Cycling through Del Carril - Cazon - Saladillo - Sojo - Alvarez Toledo - Polvaredas

As always, I left home very early to arrive and start pedaling no later than 8:30 AM. Knowing that it had rained the day before, just a little, but rain nonetheless, I traveled this Saturday, March 3rd, with some anticipation about how the roads would be, and I was right!

As always, anything within or near the Salado basin promises heavy sand roads, but the light rain the night before didn't cause any flooding or even a puddle. On the contrary, it allowed me a few hours of pedaling on a firm, damp surface. Great, too bad the sun would eventually dry it out!

That's how I started from the town of Del Carril. A few laps around a town that is already quiet, and at that hour it was even more so! A tour of the square, the chapel, the station, and nearby mansions, I started taking photos like crazy, but I had to continue, and soon I was leaving this picturesque place, very neat and well-kept.

A few meters from the asphalt of the access road, I started on the rural roads. As I said before, at that hour, thanks to the rain, they were "just right," which made it easier to ride even though the entire journey to Saladillo would be against the wind.

After a few kilometers, Cazon. Cazon greeted me framed by a thick and incredible forest. The route leads to the main street bordering the station. Like Del Carril, and as I would also see in the rest of the towns in the Saladillo district, the station parks were all beautiful, well-maintained, and with children's and aerobic games in good condition.

I visited the beautiful square, the church, and school 9, all very lovely and well-maintained. I headed to the station, took the usual photos, then went to the Vivero (nursery) about 800m from the town.

I had already identified it while planning the circuit, but I didn't know if it was possible to enter. Luckily, you can, and not only that, I recommend it! It's a beautiful place... huge and probably little known. Holmberg was here.

The Vivero offers trails of all kinds to explore on foot or by bike. You don't always have time, but on this occasion, I wasn't pressed for many kilometers to cover, so I took my time to explore it, but with the idea of returning someday with even more time! After the Vivero, I went back to the station and continued towards Saladillo.

Around 11 AM, the dry roads started to show some rigor, and I was riding through sand. A brief stop and chat with the "teacher" from school 7, who told me about her expectations and desire to welcome the children and that she wasn't going to strike, so as not to disappoint those who were just starting primary school and didn't know about demands or politics.

After a stretch that felt like chewing gum, I reached Saladillo. Like any city, little by little, the dirt streets and scattered houses are replaced by asphalt streets and the neighborhood. Personally, these are not my favorite places. Like any place with more rhythm, you quickly find the same familiar symptoms, traffic, etc. It wouldn't be so bad, fortunately. I arrived at the station, which looked large, not destroyed but lonely.

I took the usual photos. Perpendicular to it, I took one of the wide avenues that cross the city; Saturday morning rhythm, people shopping, going from one place to another... the city starts to move. I reached the main square, the nerve center, with public buildings surrounding it, boasting rich architecture: the municipality, the church, the bank, and the Argentine theater.

The square is beautiful, really lovely, and the streets around it are pedestrianized. Many bars and cafes around with people enjoying the beautiful day. The truth is that I loved it, and as I said before, although I'm not a fan of big places, after this brief tour, I have a really good impression of a place that I only knew from what you see on Route 205.

I would definitely choose Saladillo as a starting or intermediate point and spend a night, and not just for the Basque monument! Leaving Saladillo on the same avenue, it becomes Route 91, which then joins Route 63 towards Las Flores. This stretch is easy, with no headwind and on asphalt.

A few kilometers and I'm back on dirt, making the "famous" Sojo curve, which ends in... Sojo. Sojo barely qualifies as a hamlet, but it surprises me, as it often does, contradictorily in a sad but beautiful way, with the ruins of what was once the locomotive depot and sheds of the provincial railway. What remains of the structure, the water tower, stand out as silent witnesses of what was another era, a golden age of railways.

After Sojo, on the road again, a few more kilometers and I reach Alvarez Toledo. This entire stretch will be paved, at least until Polvareda.

Again, Alvarez de Toledo or Alvarez Toledo, whatever, welcomes you with a neat access road, a really lovely and well-kept park. I stopped here for lunch; there's a tap in the park if anyone reads this and finds it useful.

After the brief rest, I ventured in to explore its beautiful sandy streets full of trees and lovely houses that mix modernity with others that are witnesses of the past. I went to the station street, but it no longer exists and is now a beautiful garden.

I feel some frustration at not seeing the original station, not having a sign, but I'm glad that at least in this case, the end of the station has been a beautiful kindergarten. I leave this beautiful town on the asphalt that brought me and now takes me to Polvareda.

When I thought there couldn't be another town so beautiful, Polvareda repeats the pattern! I looked for the station, and here too it has been reconfigured; now it's a school, it's really lovely.

A railway shed is preserved, where the track once passed and there were other facilities, today it is a beautiful park. When I arrived, they were preparing for the carnival. I left there, toured the town, its square, and what I was looking for most, Otivia, a craft brewery, perhaps my only frustration of this incredible and wonderful journey.

What remains until Del Carril is a sufferable 10 km of bad sand, eternal and painful, that made me "sweat," but that in no way detracts from this expedition.