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This is where we thought we'd put all the stats, trivial, and niggling
trip info that someone along the line has requested. Hopefully some of
this will be useful to other folks planning a similar trip.
In particular, other cyclists have asked for detailed info on road conditions,
segment distances, places we stayed, campsites, water availability, etc.
Hence, we've made available our Gory Details Trip Logs.
Gory Details Trip
Log 1 - Santiago, Chile to Iguazú Falls, Argentina
Gory Details Trip
Log 2 - Quito, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile
We broke it into two parts cause it's pretty big... but there's also
an Excel version of the complete log
(83Kb).
Other Nitty Grits
The Numbers
Bestests, Mostests, and Worstests
Parts is Parts
Local Brews
Take off (links to other sites)
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The Numbers
Here's the full tail of the trail from Santiago, Chile on Jan
21, 2000 to Santiago, Chile on Dec 10, 2000. All tolled, we've
rolled a little over 11,000 kilometers. And since we're not
purists, there's been a few buses, planes, and trains along
the way...
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Distance |
11,514 |
km (7,196
mi) |
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Pedal days |
142 |
days |
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Goof-off/Rest days |
181 |
days
(40 of those in Quito) |
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Average day
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76.4 |
km (47.8
mi) |
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Biggest day
(Concepcion to Catamarca, Argentina) |
161.2 |
km (101
mi) |
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Average speed |
19.2 |
km/h (12
mph) |
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Highest daily average
speed
(Catamarca to La Rioja, Argentina) |
33.5 |
km/h (20.9
mph) |
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Lowest daily average speed
(Chile-Argentina border crossing)
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8.7 |
km/h (5.4
mph) |
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Max speed
(Matt being dumb descending a Ch-Arg pass) |
92.4 |
km/h (57.8
mph) |
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Longest day in
the saddle
(Paso Jama from San Pedro de Atacama) |
7:10 |
hrs:min |
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Bestests, Mostests, and Worstests
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Best day of riding:
Tierra del Fuego: Over Garibaldi pass
and into Ushuaia, Argentina |
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Best goof-off day:
Estancia Indio, Argentina: Hanging out with
the Ambrosius family in the Argentine pampas.
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Most scenic place for a post
morning coffee movement:
Overlooking
alpine lake below Mt.
Taulliraju, Cordillera Blanca, Peru |
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Most flats in one day:
Nine. Chile-Argentina border crossing.
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Strangest high-altitude meal:
Guinea pig, or cuy, roasted on a spit in
Catac, Peru, 3460 meters above sea level. |
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Best towns (places we could see ourselves living in):
Coihaique, Chile
Montevideo, Uruguay
Cuenca, Ecuador
Cusco, Peru
La Paz, Bolivia
Sucre, Bolivia |
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Worst ending to a meal:
A rat turd drops from ceiling and onto
Nicole's plate in Cañar, Ecuador.
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Worst road:
this is a tie between:
- Ruta 40, Patagonia, Argentina
- Challapate
to Potosí, Bolivia |
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Steepest road:
Pass from Guaranda to Riobamba, Ecuador
(first and only time we HAD to push our bikes)
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Most life-threatening shower:
Huallanca,
Peru |
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Best place to buy land and become hermits:
Manihuales River valley in the
Aisen Region of southern Chile.
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Friendliest towns:
Collipulli and Valdivia, Chile
Bahia Blanca, Miramar, and Alvear, Argentina
Durazno, Trinidad, and Paysandú, Uruguay
Ayaviri, Peru
Sucre, Bolivia |
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Scariest towns:
Paso de Los Libres, Argentina
Quito, Ecuador
Juliaca, Peru
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Best hot springs:
Papallacta, Ecuador |
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Strangest wildlife sighting:
A pair of short-haired, light brown,
large-headed
beasts about the size of German shepherds seen
lethargically hopping into the chapparel off
the side of the road between Garayalde and
Uzcudon, Argentina
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Best place to get eaten alive:
Santa, Peru - death by sand flies.
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Worst place to have only large bills:
Anywhere in Bolivia - you'll starve to death before
finding someone to accept a 100 boliviano note.
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Parts
is Parts
Our bikes have gone through the ringer and yet keep rolling... well,
at least with a little help from the local bicicleteria. Here's
an abbreviated list of bike problems and remedies for those cyclists who
are trying to plan their spare parts list.
Jack's (Matt's bike) war story
Handlebar
bag bracket demolished in wreck on the Camino Austral, Chile.
Rear derailleur
cable replaced in Puerto Natales, Chile.
Continental
rear tire replaced with spiffy Goodyear whitewall in Comodoro Rivadavia,
Arg.
Headset fills
with sand/dirt/grime, gets repacked in Puerto Madryn, Arg.
