I pity those folk who forgot to check the prevailing wind direction when they booked their tickets to the bottom of the world to start pedalling north. Our encounters with northbound cyclists go along the lines of 'is it this bad further north?' wincing at the mere thought of it, and, 'But I just didn't …
Continue reading Tailwinds and trespassing: Puerto Natales to Ushuaia
If each section of this ride is defined by a distinct feature, then this is the Postcard-Patagonia phase. The iconic towers of rock and walls of ice feel almost familiar after poring over so many photographs through the years, but to sit in the icy breeze for hours and marvel at them in three dimensions …
Continue reading Big Patagonia, little Patagonia: El Chalten to Puerto Natales
Winding through formerly remote parts of Chilean Patagonia, the Carretera Austral has a reputation bigger than any other road among cyclists and roadtrippers in South America. The project to connect these small and inaccessible communities began in 1976 and the most southern stretch wasn't completed until 2000. For a few years it must have been …
Continue reading Into the funnel: Coyhaique to El Chalten on the southern Carretera Austral
South of the heavy hitting tourist highlights of Bariloche and around we slowly returned to the welcoming embrace of the less tourist laden Argentina. Supermarket queues, bumper to bumper paved roads and angry honking horns were replaced with small shop chats, enthusiastic waves and quiet dirt roads. Trevelin is a former Welsh settlement and still …
Continue reading Clouds of hell-death and other fun: Trevelin to Coyhaique
One of my favourite aspects of The Very Long Bike Ride is how seemingly few decisions are left to make once you're on the road. It's a beautifully simple lifestyle. One decision always remains though, at times blindingly obvious but often not, and a thoughtful decision or a careless one can shape the following days …
Continue reading Bliss and bustle on the national park shuffle: Pucón to Trevelin
On a particularly hot and dull afternoon of cycling, somewhere in northern Argentina, we sat in the shade of one of the few available trees with our new friend Charles and dreamt of the Chilean Lakes district. Around Christmas we figured we'd be there, and we loosely decided a Christmas cabaña in Caburgua was in …
Continue reading A christmas comedy of errors: Chos Malal to Pucon
We develop a gluttonous olive baguette and goats cheese habit in San Pedro and when we make our early morning escape, freshly baked loaves are secured to the handlebars and an extra large slab of cheese slowly sweats in the rising temperature. A departure from 'civilisation' demands packing in a few treats you won't be …
Ten nights in San Pedro de Atacama pass us by while we swing in hammocks and eat like cyclists, though it's weeks since we've cycled. The package (Andy's new Porcelain Rocket framebag to replace a broken Ortlieb one) was due to arrive 2 weeks before us and is still MIA. On our daily pilgrimage three …
San Pedro is at once delightful and shocking. A small, cute, desert town creaking under the weight of tourism. After a slog through the Lagunas we happily throw our weight in the mix and make the most of it – eating, drinking, lazing and even taking a tour. It's a disconnected experience, travelling in an …
Continue reading Northern Chile to Argentina: Paso Sico and the end of the line
It's downhill from here 