more boring but also a lot faster as we zoomed through tree farms back down to the water. We stayed in a little cabin in a tiny town. It was in a backyard and the owner told us she didn’t have any cats… but every time we opened the door a big fluffy cat was sitting right outside waiting to be let in. Eventually we relented and gave her a big bowl of milk. Oops.

Day 116: Los Pellines to Constitucion (30 km / 19 mi)

We accidentally took the ‘hill’ route this morning instead of the ‘flat’ route, but honestly it was kind of nice. I think we are getting good at the coastal hills! Some of our riding today was right along the water, where we found a lovely little pull-off with big swing.

Our main even was a larger climb south of the city of Constitucion. It was hot and steep. By the top we were starving and sweating profusely, but there was a lot of logging traffic and no pleasant place to stop. Eventually I threw a small fit and demanded potato chips outside a wood pellet factory. There was no way I could go any farther without more calories!

We turned off to enter the city from the south, thinking it would be a nicer option than staying on the highway until we were in town. I’m not sure it was better, but it sure was interesting. First off, the road was in awful condition. It plunged straight down towards the coast and then wove through the very populated hills of the city. The coastal fog was literally pouring over the hilltops and spilling over the buildings. Alice was amazed and honestly that makes the bad pavement and death grip on the brakes worth it.

The city was lively and there wasn’t a tourist in sight. We went straight through the central square and got surrounded by high school students on their lunch break. It was a bit overwhelming so we jetted right to our destination: an old house we had rented by the river. It was a super interesting place to stay because it felt like a grand old museum that we could sleep in. One of the rooms had enough beds for all of us, so of course we had a Philtron slumber party.

Day 117: Rest day in Constitucion

I’m certain there were sights to see in this busy city, but our main focus was getting some bicycle maintenance taken care of. We spend over an hour at a repair shop while the guys there tightened everything and replaced brake pads and fixed a seat and a bottom bracket. They did such a nice job and were so friendly with us. They were also super excited to see the tandems and our particular gear set up. It’s fun to see bike professionals take in the set up.

We ate pizza for lunch and took advantage of the more varied grocery options to make a coconut curry for dinner. Overall, a very good rest.

Day 118: Constitucion to Rancura (59 km) / 37 mi

After all those coastal hills, you’d think we would love a flat day. Turns out that the flat days are more boring! We rode fast down the coast with the ocean to our left and tree farms on our right. In between there was sparse vegetation and sometimes sand dunes.

Near the end of the day we turned towards the ocean while the primary road turned inland. The traffic had been sparse all day but now it became very quiet. The strip of lodging and fish shops was about one block wide and felt very still in the off-season. There was almost no one around.

As we waited for the grocery stores to open the girls stopped to play at a beach side playground and we marveled at how far we’ve come. The first playgrounds we encountered were in Ushuaia, which now seems impossibly far away (and cold!). Now we are riding along the beach and watching the girls run around palm trees.

Day 119: Rancura to Llico (29 km / 18 mi)

29 km doesn’t seem like very many, but they sure felt like it today! We had 15 km of truly lovely riding along the water. It’s the start of a three day weekend, so the little towns were setting up for a party. It made for an interesting ride past little booths and people getting parked. We had no problems with traffic, since the pedestrians were causing the cars to go just as slow as us anyhow.

There were two roads away from the coast and towards the next town over a 1000+ foot hill: a paved climb and a dirt climb. The paved climb was 4 km longer and more trafficked so… we chose the dirt. We went into it planning on mostly walking, and yup that’s how we did it! Several locals looked at us sideways and warned us of how steep it was. A couple of women in a truck offered to give us a ride several times. But… it was so pretty and we were all glad for the quiet and steep route.

Going back down the other side was a different story. There’s something that we all dislike about a gravel road that is too steep to ride down. It’s like… we earned the descent! But it just isn’t safe for us to tear down the steep routes with all our gear on loose gravel. We ended up walking at least a kilometer on the way down too. The important part is arrive safely at the end, and at least we accomplished that.

Our climb and the resulting views really made me realize how odd this stretch of coast is. The ocean of course is lovely, the towns are welcoming, the food is good. Just inland however are tree farms for way farther than you can see. And that means unnatural straight lines of a single species of tree, and lots of clear cuts. We are enjoying ourselves quite a bit, but the scenery inland isn’t very appealing. We stop and awe at the overlooks, especially when we can see the ridges of a dozen hills, but then we look closer and realize how different the scenery is than what it would be naturally, or even if it was wheat farms.

