San Gregorio sits on Ruta 255 in the Chilean part of Patagonia, along the northern shore of the Strait of Magellan, where the road to the border at Monte Aymond runs across a landscape of immense, empty steppe. It is a place defined by sheep. The area was one of the great wool estates of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with an estancia that employed hundreds of shepherds and shearers and shipped its wool from a small port on the strait. The shearing sheds, workers' quarters and rusting machinery that remain are a quiet monument to that era and to the immigrants, from Britain, Croatia and elsewhere, who made it work.
The ride from Punta Arenas follows the coast northeast for a couple of hours. The road is paved at first, with long, straight stretches and wide, gently rolling bends, and it is easy to build up speed on an empty road, which is where the wind becomes a problem. Crosswinds in this region are famous. They can push a bike across the lane, and a gust at the wrong moment, especially near trucks, is unnerving, so keep your speed moderate and relax your grip. The best time of day is early morning, when the wind is often lighter, and the best months are December to February.
There is almost nothing here for travellers, apart from a few scattered buildings, so fill the tank and the stomach in Punta Arenas before you come. The nearest fuel after that is far away, so do the arithmetic and carry a spare can if your tank is small. Bring warm clothes even in summer, plus water and food, because shelter is scarce and the wind is cold and relentless.
The reward is in the details. Guanacos graze on the hillsides, rheas run across the plain, flamingos sometimes wade in the shallow lagoons, and the Strait of Magellan glitters blue-grey to the south. Black-necked swans and ducks fill the water on calm days, and the sky is enormous. The smell of salt, grass and sheep hangs in the air, and the light, at the end of a long Patagonian day, turns the steppe to gold. It is a landscape that invites you to slow down and look.