vijinho

A friend and I just booked flights to get to Ushuaia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the tip of South America with our bikes arriving 9 December. We've got unlimited time and a plan to just keep on going up through Chile and Argentina. We've both toured before so are experienced.

If anyone is interested going that way, or has travelled in that part of the world and has tips we'd be pleased to hear from you!

Setup a public Facebook group page (for the first time) to share experiences on the upcoming tour https://www.facebook.com/groups/cyclingsouthamerica/

vijinho

I"ve got the bicycle and gear more-or-less prepared now, the weight of everything on the bike including panniers is about 13kg excluding the clothing.

Touring Latin America

djb

all the best, be aware that it may be hard to find 700 tires in a lot of places you will be, so I would think seriously about a spare folding tire, not to mention more spare tubes than you would take riding in Europe.

have a great and safe adventure.

jrickards

Sounds like a great trip, I'm interested in the route your thinking of taking so if you have a map to share, that'd be nice to see.

I chucked where you said on your blog that you'd be spending as little as possible: who do you know has gone on a bike tour to spend as much as possible!!!

vijinho

Thanks! YeahYeah I was a bit worried about that, not sure which folding tyre can do the job best.

vijinho

My co-pilot and I have just a lot of time, unlimited, and will just make it up as we go along and as conditions dictate, we have no set plan, targets or goals, just a desire to ride and have fun. I will try to update as much as I can on this trip. Thanks!

bikemig 

I'm jealous. NW Argentina along the spine of the Andes is beautiful (Mendoza, Tucuman, Jujuy, Salta). The beer isn't bad but I'd stick to the vino tinto!

fietsbob

A friend I met In Scotland in 97 was on his winter hemisphere flipping Holiday , before returning to his summer Job as a back country hiking guide out of Usuaia.

vijinho

Great! Yes the red wine - hopefully can visit a bodega or two along the way in Chile or Argentina! I lived in Spain for 5 years and for ages I wanted to see this other Spanish speaking world so it's a bit of a dream.

vijinho

Exactly! That's the plan, skip the winter! I lived in Sweden the last 3.5 years and it was the first time I really noticed people doing that, so for once in my life I will too!

axolotl

I suspect that you're already aware of the relentless westerly winds you'll encounter in Patagonia. There was audible wind 24 hours a day when I was in and around Punta Arenas, Chile, and along the Straight of Magellan.

vijinho

Yeah I saw some videos on youtube too, it's insane how people can through such an ordeal at times. I will hope for some luck and not so much rain, but it most likely will be quite tough.

djb

Re tire width, pavement is one thing, but you may very well find that 32s will be frustrating on dirt roads with loose stuff. I imagine you've researched other peoes trips in this area but from my experience on dirt using 28mm slicks to 38 to 50mm tires, I'll take the wider ones, especially if you're on it for a long day.
You are leaving very soon, and who knows what tires your frame can take.
Just some thoughts anyway.

vijinho

I had a look at getting wider tyres but then I would have to remove the mudguards to fit them which I'm not sure that I want to do as it does rain a lot there and I am a bit worried about spewing up crud all over the place, so these will have to do. I toured with 28 continental touring plus last and I thought about getting some schwalbe marathons but the randonneurs have a good reputation for durability so I thought perhaps they are worth keeping on... I will need to buy some extra foldable tyres though just-in-case.

vijinho

I bought a set of Marathon Pluses now 700x32c and also a couple of folding Marathon Supremes as backup. Hopefully they will arrive in time.

djb

that you speak Spanish already is a great plus, and you've lived here and there already so are used to being in new and diff places. Again, have a great trip, its a place I would love to tour in the future.

cheers.

djb

as your bike has brifters, if you do find that you are riding a lot in real dusty environments, and if you are there for a long time, I highly recommend buying some wd-40 or something like that and spraying it into the innards of the brifters. Over time, with lots of dust, dirt, crap, brifters can get gummed up and they get harder to use. Spraying wd-40 into them will at least flush out particles, I do this once a year with my brifters and I don't ride in harsh conditions.
A few years ago on this forum there was a family of four who rode from Alaska to the end of S. America, and at some point, the wife had to fly back to the states to pick up a new set of brifters for one of their bikes as they had packed it in, I am sure it was from getting gummed up over time. They also had issues with their 700 wheels, not being able to find spokes when they had a lot of spoke breakages.
cheers

vijinho

Cool thanks for the heads-up - I will take a mini WD40. I've got 2 fibre-fix spokes and 6 spare spokes taped to the front fork.

djb

You're welcome, that family was on the road for a really long time (2 years at least I think) so I imagine its a question of conditions and how long you are in them.
As your bike looks new, you may not need to do this for a while, but when you do, you push the lever over as if to do a double shift at the same time as braking, and this exposes the side area where I spray the stuff in , then work it back and forth with a bunch of shifts. Pretty common practice for clearing up old sticky brifters. I just did it the other night cuz I cleaned up my bike before putting it away for the winter, thats what made me think of this. I've always figured it helps the innards of brifters by avoiding gumming up and accumulation of stuff that will lead to more force being required and wear. Don't see a downside of doing it, and I don't need to spray a lot in.

stevnim

Here is the referenced family: Family on Bikes

escii_35

Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x32c (1.6kg set)

Not wide enough tires period. You will suffer and it will limit route choices. As for replacement 700c's carry a spare and don't expect anything in Peru except in High Tourist areas. Cusco, Araquipa, Lima, Huarez.

One skipable section. Ruta 5. Santiago/Valpo until Ovalle/Vallenar/Huasco. After reading a few journals I decided to take a bus. $20 dollar upcharge for the bike but totally worth skipping 4-5 days of riding.

vijinho

Not much I can do about the tyres but if things are unbearable and things go really bad in terms of breaking down my specialist insurance policy will get me out of trouble. Thanks for the tips. How did you find exchanging money? I have read there is a massive difference between official and black market rates and that usd are preferred.

escii_35

Argentina: Bring USD or Low/No fee international credit card. Most merchants take credit in Argentina. ATM transaction fees were insane, per day max withdraw limited and mainstream merchants would exchange USD for a better rate than the bank. Best rate on the trip was at the Cervesara/ campground in EL Boson.

In Chile I just used Banco Estado ATM's. Their transaction fee was very reasonable. Credit card use was growing but not at the level of Argentina.

vijinho

Looks like the tour may not actually go ahead :/

The airline Air Europa has a page we checked about travelling with bicycles:

https://www.aireuropa.com/en/flights...heckin_baggage

Apparently sports equipment and bicycles are classified as 'Additional bags' so further down the page:

As clear as mud?

Our booking agent Travelpack won't give us any kind of refund and we're scrambling around for any alternative now, but with this time of year being busy, it's going to be very expensive no doubt. Taking the bikes and posting them is not an option - apparently a lot of horror stories about import duties and delays.

SO lessons learned? Don't book a flight with Air Europa if you're taking a bicycle. And don't book with Travelpack if the airline they get you a seat for might not be able to carry your luggage and equipment. :/

djb

what can I say, sorry to hear that, but traveling with a bicycle really does need a big "Buyer Beware" sticker to go along with it, you really have to look into, phone, ask, everything about thier bike policy and even then, things can change.

still though, that's a real shame you didn't see this beforehand. I guess you could always try calling the airline directly about it, perhaps a fee could be figured out, who knows.