Way back in 2010* I rode from the southernmost tip of South America to Santiago in Chile. To be strictly accurate I rode as far as Bariloche when an encounter with a dog ended my ride and I finished the last section in the van with Micho and Daniel.
That experience taught me a lot of things: avoid dogs, argentine hospitals are not safe places to leave your helmet, the Andes are fabulous and Colombia (Micho and Daniel's home) sounds like a hell of a place to ride a bike.
Eight years later, it's time to return to South America. This time riding south from Bogota to Bariloche to "join up" with the 2010 route, to ride Colombia and see the sights of the northern Andes.
The adventure is in three parts. First I will join Stage 3 of Globebusters' ride from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. 6700 miles through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and Chile. In Santiago Sue will be joining me to ride south with the group to Bariloche then turn east on our own across Patagonia to the Atlantic coast and north to Buenos Aires. A loop of a further 3200 miles.
Dropping the bike off in Montevideo to be shipped home, we will fly south to visit the natural parks in the south of Patagonia and Chile before flying home.
Quite a trip. Fulfilling a lifetime ambition to visit the remains of the pre-Colombian civilisations in Peru, to "complete" the 2010 adventure by riding the Seven Lakes route from Chile into Bariloche and to share the awesome beauty of Torres del Paine - still the most wonderful place I've ever been (see picture) - with Sue.
It all starts six months today when I arrive in Bogota.....
*The 2010 ride was captured in shortwayup2010.blogspot.co.uk.
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