Here, in this section Travel journal, you can follow the saga of our trip. We promise we will often put our bike aside and ride our computer to recount all our adventures.
We will be two riders but we want you to travel by our sides and share with you all the kilometers we will go through!
Here we are again on the Argentine roads! Or should we rather AN argentine road, la ruta 9, that we will follow for 150 km to Purmamarca and its famous mountain of 7 colors…
Salta – Caldera – El Carmen – San El Salvador of Jujuy
San El Salvador of Jujuy, capital of the province of Jujuy… and last urban island before a 1000 km-ride in the remotest regions of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. Last connection to internet, last money withdrawal, and especially last grocery shopping. We need to bring enough food for 2 weeks. We will find enough food and water as we go along until the Bolivian border, 400km away. Then will begin the laguna road, crossing the South Lipez of the Bolivia… And will disappear any point of substantial supplies for the following 300km. At least, this is what we think. 300 km that we should ride within ten days. So, to be prepared of any slowdowns, we’ve decided to carry enough food for 2 weeks:
– 3kg of oatmeal
– 4kg of rice
– 3kg of pasta
– 1 kg of polenta
– 10 cans of tuna (2.5 kg)
– 2L of tomato sauce
– 2kg of biscuits
– 1 kg of dried fruits
– 800g of powdered milk
– powdered syrup
– powdered soup
– stock cubes
(+ 2 litres of gasoline to cook everything)
Tadaaa! Suddenly, our bikes became 10kg heavier… and each now weighs 60kg, this is a new record! (and it will inevitably rise when we will have to fill all our water bottles in the laguna road…)
Monday 18th of November. For three weeks, a vicious fight opposed us to the infamous Customs of Buenos Aires, which were holding the batteries of our bikes at the airport. We were stuck in Salta, but received help from our sponsor VELOSCOOT, and our Argentinian friends in Buenos Aires. Phone calls streamed between us, the Customs and our carrier TNT. But the information came in dribs and drabs, and despite our good faith (No, we do not want to sell them!) the situation got bogged down …
Juan, our friend and informant in Buenos Aires, sent us one of his creations. It’s a sour laughter but the smile is here: we better take this ridiculous matter with humor. Gracias !
Aguilares. Concepción. Monteros. Acheral. Mountains are more and more impressive as we get closer. They are there, only a few kilometers ahead of us, like stairs for giants challenging us…
In Acheral (350 m), we turn left to take the road 307. The ascent begins, gently first. It is approximately 3pm.
Is it because our legs were able to relax during these last 2 days, while we were jumping from a pickup to another instead of pedaling? Is it because we can ride side-by-side (there are only a few cars on the road) and chat? The fact remains that the first kilometers are easy. We are pedaling in almost a rainforest, in a concert of feather instruments. The euphoria however does not last. Muscle fatigue slowly grows; the slope requires more and more efforts…
Until we find paradise. It is around 7pm. The terrain is flat, covered by a thick layer of green grass. A mountain stream runs below… Five minutes after we find the place, we are already entirely immersed under water. After 4 days in the wind and dust, this bath sends us directly to the 7th heaven.
Friday, October 4, 2013 . After more than 2 weeks of a settled life, we finally leave Buenos Aires. 2 weeks in Buenos Aires? Why is that ?! We were waiting for the batteries of our bikes. They cannot be carried in commercial airliners (they are supposedly “dangerous”… yes, sure, we ride and live in the fear of an explosion!), so we used a private post office, TNT, to send them from Madrid to Buenos Aires… But the batteries never left Madrid (largely due to the incompetence of TNT). That’s why we decided to send them back in France to our sponsor (more experienced in international sendings), which would then send them to our next destination.
And what’s our next destination? SALTA. It is in this city that we will receive (if God and the Argentinian customs allows it) the batteries of our bikes. 1800km are ahead of us, let’s ride!
Ah, what a pleasure to have our hands back on the handlebar, our feet back on the pedals, alone on the road, our hair blowing in the wind…
FALSE!
What a mess to go out of Buenos Aires! Que quilombo! We take the Panamericana, the only way to join the road 8. Ten lanes are not even enough to decongest the traffic. It is a real chaos. We roll on the emergency lane… that we share with buses and other hotheads. In short, we are far from being alone on the road, and our hair is not blowing in the wind but rather flattened under our helmets.
Be reassured, this is only the beginning. Later, we really rode alone on the road, the hair blowing (too much) in the (howling) wind. Argentina offered us more than one contrast. Just read what follows to be convinced: here is the summary of 3 weeks on the roads from Buenos Aires to Salta!
Duration : 80 days (du 1st July t 18th september)
Visited countries : Spain, Morocco, Portugal
Distance : 4000 km
Max altitude : 1665 m (at Ifrane, Morocco)
Max speed : 65km/h (after Callosa d’en Sarria, Spain)
Max km in a day : 150 km (between Talavera de la Reina and north of Madrid)
Riding days : 63 days
Camped nights : 31 nights
Families who welcomed us : 32
Sleeping places : wild field, house, garden, abandoned house, beach, abandoned tennis court, terrace, association local, coffee shop, garage and fire station.
Battery life : env 100 Km
Number of punctures : 3 (2 nails of 3 cm long !)
Technical issues :
– side stand broken (replaced by a central stand),
– Damien’s bike motor broken (Veloscoot sent a new one in Séville),
– Stand support weld broken (re-welded in Spain)
Rainy days : none!
