i'm done cycling

so, i've decided to stop biking. i'm about half way down the length of argentina, and the distance between towns is starting to increase. i had about a day and a half stretch before hitting a town, and i got trapped in some really strong winds. things started out fine. i'd cycled up a dirt road over this mountain, and then as a started to descend down the other side, the wind started to pick up. by the time i was down into this river valley, i had tail winds of about 60 to 70 mph. the wind was pushing me along faster than i could pedal, and i actually had the breaks on because it was too scarey to be going that fast. you cannot imagine what a crazy experience it is to cycle with winds like this. imagine cycling with a person who has super human strength and they have their hand on your back pushing you forward. seriously it felt like i was cycling with the hand of god at my back. at one point i crossed a bridge that was about 15' over a small creek, and the wind was blowing so hard that water was flying through the air and hitting me in the face.
dust was blowing everywhere, and i kept having to close my eyes because they would start to burn from the flying dust. it's terrifying to be cycling on a pothole filled road, screaming along with crazy winds with your eyes closed. i figured it was going to take me a bit of time to set up the tent with winds as they were, so i stopped early and started looking for a place to camp. there's pretty much nothing around that you can take shelter behind, and i was having trouble finding a spot that wasn't covered with horrible spikey plants.
i finally found a spot that was mostly free of plants, and then ended up using the saw attatchment on my leatherman to saw down all these spikey plants so that they didn't poke any holes in the tent. setting up the tent was a huge challenge because everything wanted to blow away. i finally got it set up and put huge rocks down over all the tent stakes so they didn't get ripped out of the ground. at this point, a man and his son came along, they had been walking through the pampas collecting firewood, they told me that i should come and sleep in their house, which was just over the hill. i think probably this is one of my worst decisions ever, but i told them no thanks because it had been such a struggle to set up the tent, that i just couldn't imagine taking it down after all that work. a little while later the man and his son reappeared with a thermos of hot water for me and again asked me if i was sure i didn't want to spend the night in their house. that night was not a good camping experience to say the least! the wind was so strong, that the wall of the tent kept blowing in and hitting me in the head. even thought i had synched the rainfly down as tight as i could, all this dust kept blowing in through the mosquito netting. i kept waking up coughing because my face was covered in dust. it was pretty much impossible to sleep. i read for a while, but then the batteries in my flashlight died, so i just lay there praying for morning.
when winds are blowing that hard, every little task becomes a herculean effort. in the morning as i was packing up camp, i was pretty much talking out loud to myself saying stuff like, "ok, you're doing really good. now you're going to strap on the water bottles. ready? ok, hold the bike steady, now slip the water bottle under the strap, you are doing great!" the winds were blowing so hard, it was a challenge just to stand up. just as i was finishing up packing, the man and his son came back to see if i'd made it through the night. i waved goodbye to them and headed down the road, after about 50 feet, i was hit with a cross wind the sent me sailing across the road and ultimately landed on the gravel shoulder skidding along on the palms of my hands. i got up and looked back to see the man and his son watching me. i waved to them to let them know i was alright, but the palms of my hands were bleeding. i put on gloves after that. after about an hour of riding, i decided that it was just too insane, and i was going to hitchike out of there. i found a roadsign to stand behind to protect me from the wind.
there was pretty much no traffic, but after about two hours, this guy in a pickup came by and gave me a ride back to malargue, which is where i am now. the guy who gave me the ride (named juan), was super nice and took me out for coffee afterwards. it's funny because after he picked me up we'd been talking for a little bit, and i asked him if my face was covered in dirt, and he was like, "it's a little dirty." when i got to the coffee shop i went into the bathroom to wash up, and my face was totally covered in dirt, and there were tear streaks down my cheeks because at one point i'd gotten scared and started crying.
anyhows, i'm a little dissapointed that i wont be cycling farther south, but on the otherhand, i really can't deal with wind like that. they say that the wind stops. today there is no wind, but i don't want to get stuck out in the pampas again like that. when juan picked me up, i asked him how fast he thought the wind was going, and he said 130 kph, which is like 80 mph. crazy, huh? i have about three weeks until my flight home, so i figure i'll visit my host family from when i was in argentina before, and then do some sightseeing. hope everyone is good! love,
-jessie