I'm planning a Patagonian cycle, flying into Buenos Aires, bus to Barlioche, then cycle Bariloche to Ushuaia, starting early December 2013 and finishing mid/late February 2014. I'm planning to go a decent pace but not too fast, with as much hiking and side routes as possible, to enjoy glaciers, ruta 7, mountains and lakes, with lots of wild camping, and some camp stove cooking. At the moment I'm solo, 21, female, Australian, but I'm looking for company for some or all of the long open road! If anyone would like to join, or has any recommendations for must see spots and the best routes to take, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Kelsey
adventurekek
1
northlandboy
There's usually quite a few other cyclists going that way around that time of year, so don't worry too much if you haven't found anyone to ride with before you get there.
Particularly in the smaller places, you'll bump into plenty of other cyclists.
Enjoy the ride, and make sure you've got good wet-weather gear, and plenty of spare bolts and cable-ties (the road is pretty hard on your gear).
Route-wise, you'll want to spend more time on the Chilean side, as the Argentinian side has some long tough patches. You'll cross back and forth over the border several times.
2
cheerfullpedaller
Why not considering the Carreterra Austral (CH235) in Chile. You can get to this road through Esquel and Futaleufu.
Much more scenic route and you will still see plenty of the endless Pampas. Have a great ride!
3
iviehoff
Ruta 7 is an alternative name for the Carretera Austral. But people won't know what you are talking about if you call it R7. Unlike R5.
4
iviehoff
You can get to this road through Esquel and Futaleufu.
Personally I'd go to Futaleufu through the Alerces national park and Trevelin, avoiding Esquel. Allow 3 days from El Bolson to Trevelin that way, though the first day is fairly hard unless they've improved the road since I was there.
I did a heroic one-day ride from Bariloche to El Bolson in one day, which is a hilly 125km, which I couldn't have done had I not already been very tour-fit by then. To split it up and wild camp on the way, consider turning right for a detour to Lago Steffen, there's some nice camping spots not too far that way, my local contacts tell me.
5
northlandboy
I stopped at Lago Steffen and camped there on my way through - very nice, but that last bit of road down to it was very steep! Made for a pretty tough ride out first thing the next morning.
6
iviehoff
You were asking generally for advice, in which case you may care to read my cycling notes for Chile and Argentina, which includes details on routes and general methods of survival for cyclists in the wilderness, especially in Patagonia. They are 15 years old now and some things have changed, in particular transport arrangements tend to change from year to year, and you can now transit the northern (Hornopiren) part of the Carretera Austral (which you will miss if you go via Futaleufu) all year, and the arrangements at Villa O'Higgins have changed, etc. But the wind, the watersources, the distances, and the terribleness of the little maintained roads, which are most of what it is about, will be much the same.
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