Buenos Aires to Santa Rosa
Argentina
Chapter 1
After arriving in Buenos Aires Gaye and I had a happy reunion after 3 months apart. She arrived a little before me from USA after completing her bear research project.
We put our bikes together (replaced my missing pedals) and made an early start to get out of Buenos Aires. A fairly tough first day as we battled our way through the concrete jungle of Buenos Aires.
Buses belching black smoke, taxis buzzing in all directions and countless traffic lights… we weren’t sure if we’d be cleaned up before we got properly started.
Got lost a few times and tried out our atrocious Spanish on the locals…much to their amusement.
The towns are pleasant and a welcome relief from the busy highway. Cycling is common for local transport and for sport.There are lots of road cyclists out during the siesta hours of the afternoon. Argentinians are very friendly and I´ve already been kissed by more men than I care to admit.
After a few days on Route 5 we decided to skip to Santa Rosa by bus(300k) before we got cleaned up by a truck.
Enjoyed a rest day in Santa Rosa a fixed a few things on the bikes.
We cleared Buenos Aires and camped at Lujan for our first night.
Then it was a straight stretch on Route 5 through the breadbasket of Argentina. An endless straight flat road through rich rural countryside with trucks buzzing past endlessly. The main highways are very busy and there is rarely a verge to ride on. Overtaking is a national sport.
A couple of oversights by us, replaced Gayes bike seat which was chewing here backside, and my middle chain ring needed replacing. Chased up a new clip for one of our bags and fixed a small tear in our brand new tent. It was amazing how many repairs were required after only 5 days.
