Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

Back on the road again, with a relatively short 275 mile ride up Ruta 3 to Viedma. After the usual pre-departure routine of showering, packing, breakfasting and blogging were done I set off with Nick, him leading for a change. Unfortunately he missed the turning leading to the road out of town having misread the route notes and so I found myself on Ruta 3 alone. I pulled over and waited until Nick arrived, then tagged on behind and we rode together out into the barren and flat countryside once more. Under a very bright blue sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds (a sky that I always think of as a “Simpsons' sky” as it reminds me of the start of The Simpson) we rode at a steady, relaxed 70-75 mph. I'd recharged my MP3 player and set it to shuffle mode, so had a very eclectic mix of tunes to sing along to as we continued on our merry way. Initially the wind was strong and blustery – the tunes in my ears sometimes very apt, such as “The Wind Cried Mary” and “Blowin' in the Wind” - but then it settled down as we got further north. After 90-odd miles we stopped to refuel and grab a coffee, the pair of us in very relaxed and happy moods, just glad to be riding bikes on such a beautiful day, even if the road itself was uninspiring. After another couple of hours of cruising I noticed that the roadside markers, which count down the distance to Buenos Aires (the start of Ruta 3) in kilometres, were getting close to the 1,000Km to go point. That gave me an excuse to stop and get off the bike, quietly reflecting once again on just how far we've come and how little we have left to do...





I soon caught Nick up again, as he'd also stopped by the roadside for a quiet moment having noticed I was no longer in his mirrors. He asked me to lead the remaining 40 miles or so to the hotel, which I was happy to do. When we set off I noticed another headlight in my mirrors, Simon having caught us up and tagged on behind. Entering Viedma we stopped for fuel and then found the hotel by the river very easily, the route being pretty simple. Once unloaded we put the bikes in the garage round the back and then arranged to meet up again in half an hour or so to go and get some lunch, as it was now getting on for 2pm. We were joined by Aaron (who had arrived first despite setting off almost last as he was on a mission) and Pertti (also exercising the throttle a little) and decided to cross the river to the town of Carmen de Patagones which is often referred to as the “old town” despite both being founded by Francisco de Viedma y Narváez in 1779 (originally both were called Carmen de Patagones, Viedma being named as a separate town in 1879. Crossing the river was not as simple as walking across a bridge (which would have taken a while as the river is about 300m wide). It involves getting a little ferry that continually goes from the jetty opposite out hotel to one on the other side. Now this ferry is more like a canal boat than a ferry – as you can see in the picture below – the ferry is the boat coming in to dock...





Despite its small size the ferry is pretty efficient and got us across without incident. Once on the other side we went into the Tourist Information office to get a map and enquire about restaurants, only to be told the town was having a siesta. They weren't kidding either, as all the shops were closed and apart from some schoolchildren and a few teenagers there was hardly anyone about. We did find a hotel restaurant open eventually, and I had a pretty decent hamburger followed by a very good chocolate mousse (I was intending to eat only once and skip dinner later). When done we wandered back in the hot sunshine (it's getting warm again as we head North) to the ferry and our return trip across the Rio Negro (black river) to the hotel...





Back at the hotel I retired to the room for a mid-afternoon snooze, and slept soundly for a good hour before waking up and remembering the meeting we had scheduled for 7pm. Downstairs in the hotel bar the group assembled to hear Kevin explain the next few days as we arrive in Buenos Aires and start the process of getting the bikes cleared through customs and into the freight container that will then be shipped back to the UK, arriving some time late January or early February. With Kevin and the Globebusters team taking care of most things it all sounds relatively straightforward, and with any luck we'll actually get a day or so to explore Buenos Aires and to relax in the sun before returning to cold, wet, miserable England...

Once the meeting was over we set off for a walk round the town, grabbing a beer in a pavement bar and people-watching (the one thing that did strike me was the number of Cirtroen 2CVs with wide wheels, we must have seen at least 3). A short walk later found us in a pizza/pasta restaurant where several others from the group were finishing off their meals, Ozzy Andy raving about the “Lomo in Whisky and Langoustine Salsa” he'd just had. So I ordered that and it was truly delicious. So much for my one-meal a day plan. But at least my alcohol intake was low again, not quite a dry day (2 glasses of wine with dinner for those that are counting!). I'm trying to detox a little before the inevitable excesses of the first 2 nights in Buenos Aires...