Day 120: Llico to Bocalemu (37 km / 23 mi)

Today we opted for the longer, flatter, and more paved route after yesterday’s experience on the more direct and steeper road. We zipped around the coastal hill instead of brute forcing up and over! It was a full 7 miles longer, but still we had a short day.

Around the hill we reached an area of salt production. It is a big flat area where the seawater comes in and then can be trapped in small rectangular pools. As the water evaporates more saltwater is let in. Over time the water in the squares gets saltier and saltier, then thick with salt chunks. Eventually they shovel the salt into little piles, then scoop it out to dry. We stopped to take in the whole scene and the girls found it very interesting.

We rolled past the salt flats and into town, starving for a decent lunch. We ended up at one of many places selling fresh plates of fish along the water and had a big lunch of salmon, hake, and a Peruvian dish called ‘lomo saltado.’ We had difficulty finding lodging because it was a holiday weekend, but we ended up in a cabin perched above town on stilts. There was a lovely view, but it was stressful to think about how underneath us was just air!

Day 121: Bucalemu to Pichilemu (35 km / 22 mi)

The scenery today wasn’t grand, but the riding was interesting. I woke up very relieved that the cabin stayed intact overnight! We woke up very cold in our house perched above town. This is a summer destination, so there wasn’t any heat available. We just covered the children in blankets before we got on the road.

It was a short day, but there was a 1000′ climb waiting for us at the edge of town. At this point, such a climb doesn’t bother us one bit. We were up and at the top within an hour. Incredibly, we could see the Andes mountain range to the East. We were surprised and amazed that we could see all the way across the country.

Back down the other side we stopped in the town of Cahuil for a pizza lunch. While we ate a local came by to congratulate us and tell us about his coin collection. Apparently he is teaming up with a Chilean that lives in Kansas to write a book about colonial Chilean coins.

From lunch it was a fast ride to the city of Pichilemu, a surfing town with lots of six-way intersections. Shockingly, we even passed a day rider on the flat section! We settled into our cabin for the evening, which was close enough to the beach that we could walk the boardwalk before bed.

This post covers a week and a half of time spent crossing back and forth through Chile’s central valley near Los Ángeles and Chillán.

The riding was relatively flat and the scenery less spectacular than typical. We passed literally millions of trees on tree farms (they call them ‘plantaciones’ here). We also gained a deeply felt love-hate relationship with bicycle paths in Chile – it is incredible that they exist but they also start and stop suddenly and often end in a curb or a wall. It became a running joke that our favorite game is ‘find the ciclovia.’ At one particularly challenging intersection we asked for help from a local worker who laughed and said… ‘estan en Chile,’ which translates as ‘y’all are in Chile.’ I think he was laughing because yes, the magic exists, and then sometimes it changes to the other side of a four lane highway with no warning and no signs. You just gotta roll with it.

It became hard to find and plan for lodging in the central valley in this region since it has truly no tourism. After one town with literally only one hostal that was terrible, we decided to head to the coast. This post ends with our arrival in Cobquecura, a tourist beach town. We took 3 rest days to recharge and reset. It was very quiet since it is no longer the tourist season!

Instead of a longer narrative, we’ll include the girls’ writings (when available) and just throw in the pictures with captions for this post. Most of the days were pretty uneventful, but we did truly enjoy meeting the people in this tourist-free section of the country and seeing Chilean life. As you’ll see from A’s entries, much of what stood out in this section was the food we ate. The girls are becoming true fans of Chilean food. They request restaurant meals nearly every day and it’s easy to say yes. The food is affordable, and filling. A nice rest at lunch is often exactly what we need on the bikes too!

These journal entries make it seem like all the kids do is eat and play video games, but I promise we also do writing and reading and Spanish and hours chatting on the bicycles!

Day 100: Curacautín to Victoria (59 km / 37 mi)

Side note: CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, 100 DAYS????

A: Today we played lots of Zelda in the morning. The riding in the morning was extremely misty (scary level) and uphill. It was pavement though! For lunch on the side of the road we had leftover pizza from yesterday’s lunch. It was really cold.

The riding in the afternoon was cold and fast, mostly downhill. We stopped at the Unimarc <a grocery store chain> on the way to our hotel. We are staying in Victoria. The city feels old. The room is really nice and has breakfast. The same people who run the hotel own the in-complex restaurant. We had a dinner of ham, cheese, barbecue sauce sandwiches (though I do love fries a lot) after some Zelda and I think Mama had a podcast. That’s all for today! See you later!

