Latin America Tour

Pollo y Azul

It is tough to leave the comfort of El Gualicho but I need to get north. I was unable to find a rear tire in Puerto Madryn so what rubber that remains will need to get me to the next destination. The 400+ miles to Bahia Blanca passes by effortlessly as I continue to distance […]

When the rubber meets the ruta 3

My battery is flat again the following morning and I convince the owner of the hostal to give me a jump. His wife seems displeased that her husband didn’t use the opportunity to bleed me for more money. Tired of being cold and wanting to escape the cash vortex of Rio Gallegos I get on […]

The ride north begins

I hit the lonnggg, cold, and windy grind up ruta 3 in search of warmer days. I’ve been heading south since I left my home in Arizona and for the first time in almost a year I point the bike on a northern trajectory. I want to make it to Rio Gallegos from Ushuaia which […]

Todo Sur

I depart Natales just before noon to avoid the subfreezing temps of the morning. I’m accompanied by a steady tailwind and blue skies for the short ride to Punta Arenas where I’ll catch a ferry and cross the Strait of Magellan to Tierra del Fuego. Since it’s the off season I check the ferry schedule […]

The torrential Torres

I leave El Calafate and make my way for the border crossing at Rio Turbio. The ruta 40 is surprisingly tranquil as I ride it for the last time on my southern trajectory. I stop at the only gas station I will see on this route looking to top off for a pass through Torres […]

Here comes the sun

After several cloudy mostly sun-free days I figure seeing Fitz Roy is not in the cards so I decide to head south for El Calafate. I get the bike packed down and I notice the first sun beams breaking through the thinning clouds overhead. Perhaps I will get a last minute reprieve. El Calafate is […]

Fitz Roy in hiding

John and I break camp the next morning trying not to wake our companions still sleeping off the previous night’s libation. The wind and construction resume moments after leaving the protection of the town’s infrastructure. I like a big hearty breakfast before taking on the day’s ride but often it’s not possible, especially in Argentina […]

Gone with the wind

I am interested in crossing the border to El Chalten, Argentina from O’Higgins but my interest is quickly squashed when I learn there is no aduana at the border post so no way to process a moto. On top of that the ferries have stopped running for the season and I’m not certain they can […]

Dragging my feet to Cochrane

I feel myself slipping into a riding funk so I opt to stay in Coyhaique for a couple days and enjoy the solitude of the cabin. The Austral slices through a remote Chilean Patagonia and the back drop of fiords and glaciers are something I want to savor. Some people blast through Patagonia just to […]

The Carretera Austral

The mornings are quite cold now and one’s desire to get an early start is tempered by the frigid remains of the night. The relative warmth of 10 AM is a nice compromise and we make good time to the border. We arrive to a cold drizzly Futaleufu then head south to where we pick […]