Wednesday, October 20, 2010

USHUAIA, Argentina

Or, the end of the earth
Ushuaia is the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego. It is commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world. Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego, bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. Its population is estimated today at about 64,000 (people) and double that population in sea lions and penguins!

View Larger Map

At this point, we can't go any further south without a boat and some really good cold weather gear. So, tomorrow we start our journey back up north! When I get home, I promise to post a boat load of photos. All is good, and when the wind isn't blowing us off the road, the riding is grrrrreat!

Keep watching for updates

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Santa Cruz, Argentina PATAGONIA


View Larger Map

 PATAGONIA


If you don't have Google Earth...............get it for this picture alone.

I'm in Santa Cruz - near the glacier (If you have Google Earth, you can see the glacier on the satellite picture).

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-50.47536,-72.98111&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=-50.47536,-72.98111&spn=0.073196,0.243416&t=h&z=12

The Glaciar Perito Moreno - This huge icefield located in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. It is one of the largest tourist attractions in Patagonia.

The 250 km2 (97 sq mi) ice formation, and 30 km (19 mi) in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian. This Ice Field located in the Andes system is shared with Chile. It is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water.


Aside from the wonderful scenery, the riding has been great!  Tough, but great, aside from multiple flats per day, we seem to be muddling through.

This is a wonderful Adventure, I hope you keep following along, the best is yet to come.

Monday, October 11, 2010

PUCON CHILE

PUCON CHILE
The Structured part of the tour is over and sadly we said our good-byes on Friday night. The four of us set out early Saturday catching one of the famous South American Busses to pick up new rental bikes. Here we are back in Pucon Chile. Here's a picture of me with the famous steaming Volcano Villarrica (2,847m), towering menacingly over Pucón. It looks like my brain is smoking!

Meanwhile, yes we are still eating like kings!

Here's the link to video of the DYNAMITE FLYING TIRE EXPERIMENT -   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHltb_XFv44&feature=youtube_gdata_player

(sorry I couldn't figure out the HTML Link) but watch the video, you will enjoy I swear!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Short on time today


I've been making friends during this trip, but this is the first friend I wanted to bring home!

 On the Road in Bariloche
who wouldn't be smiling?
 We've made arrangements everywhere we go to ensure the bikes are kept in a safe courtyard so they can be worked on and kept safe each evening.  Here we are gearing up in the morning for the ride out.
Still in Argentina - Patagonia today.  Looking forward to staying a few days in one place.  Will try to update you all.  I'm going to start my ADV RIDER post shortly, but stick with me.  I promise to add all the photos and maps to the blog.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Cordoba Argentina

Hello Argentina!  Boarder crossings in South America leave much to be desired.  After nine + hours at the boarder crossing, a switch in staff and numerous lunch and dinner breaks, we crossed into Argentina.  Phew!

I'm rushing the story abit, but I promise when I'm back on solid US Terra firma to elaborate on the entire trip.  Cordoba Argentina is located near the geographical center of Argentina and is the capital of The Cordoba Province.  It is located Northwest of Buenos Aires.  It is the second largest city in Argentina with 1.3 million inhabitants. Originally settled in the 16th century by the Spanish, the city had historical architecture, with alot of Spanish influence intermixed with the more modern structures.  There's a great deal to see and do here.

Weather has been for riding and we've been lucky enough after 20 days to only see a few sprinkles of Rain.
Sorry, not many pictures of me riding.

I love ths picutre.   I call it "Where's Waldo?"  If you look close,
you will find a rider and his bike, but it may take a moment.

Here we all are, the Road Crew
 (except for Keith who is snapping the picture).

Keep checking back for updates.  Heading to Mendoza, Argentina !