From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

Malbec

It's not hard to remember the wines in Argentina. San Juan is famous for their Syrah (both start with  "S"), Cafayate is known for the Torrontes, and Mendoza produces the best Malbec.

Mendoza has a reputation for excellent wine. The "bodegas" are located in Maipu, a little town nearly engulfed by the big city. We visited the wineries, learned a little about making wine and of course got to taste it. The region also produces chocolate and olives. Much deliciousness!

Encontrar ("to meet" in Spanish)

Traveling by bike is one encounter after another. Occasionally when we're too tired, we wouldn't mind just being left alone, but most of the time meeting new people is what inspires our journey and fills us with energy.

In Santa Rosa we met Lucy, the director of cultural affairs for the town. We met her by chance in the grocery store when the owner tried to help us by calling out whether anyone knew where two travelers could spend the night. Lucy spontaneously offered to help us out – not to host us, but to find somewhere for us to sleep. She called the head of the CIC (Centre de Insercion Communatorio). He was in a meeting, but apparently that wasn't a problem, and we were supposed to wait for him at the town hall. We waited until 8:30pm, when I finally decided to go Lucy's to see what was up. She called the director who had simply forgotten all about us! Finally around 9:30, we were shown our “room” for the night.

We slept well, tucked into our sleeping bags and protected by the inner walls of our tent which we used as a mosquito net!

Nourishment

The steak in Argentina is so good, it is always worth another mention!

We can get really good, melt-in-your-mouth steak at the grocery store for only US$6 a kilogram! And it's carefully wrapped up in packages and kept refrigerated. Needless to say, we've been taking full advantage of it!
Departamiento ("Apartment" in Spanish)

It's a little like being at home, but still not quite.

Since arriving in Mendoza we've been staying in a little apartment with a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The owner of the place approached us in the road, and although we were skeptical at first, in the end it was great. We paid less than if we had been staying in a room in a youth hostel!

Operation

The operation was long and arduous, and they had to make several attempts and order extra tests, but at last we found out what the problem was with my back wheel. Don't worry – the surgeon-mechanics were very good and we think they fixed the troublesome joint. We'll just have to see if it holds up under the weight our gear!

Zonda

The Zonda is a warm wind that blows in from the Pacific. It's the only wind that is able to get through the Andes, leaving all its humidity in Chile. The wind blows normally between May and October, mostly in La Rioja, Mendoza and San Juan provinces. In the winter the Zonda can raise temperatures by 20°C!

We felt the wind when we were in Mendoza... and it was certainly hot enough!

Amigos

When we arrived in Mendoza, we heard from Max, the Austrian cyclist who we had met in Panama City (he came one time with Kevin to eat with us in our swanky apartment). Max was also in Mendoza and we made plans to meet for dinner. While we were talking, Kat, an American and Swen, a German also joined us. They had met Max a couple of times since Peru and we had met them once briefly in Mazatlan in Mexico. Max had invited them to join us for dinner, and we spent a lovely evening with all our old cycling friends in a restaurant with all-you-can-eat pizza!

The next morning, on our way to check on my bike after its third operation, we watched a cyclist go by on a strange looking bike. He stopped by the side of the road and we noticed that there were three other cyclists just up ahead. We hurried straight over to them. It turns out that they were the 3 cyclo-tourists (and a friend of theirs) from the group "Riding the Spine." We had heard about them and had seen their website. They are going from Alaska to Ushuaia in 3 years, riding on the back roads. They hate the pavement! They are without a doubt the craziest travelers that we have ever run into. They even paddled from Panama to Colombia, with their bikes in a kayak!

Clearly we're not as crazy as they are!

Sara