H: I played Zelda immediately. We couldn’t see anything and it was uphill. We ate pizza. It was misty and cloudy and downhilly. We went to the store and played video games.

Day 101: Victoria to Traiguén (29 km / 18 mi)

A: Today we got cake with the breakfast they gave us in the restaurant. The riding in the morning was in flat farming and hazelnut tree farms. There were really loud trucks on the mini-highway. We took a nice paved shortcut to the beginning of town and got lunch at a sushi place. We ordered sushi bowls, sushi rolls, and fried cheese empanadas. It was good.

We also took a picture with the big Traiguen sign. We found our room in the hostel and I haven’t yet seen the rabbits though. There are two cute tiny dogs, a cat, and huge fluffy white dog. We then played Zelda and Mama played on the Stardew account she had gotten on her computer. Playing on a computer is weird. For dinner I had half a sandwich and some avocado and yogurt. I wasn’t very hungry because I ate a lot for lunch, though. And that’s all for today! Bye! See you later!

H: We had cake for breakfast. It was flat and downhill and misty and boring. We made it and went to the plaza and ate sushi. We got to our place and played video games.

Day 102: Rest day in Traiguén

Parent note: The girls don’t typically write in their journals for rest days, because we treat them like weekends with time off from their ‘school’ duties. On this day we walked around the little city of Traiguen, which was honestly delightful. It is a historical town with some cobblestone streets and a lovely plaza.

Our host at the hostel was particularly lovely. She introduced us to her giant rabbits that she breeds as pets and told us about growing up as the youngest of five siblings in the house her father built. He was an immigrant from Germany and built the cast iron wood stove that not only served to cook food and heat the kitchen, but also heat all the water for the bathrooms and showers. We were treated to boiled chestnuts and Chilean pine nuts as well. She had a huge wood-burning furnace in the basement that ran the boilers for the whole place, and it was a big place! It backed right up to open space next to a lovely river.

In short, despite the fact that it was raining and we were pretty lazy, it was still a magical day.

Day 103: Traiguén to Angol (60 km / 37 mi)

A: Today we had the same breakfast and played a lot of Zelda. The riding in the morning was up and down, and the road had giant cracks in it. Boo. For a filling lunch we stopped to eat menu and sandwiches with fries in Los Sauces. It was delicious.

The riding in the afternoon was also hilly and had logging trucks. The scenery was tree farms. At the cabin after a slight bit of gravel we played Zelda more. For dinner we had carrot, apple, rice, and tuna. It was fine. Bye! See you later!

H: I had an extra hour of videogames. The road was super bumpy. Lunch was super good. The scenery was grasslands. We made it and I played Zelda.

Day 104: Angol to Los Ángeles (65 km / 40 mi)

A: Today we had eggs and toast for breakfast. We rode toward Coihue on a noisy highway. For lunch we stopped in a little restaurant for completos and sandwiches. It was good. The riding in the afternoon was bad on the highway. The bike path hopped back and forth with no clue, so it was a tricky puzzle. Then the road went from four lanes to two lanes to (in the city) four lanes once again.

The hostal we were staying in felt like a maze because it was really long. We were in room 17! It was nice, though. We played some video games and went out in an Uber to get dinner out. The Uber ride took 15 minutes instead of the supposed 5! The pizza and brownies we got were really, really good! I like salmon pizza! We took a fast Uber home – 5 minutes – and are now writing in our journals. Bye! I’ll see you later!

H: Our cabin was full of spiders. We had to go back forth a lot of times for the bike path. We stopped at a restaurant for sandwiches. We went on the highway and it rained. We made it and played Zelda.

Day 105: Los Ángeles to Huépil (52 km / 32 mi)

A: This morning we had a really good breakfast at the hostal. I had chocolate milk. In the morning we rode through a quiet countryside after a bit of busy city. The the road turned to bad gravel and the scenery became tree farms. We got back to pavement and found our cabaña in the town Huepil. Our cabaña is nice. We then played Zelda til dinner. H has gotten 3 divine beasts! Dinner was salmon nuggets, chicken, and rice. The salmon nuggets were really good! Bye! That’s all for today!

H: Good breakfast. We went through the city. There were not many cars and it was quiet. There were millions of trees. We made it and played Zelda.