Rock Shocks
toast after 3 rebuilds, swapped out for rigid forks in Buenos Aires, Arg.
Rear wheel
snaps it's 7th spoke, later entire wheel gets rebuilt in Buenos Aires,
Arg.
Rear tire
blows 2 days south of Iguazú Falls, Arg. after a little over 3000
km.
Rear fender
duct tape disintegrates, new one molded from Inca Kola bottle, Quito,
Ecuador.
Rear Mavic
rim develops cracks in 10 of 32 grommet holes, new Sun rim in Cusco, Peru.
Rear Shimano
Silent Clutch hub sounds like a Tonka truck that's been left
in the sandbox for 2 years, new XT hub in Cusco, Peru.
Left pedal
falls off middle of street while cycling to bike shop, new pedals in Cusco,
Peru.
Schwinn
Homegrown frame cracks
at rear derailleur attachment point, the coolest
guy name Dwyane at Schwinn expresses a 2000 Homegrown
frame to Cusco, Peru.
Rear brake
pads almost spent, new pads in Copacabana, Bolivia.
Scarce water
necessitates inventing a front
fork agua carrying system, San Pedro, Chile.
Chain skips and clunks for about a week, new chain and rear cassette
(Shimano Alivio is all they had) at Manresa bike shop, in
Salta, Arg.
New chain
blows a link, roadside repair near Tafi del Valle, Arg.
Spokes on
rear wheel snapping daily - multiple rethreads & truing sessions,
northern Arg.
Bob's war story
Tire looks
circumspect, buy beefy knobby 2 sizes too big in Bariloche, Arg.
Tire &
tube explode 1 day south of Iguazú Falls, Arg.
Bottom grate
blew its factory solder joints on one side, re-soldered and bolstered
with strip of scrap steel in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
Tire wears
a hole in tread; can't find 16" tire so the local tire guy, volcanero,
uses piece of leather from old glove to repair in San Pedro
de Atacama, Chile.
Glove starts
poking its finger through the tread, new tire in Salta, Arg.
Dianne's (Nicole's bike) war story
Rear Blackburn
rack blew its solder joints on the Camino Austral, Chile.
Hooks on REI
Novara rear panniers pulled through the wood (what were they thinking???)
frame support on Camino Austral, Chile.
Handlebar
bag bracket decimated in wreck on the Ruta 40, Patagonia, Arg.
Continental
rear tire replaced with spiffy Goodyear whitewall in Comodoro Rivadavia,
Arg.
Blackburn
rack gets chucked, bought Trek rack in Puerto Madryn, Arg.
Fancy new
(in truth, a used piece of doo-doo) fender added in Puerto Madryn, Arg.
Rear wheel
pings through it's 11th spoke, later entire wheel gets rebuilt in Buenos
Aires.
Trek rack
blows its solder joints, gets re-welded in Alvear, Arg.
Rear tire
erupts 2 days south of Iguazú Falls, Arg. after only 3000 km.
Brake and
front/rear derailleur cables get installed in Quito, Ecuador.
Solder joints
on Trek rack fail again, re-inforce rack at the Oster blender
repair
shop in Quito, Ecuador.
Rear fender
that lasted 10 times longer than expected bites the dust on the way
to Cusco, Peru but is later resurrected and still dangles
from Dianne's rack.
Rear brake
pads almost spent, new pads in Copacabana, Bolivia.
Main stay
on Trek rack shears right bolt hole, gets roadside
McGyvered,
Middle of Nowhere, Bolivia.
Other main
stay on Trek rack shears above bolt hole; since we're out of scrap
metal,
have to bus from Chilean border to Susques, Arg.
Chain suck
gets worse, upon inspection we find her small chainring is spent, new
chain,
rear cassette, and STX cranks at Manresa bike shop, in Salta,
Arg.
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Local Brews
For the cerveza-minded folks, here's a list of South American
beers by locale. These are the most common, the ones we came across
and in which we imbibed. Almost all are lagers or pilsners. The city
names that follow are where the beers are brewed.
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Chile
Cristal, Santiago
Escudo, Santiago
Austral, Puerto Natales
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Argentina
Quilmes, Buenos Aires
Brahma, Buenos Aires
Salta, Salta
Norte, Salta
Andes, Mendoza
Isenbeck, Buenos Aires
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Ecuador
Pilsner, Quito
Club, Quito
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Peru
Pilsner, Chimbote
Cristal, Lima
Cusceña, Cusco
Arequipeña, Arequipa
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Bolivia
Paceña, La Paz
Potosino, Potosí
Sureña, Sucre
Hauri, Oruro
Taciña, Cochabamba
Ducal, Santa Cruz
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