help on South America total mileage?

[Bound South]

Hey PanAmRiders,

My brothers and I are going to be in Panama City in a few weeks
<www.boundsouth.org> and from there flying to Bogota on our relatively
fast-paced Pan-American bicycle expedition from Alaska to Ushuaia. We
started Aug.11 and should hit Panama in about three weeks.

If anyone in this group can offer some help, we're looking for some
reliable predictions of mileage between Bogota and Ushuaia. Anyone
"been there done that" and can share their exact mileage and relative
route? Or even some general "it shouldn't be any less than X thousand
kilometers" guidelines would be helpful. We're planning on sticking
to the Andes and direct roads south during our time in S.America;
little meandering east-west.

We are trying to give our family an accurate estimate of when we can
make it home; our sister has a graduation we'd love to make if
possible and it would help our planning to actually know how far we
have to pedal.

thanks for your help!
-Isaiah

[Paul Gareau]

Hey guys! I mostly stuck to the mountains in South America. I didn't
use an odometer though, so I can't tell you any distances, but don't
underestimate how much they can slow you down... If the graduation is
this spring, you might be taking a few buses... My quick advice for a
route would be to head back to the coast after Cuenca, Ecuador, you'll
have a 100 mile downhill, then about 600 flat miles to Trujillo (If I
remember correctly). DO NOT RIDE THROUGH PAIJAN NORTH OF TRUJILLO!!
There have been many robberies in that area and it's not worth the
risk - even with a police escort. I'd head up the private road from
there to Canon del Pato, then through Huaraz (go to at least Laguna 69
while you're there), then back to the coast (it's all desert and in
most people's opinion, pretty boring). You can cut over to Cuzco from
Nazca, which will be much easier than taking route 3 through Ayacucho
to there. The route 3 option has 5 or 6 big passes back to back and is
one of the hardest parts of the Alaska-Ushuaia route for people who
stick to the mountains. Then go through Puno, La Paz, Uyuni, towards
Salta and take route 40 to Esquel. You have to take the Carretera
Austral from there, unless you're totally pressed for time. Then the
route is pretty self-explanatory to Ushuaia. If you need to take
buses, the places that might be the best are the coast of Peru, and
route 40 south of Mendoza to San Martin de Los Andes, where the
scenery gets really nice again (after that I recommend the lakes route
and Los Alerces). A bus through that section would save you 700 miles.
Other people in the group could give you info about the central coast
of Chile, which would be another option.

Chau.

Paul (in Florida, slowly heading home, without my bike..)

http://www.mtbtour.org/
http://www.panamericantour.net/

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[Bound South]

Thank you Paul- we really appreciate your insights here. We have
avoided the flat and boring since leaving Alaska and while we havent
seen mountain passes like the Andes yet we do know to what extent they
can slow us down. A lot of this we might just have to play by ear and
by feel. I don´t know how the Andes will change our daily mileage
expectations relative to the Mexican highlands for example. After
tent camping last night in Central American tropical mosquito hell, I
have to say I´m really excited to get there fast to find out.

And not to thread creep, but is the Carreterra Austral even an option
for us? A German bike tourist we met said that it is closed most of
the year because one needs ferry crossings that only run in Argentine
summer. Is this true? If we hit the C.A. in May will we be able to
ride it at all?

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[Paul Gareau]

No problem. Of course I recommend sticking to the mountains if at all
possible. :)

If you cross onto the Austral from Esquel/Trevelin/Futaleufu you can
follow it as far as Lago General Carrera and leave at Chile
Chico/Perito Moreno. I'd still highly recommend that option - the
route 40 alternative isn't known for being particularly interesting...
The ferries are north of Chaiten, and south of Villa O'Higgins, but
the next-best exit (until they finish the road near O'Higgins) is to
leave at Chile Chico.

Paul

http://www.mtbtour.org/
http://www.panamericantour.net/