FYI: We are heading out today. Our next update will be from El Calafate, Argentina in about 7-10 days. We'll post status updates in Facebook if we get wi-fi access along the way.

We spent a month in Ushuaia waiting for our bike. When the derailleur hanger broke, ordering a new one and having it shipped to us here in Punta Arenas raised concerns. Don't want to deal with Customs again! But would a small bike shop at the southern tip of South America's mainland carry such a specific part?

Nope, and they weren't sure if they could order such a part either. But as luck would have it, a man in the shop offered to help. He and his kids are avid motorcross-ers and have a welder friend who can weld anything! As you can imagine, motorcross bikes break a lot; and when you're living at the end of the world, welding is how you fix things.

CALL TO ACTION - THE NAME GAME
We are taking suggestions and tallying votes for the Name Our Bike campaign. We want to hear from you! Either cast your vote via our Facebook question, or by submitting a web comment below.

Help us reach 1000 "Likes" by Santiago, Chile (end of Stage 1).

Tauru had bad dreams about derailleur hangers. But perhaps the nightmares were induced by a different "hangin'." Like hangin' socks... The welder nods: "it's possible." Piecing it back together. Can this really work? The man in the middle helped us by bringing us to this welder. We never got his name, but we did share a 2B2R card with him. "¡Señor, muchas gracias!" Reinforcing the hanger and making it stronger. There it is! Can this thing survive and make it to Alaska? We may have some friends visit us in Santiago in a month or two, and we'll have them bring spare replacements... just in case. So hopefully this will last ~1500 miles to Santiago. Back on the bike. Stepping back... Tauru reassembles the derailleur to the hanger. We'll keep you posted on how long this will last. The push to Santiago is on!