Tierra del Fuego to Alaska - 2012

[GreatScott]

I'm off to TDF in March ish next year. Picking up the bike in Santiago running up to Atacama before head south. When are hoping to be there?

My plan is to land in BA, and head straight south, so that shoudl see me in TDF around second week of April - then head north. Keep in touch, sounds like we may cross paths along the way!

Cheers
Pat

I had thought about coming back along the Argentine coast via Trelew and Pueto Madryn (which is where they filmed the Killer whales attacking seals on the beach in that fab Attenborough Blue Plant series) but several people told me it is a bit of a boring route. You might want to go inland and pick up Ruta 40 but you might end up heading north on the same route.

[Barcelona Pat]

I'm off to TDF in March ish next year. Picking up the bike in Santiago running up to Atacama before head south. When are hoping to be there?

My plan is to land in BA, and head straight south, so that shoudl see me in TDF around second week of April - then head north. Keep in touch, sounds like we may cross paths along the way!

Cheers
Pat

I had thought about coming back along the Argentine coast via Trelew and Pueto Madryn (which is where they filmed the Killer whales attacking seals on the beach in that fab Attenborough Blue Plant series) but several people told me it is a bit of a boring route. You might want to go inland and pick up Ruta 40 but you might end up heading north on the same route.

That's pretty much current thinking. South along the Atlantic Ruta 3 - then north up Ruta 40. Not confirmed yet, but I may have to make stop in Trelew for work (and then in Trevelin on Ruta 40 on the way back up).

[GreatScott]

First one to Punta Arenas buys the beer!

Hang on - that'll probably be me :woohoo:

[Scythian]

Good luck Pat, enjoy your journey and ride safe. Am jealous! Look forward to your photos when you begin to post them

[Barcelona Pat]

First one to Punta Arenas buys the beer!

Hang on - that'll probably be me :woohoo:

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Barcelona Pat]

Latest countdown blog now live. See: http://patonabike.blogspot.com/2011/09/ ... log-7.html

[strimstrum]

I've got to cover my eyes and put my fingers in my ears...... too tempting to just get on the bike and set off (yet again) on another adventure

Jealous but wishing you the very best of journeys not just in the adventure biking sense but also in the way it will change your life forever.

Martin

[gands2up]

Hi Pat, just seen the thread so thought I'd offer my best wishes on the forthcoming trip, you've obviously done the research so you'll know enough to get you going. Sue and I did the reverse trip 18 months ago with an excursion into Brazil as well, we are still new to biking but didn't feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the trip with the exception of the first couple of days of arriving in Alaska! (WTF have we done spring to mind) This of course is easy to say in hindsight and there were times when we tested our resolve to the limit but at the end of the day we got through it. By all means listen to advice from others, especially anyone whose done the trip recently, just remember this is YOUR trip and the chances are with the exception of the roads you travel your experiences will differ greatly to theirs, Hell! you might even get through the border with Honduras in under 6 hours. For Sue and I it was the trip of a lifetime and we still 'eat for free' on all the stories, for me having only been riding for a year when we set off it was a great way to learn to ride. If you speak Spanish it makes things easier (we spoke Spanglish!) make multiple copies of documents before you go. Keep the originals safe (if you laminate good colour copies of V5, insurance, etc they look as good as the originals and if corrupt officials threaten to keep them you can call their bluff knowing you have genuine articles safe. For me there are three constants in doing a trip like this; 1) The moment you get back, you will wish you were still on the road. 2) You WILL come back a different person. 3) You will lose sleep working out if and when you can do it again. Finally, if I could offer one piece of advice doing the trip from south to north it would be: on no account underestimate Ruta 40 if someone tells you it's easy, the chances are they haven't ridden it. For you it will be early on in the trip and probably the first long distance haul over gravel, we rode it the week after a double bike fatality at Tres Lagos and was the most physically demanding and demoralising part of our whole trip. Hour after hour of what seemed like 60 mile an hour cross winds....but hey you'll have a blast!
Buen Viaje
Graham and Sue
PS just a few pics to get you in the mood...as if.

ruta40_2011-09-06.JPG (103.46 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

ruta40_2.JPG (46.83 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

Austral_1.JPG (104.38 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

Salar_1.JPG (17.66 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

Bolivia_1.JPG (38.56 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

hand_2011-09-06.JPG (76.21 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

moki_2011-09-06.JPG (112.62 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

[lmg]

Where is that photo of the hand in the desert taken?

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

[gands2up]

The hand in the desert, (La Mano del Desierto) is an 11-meters-tall sculpture, in the shape of a hand, in the Atacama desert in Chile. It was designed and created by Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal, Sadly, as can be seen below it suffers from graffiti.

hand2.JPG (60.71 KiB) Viewed 1642 times

hand3.JPG (66.13 KiB) Viewed 1642 times