Day 106: Rest (rain) day in Huépil

Huepil had lots of places to shop and buy supplies, but not much to offer for tourism. Jason left the cabin multiple times for food while all the girls stayed inside and rested as much as possible. I know this sounds so boring, but after days of being outside on the bikes for hours and hours… sometimes we just need to lay low and read, play games, and update blogs.

Day 107: Huépil to Chillán Viejo (82 km / 51 mi)

A: Today for breakfast I had delicious chocolate chip pancakes. H stubbed her toe. Poor H. The riding in the morning was fast downhill through the countryside. We are going 82 kilometers today. For lunch we stopped in Pemunco at a little restaurant. I mostly ate french fries and drank my strawberry juice. It was also good. The ride in the afternoon was the same as in the morning with a bit more up.

We got our cabin after visiting a fruteria and me and H played video games until dinner. Dinner was tuna and rice and carrot. It was fun, but I had a heavy lunch so I ate light. Bye! That’s all for today!

H: Mama hurt my toe. There was a buncha downhill and going fast. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch. There were more tree farms. We made it and played Zelda.

Day 108: Chillán Viejo to San Nicolás (25 km / 16 mi)

A: Today for breakfast I had ham and cheese eggs. The riding in the morning was ‘chase-the-bike-path’ and it began to slight rain on us. For lunch we stopped in a food truck for fries and burritos in Saint Nicolas, then we got our hostal. It wasn’t very nice. Boo.

We played video games until dinner. Dinner was salmon burger. It was fine. And bye! See you later!

H: I skipped Spanish this morning <the girls do a Spanish lesson most mornings before riding>. We played a lot of ‘find the bike path.’ We went to the plaza for lunch. We made it and played Zelda.

Day 109: San Nicolás to Quirihue (44 km / 27 mi)

A: We went to get breakfast in the restaurant on the corner. We had bread and eggs. On the way out me and papa couldn’t find ham in four different stores.

There was a headwind on the way out of town. We stopped for a snack of potato chips at a intersection. For lunch we stopped in a driveway and ate nutella bread. We finally made it to our hostal in the town of Quirihue. The town was nice as well as our hostel. We also went out and ate some delicious stuff at a cafe. I got a chocolate milkshake. We also didn’t really have dinner. Bye! That’s all for today! See you later!

H: We woke up in a crappy hostal. We didn’t sleep well. We didn’t find ham. We stopped in a driveway for lunch. It was really hot. I needed to go pee. We made it and played Zelda.

Day 110: Quirihue to Cobquecura (37 km / 23 mi)

Parental note: Today the girls skipped their journals in the excitement of reaching the coast. We had good sleep in our hostel then rode up and over the coastal mountains through never-ending tree farms. The screaming descent into the beach town of Cobquecura was exciting for everyone – the ocean!!!

We rented a house near the beach for four nights to take a ‘deep rest.’ With the ocean waves as a soundtrack we settled in to eat and sleep and take leisurely walks. After ten days of criss-crossing the agricultural heart of Chile we were ready for a new region: the central coast.

This is a short entry that only covers a few days. We chose to split these days off from the following because the next entry will cover a gravel ‘shortcut’ that had a long list of misadventures. The days in *this* entry were pleasant and uneventful in comparison! In any case, we have reached the part of Chile that has very few North/South routes besides the major highway, route 5. We jog west/east to get around Villarrica and Collico Lakes, and then are well-positioned to ride through a national park to get farther north.

Day 93: Pucón to Villarrica (33 km / 21 mi)

Pucón is a very busy tourist town that was particularly full of Chileans celebrating the long Easter weekend with their families. Our departure was scheduled to be on Sunday, which promised extra traffic from families driving home from their long weekend. The route between Pucón and the next town is narrow, crowded, and I actually remember hating it when we came through eleven years ago. Determined to not repeat the experience, this time we found an alternative.

The alternative route was only paved a couple years ago and meanders through small communities in the foothills above the lake. It was blessedly quiet and lovely for us, even if we paid for that quiet in elevation gained. The road rose steeply away from Pucón past many luxury condominium developments until we turned off onto a very quiet sideroad. Every car we saw on the side road was full of people with their families (it was Easter Sunday after all) and they were all delighted to see us.

The road had steep up and downs, so despite the quiet road conditions we started to feel a little downtrodden and tired. Like magic, a grocery store appeared at the top of a particularly big hill. It wasn’t a typical grocery store though – it was a local co-op full of fresh vegetables, sourdough bread, lattes, and American-style oatmeal cookies and brownies. In short, it was just about fabulous.

