Cycling in Patagonia (or Central America?)

Hey Ladies,

I am trying to plan my vacation for this year and have been throwing around a few ideas. I am thinking in particular that I'd like to load my bike on a plane and spend a few weeks exploring someplace beautiful and interesting. I always take the full month of December off, and usually let vacation bleed over into January.

I've spent the past two Decembers in South America traveling alone. I find it a great way to meet new people and really enjoy that. I like to avoid organized tours except for short tours where that's the practical route to see something special (Salar de Uyuni, Inca trail, etc.). I speak Spanish fluently and feel very comfortable with self-supported travel in South America, but I've never done a long bike touring trip on my own. I'm not particularly scared about that, but I'm wondering a few things...

a) if any of you have cycled through Patagonia and have any route suggestions (I'm thinking Bariloche -> Ushuaia) and

b) if anyone has any suggestions for preparing for a long touring trip in general, i.e., what to pack assuming mostly camping & no/limited access to bike shops for several weeks.

Central America would be another option, but I am finding fewer documented bike trips online and Patagonia seems quite a lot more well-trodden by cyclists...

Thanks!

Anne

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Originally Posted by onimity

Hey Ladies,

I am trying to plan my vacation for this year and have been throwing around a few ideas. I am thinking in particular that I'd like to load my bike on a plane and spend a few weeks exploring someplace beautiful and interesting. I always take the full month of December off, and usually let vacation bleed over into January.

I've spent the past two Decembers in South America traveling alone. I find it a great way to meet new people and really enjoy that. I like to avoid organized tours except for short tours where that's the practical route to see something special (Salar de Uyuni, Inca trail, etc.). I speak Spanish fluently and feel very comfortable with self-supported travel in South America, but I've never done a long bike touring trip on my own. I'm not particularly scared about that, but I'm wondering a few things...

a) if any of you have cycled through Patagonia and have any route suggestions (I'm thinking Bariloche -> Ushuaia) and

b) if anyone has any suggestions for preparing for a long touring trip in general, i.e., what to pack assuming mostly camping & no/limited access to bike shops for several weeks.

Central America would be another option, but I am finding fewer documented bike trips online and Patagonia seems quite a lot more well-trodden by cyclists...

Thanks!

Anne

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I have not cycled in Patagonia, but I was there in 05 (before I became a cyclist). We spent time at Torres del Paine which is absolutely gorgeous. There are lots of hostel type places to stay inside the park, and camping is highly restricted due to the sensitive land. I think you would love a cycling trip here, we saw two cyclists who were just setting out but we thought it looked incredible. Of course, that is in no small part due to the scenery.

One note, a lot of the roads in the area we were were not paved. Something to keep in mind.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked Torres del Paine, that's one of the parts I am most looking forward to. I've been reading a lot of blogs from people doing similar cycling trips and am definitely prepared for a lot of unpaved roads, the same seems to be true in the lake district, lots of 'rode 45km, pushed bike 2km'. I'm planning to take my mountain bike. I love the idea of seeing such amazing scenery at a cyclist's pace.

Anne

This may not be as south as you are looking, but we toured with the folks at bike mexico (www.bikemexico.com), did the san cristobal to guatemala trip (highlands of chiapis) with los pinguinos one year at christmas time. Organized, but by a very small group of locals, no sag, etc., just guides that plan your route and accomodations. Ursula was our major guide and did a great job. She lives in Chiapis with Joel, a Mayan Indian. It was a great trip, very interesting region, and helpful to have locals to ride with that took us to places that would have been very hard to find on our own.

I live in central Chile (an hour north of Santiago). We have a fair number of paved roads--a lot more than even five or ten years ago. Here the mountains can be steep. From my house, it's an hour and a half (by car) to the beach and an hour and a quarter to a ski resort. The mountains aren't nearly as steep in the south, but you can still do some climbing. I've been as far south as Coyhaique in Chilean Patagonia. Beautiful country. You'll find good dirt roads, very little pavement that far south, but plenty of options for mountain biking. Not sure about the Argentine side, but Chile has good infrastructure in terms of camping options and modest hostels/hotels. Plan well--it can get pretty isolated that far south.


Edited to add: the best guide book on Chile is the Chile Travel Experience by Josh Howell. There aren't a lot of maps available, but Turistel does a series with reasonably good info. They have some maps/info on line at www.turistel.cl. The gas station Copec puts out a slightly more detailed map, but it still won't include a lot of the smaller towns/roads.

Thanks so much ladies!

Triskeliongirl, that sounds like a great group to ride with. Since I am taking a longer trip and like to take my time exploring/hiking when I please it's probably not the right option for this trip, I don't know that I need a custom tour w/ guide but I'm glad to know about them if I decide to take a trip to Mexico with some friends to ride in the future (which may well happen). I'm leaning further and further toward Patagonia the more I read. Tough decisions though! That's an awesome itinerary that you followed. :)

Jen, the link you posted was great! I am really getting psyched about Patagonia. I love Chile (was in San Pedro de Atacama, Valpo and Santiago & in between last year) and am so jealous of you living there, how nice to have skiing AND the beach! I really like the idea of taking the Carretera Austral south & the maps on the site you posted answered a lot of the questions I had about getting there from Bariloche. Thanks also for the book recommendation, I'll definitely pick that up. I was pretty disappointed with the Lonely Planet on my last trip. :(

I really appreciate the help. Thanks again!