So having fallen off Maisie so started a day of coincidences, near misses and stuff worthy of being blogged.
Just after I had fallen off, for the last time, a white pick up full of Chilians pitched up. They offered to give me a lift to the next town that Graham's GPS said was 6.5 km down the road. So I jumped in and the guys agreed to park up Maisie until we figured out how to collect her. After 10km there was no sign of a town and we were back on tarmac. As we passed a deserted looking building I asked them to stop otherwise the rest of the team would not know where I was. The building was in the process of being converted into a hotel and the owner was there overseeing the work.
Here is a photo of the guys at the 'hotel to be' that helped me. I went inside and said my hellos and then went outside to make sure the others did not ride past. After 1 1/2 hours there was no sign of them so the owner offered to take me back to Maisie. 30km back up the road there was no sign of the team or Maisie. We flagged down a car and asked them if they had seen Maisie. They had not so we tuirned round and headed back. We stopped a car going north and they said that they had seen the team and Maisie down off the side of the road. I assumed that this was recently but on reflection I remember passing the car stopped so they had probably seen the guys at least an hour before. Found Maisie hidden and no team. Unloaded Maisie and returned to the hotel. The team must have ridden by when I was inside the building saying me hellos and since it looked deserted they had continued.
Next a car from the south reported they had seen 2 bikes parked by the road 50km short of Goverdino Gregores the next town but off the Ruta 40. 45 minutes later I saw 2 bikes riding north so thinking it was the team I flagged them down. No team but 2 Argentinians. They agreed to go with the hotel owner's pick up and collect Maisie. Which they did. Three hours later another pick up pulls in and though there was no room for Maisie he agreed to take me to Goverdino Gregores where I thought that the team would be. He drove me the 180km with a wheel bearing close to failure so we went slowly and the journey took more than 2 hours. In the town we spent an hour visiting every hotel and an internet cafe so I could send an e-mail to the team. Eventually found them in the nicest hotel on our second visit to it. Sue said that the guys had gone with a recovery truck back to Maisie. Of course she was no longer there. Fortunately they found it at the house and we were reunited.
Thing is I will not be able to ride her until I am at least partly healed so I am trying to arrange a truck to El Calafate and it has been put on local radio to help me in doing so.