We ate our packed lunch at the picnic tables outside (while I sipped a fresh espresso drink), then went in to load up on treats and bread. We rarely get to enjoy sourdough bread, and basically never get brownies and cookies. This was a true treat.

After that too-good-to-be-true store we started downhill. We honestly didn’t pedal for about three kilometers! It was not exactly awe-inspiring scenery but it was a lovely, quiet slice of country life.

As we entered Villarrica it started to rain. Of course, despite the 10% chance forecast, after all the Philtron family was riding. We were happy to have a nice separated bicycle path that lead us toward the center, and then many separated bicycle paths to navigate. It was actually quite remarkable to have so much bicycle infrastructure. We enjoyed it!

I had reserved us a house for the night on Booking right near downtown. For the first time, the host just told us where a spare key was hidden and then asked us to leave cash under the tablecloth when we left. It was a lot for the homeowner to entrust in complete strangers, but we were happy for the peaceful quiet night.

Day 94: Villarrica to Los Laureles (40 km / 25 mi)

Despite the shorter mileage day today we had our work cut out for us because 15 of those kilometers were on steep dirt climbs. At least it was good weather and nearly traffic free! The trees are changing colors here, and even in rough conditions it’s pretty magical to ride through the South American fall.

The first half of the day had us passing the lakeside and looking back one last time towards Volcan Villarrica. Almost immediately we turned away from the main road that leads back towards highway 5. The traffic all vanished and it was just us climbing through the countryside. For lunch we stopped at the next major road intersection. There wasn’t really a town there, but there were two minimarkets, an elementary school with kids playing soccer, and a tiny stand selling hot dogs.

We rolled up and asked for four hot dogs. The owner was happy to have us but had to leave to buy the bread for the hot dogs! He asked us to watch the stand for him while he walked back to the nearby minimarkets. We were of course happy to, and the hot dogs were yummy when they were eventually ready. We continue to enjoy the Chilean ‘completo’ which is a hot dog with tomato and avocado, usually for around $3 USD.

Immediately after lunch it was dirt road time. Challenging but pretty.

When we descended into the next river valley (and onto pavement) we were in logging country. The traffic was light, but included logging trucks carrying trees to the nearby mill. The town we reached, Los Laureles, is sustained by the tree farms and milling industries. It was a small but tidy little town built around a central square. We rented a simple cabin behind the town’s ice cream shop. It seemed like it was brand new.

Enjoy the pics below showing how chaotic our stuff can be sometimes when we reach the end of the riding day

Day 95: Los Laureles to Melipeuco (55 km / 34 mi)

The day dawned overcast and surprisingly cold. We pedaled away from Los Laureles onto a lovely smooth road heading towards the Andes. All day long it gradually climbed, so gradually that we hardly noticed.

We were climbing up a wide and fertile river valley, so every ten kilometers or so we passed through another tiny settlement. In the biggest one, Cunco, we stopped in a coffee shop to try different types and sweets and warm up with a latte. It was cold enough that we all really needed a break inside.

We only stopped twice this day: once for coffee and once for potato chips in a tiny settlement with a nice plaza. We were making excellent time, and were also just too cold to stop for long. Perhaps we should have eaten lunch, since I got very hungry when we finally arrived, but we made it all the same. I was crabby but it was nothing a sandwich with barbecue sauce couldn’t cure.

Our destination, Melipeuco, is the last tourist output before Conguillio National Park. It has everything you could need, mostly along the one main street through town. I remember this town feeling dusty and sparse when we came through eleven years ago, but my impression this time was different. I like it. It has a perfect grid for a layout, and everyone is a few blocks flat walk from a grocery store. The plaza is lovely, the neighborhoods have sidewalks and interesting houses. It was a nice place to spend a day resting.

Day 96: Resting in Melipeuco

We really took this rest day seriously and did almost nothing but play video games, update journals, and prepare for the next stretch of road. The only road north from Melipeuco goes through the national park and climbs nearly 3,000′, mostly on a gravel road with no services. There are several opportunities to camp or stay in cabins in the park, and we had to make decisions about where to stay and how far we expected to ride each day. In the end we decided to take two ‘short’ days, thinking we’d have lots of time to enjoy camp and admire the scenery.

Our decision was correct, but the days were not short! As you will read in the next update, we encountered the most challenging road conditions of the entire trip. Of course, the challenges were overcome and the scenery was spectacular. You’ll have to wait for the next update to see though!