The plan was to follow the little red line on the globe from south to north... A Buenos Aires start towards the end of March with a run south on Ruta 3 to Tierra del Fuego in around a week - with a day or two stop off at the Welsh community in Gaiman. A short turnaround at the bottom before the winds and wilderness of Patagonia’s Ruta 40 – with side tracks to visit the Torres del Paine national park, the Perrito Morreno glacier, and more Welshness at Trevelin. I was hoping to dive into Chile to run a stretch of the Carratera Austral, but that looked less likely as the start date neared. Then a run further north in Argentina, with either a left turn into northern Chile before Bolivia, or simply heading to the end of Ruta 40 and the Bolivian boarder.
Crossing the Bolivian Altaplano into Peru alongside Lake Titicaca, through Cuzco and down Ruta 26 to Nazca. Then desert north for a while, before hitting Ecuador and into Columbia, heading for Bogota, but with a stop at Cali. A quick flight to Panama (avoiding the Darien Gap - where there are no notable roads) and then it’s Central America.
I expected that Panama would quickly run into Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras. Depending on timings this could see a run through El Salvador, or through Honduras into Guatemala. Then its would either be the short hop north into Mexico, or a easterly detour into Belize, before heading into the Calakmul area of Mexico.
I was planning on running north through Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico side, but I had lots of doubts about routes. As I crossed into the USA, I might stop off at the Alamo, and then head to Pheonix, Arizona, before turning up to Montana, avoiding the major conurbations and focussing on the national parks. Then it’s Canada and some great riding up to Alaska, where I would dearly love to ride the Dalton Highway into the Arctic Circle as far as Prudhoe Bay. It looks like that would then see me heading south again to Vancouver to sort out return transport for the bike - and me.
That was the plan - where I actually ended up depended a lot on timings, weather, encounters on the road, weather, local advice, and the weather!
The Roads Travelled
The planned route is in red - the actual roads travelled in thick yellow.
South from Buenos Aires:
205 through Canuelas to Saladillo - road good
51 to Azul - road good (some slight pressure ridges). Need to fill up here, not many petrol stations after here.
51 then 76 to Villa Serrana la Gruta - some wind and road broken up a bit for a about 50kms, then better. Last stretch into mountains is lovely. Plenty of camp sights.
33 to Bahia Blanca - road good
22 to Rio Colorado - road good - fuel up at Rio Colorado
251 to San Antonio Oeste - no fuel on this bit - road good
3 to Sierra Grande - road good - wind picking up now
3 to Trelew - then 25 to Gaimen - lots of road works on this short stretch, road broken up and potholes where not already replaced with new road. Windy
3 to Comodoro Rivadavia - fuel up at every opportunity - some pressure ridges on road, but generally OK. Watch out for wildlife, especially birds feeding on roadside. Big wind now. Last 20 kms through hills wind hits from both sides - traffic a bit bonkers
3 to Puerto San Julian - same as last stretch - except first 100 kms south of Comodoro quite bad road quality. Big pressure ridges, potholes and some ripio diversions. Also a lot of patching. Slow progress for this bit. Also mad drivers until road improves south of Caleta Olivia.
3 to Rio Gallegos - road generally OK, still very windy.
3 to Border - OK road
255 to Punta Delgada - road OK, last bit towards ferry really very windy.
Ferry to TdF - regular after 11:00 - 20 minutes
257 to Cerro Sombrero - fuel stop. Road paved until here.
Y665 south - good ripio
Y79 south - good ripio, except for regrading during last 20 kms
Y71 to San Sebastian - good ripio
12 kms of poor ripio between border posts, road paved after border
3 to Rio Grande - good road
3 to Ushuaia - good road. Fuel at Tolhuin. Black ice possible on high mountain pass.
That took me 8 days
Next - the Road to Mendoza
