The second day after our arrival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we met “Capitan del Espacio”. The captain of the space. An Argentine astronaut ? Not really, the truth is not as impressive, but much more delicious. “Capitan del Espacio” is actually a brand of alfajores. And not just any brand: in the words of our friend Daniela, the best of Argentina …

And the compliment is not worthless: the alfajor is THE Argentinian pastry! So how could we resist ? Daniela made ​​us discover the alfajores “Capitan del Espacio”, and it is also with her that we cooked to try to equal them!

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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.

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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!

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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!

During our visit to Lisbon, we met Hernani, a bicyle tourist at heart but also a good cook . We discovered with him the recipe of a very popular dish in Portugal: Feijoada.

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