ryanelvis

Going to ride from Quito, Ecuador down to Tierra del Fuego beginning in July 2016. I am from the U.S. but I am currently living in Quito. I have one more year left on my work contract and then I'm headed south. I'd love some come company so post up if you're interested in joining me for all or just the beginning. I don't have a specific route planned, but there are a few things that I feel are must do. I'm more interested in mountains than coast.

Also, I'd like to post up some questions here in the future for to acquire the wisdom of those who have rode South America before. Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions that you may have.

Ryan

arctos

Although my touring experience departing South from Quito 30 years ago is irrelevant to your tour, your bike type, tire size choice and style of travel such as self-contained camping would help others to more accurately provide advice.

ryanelvis

Surly LHT with 26" wheels. I will have camping gear but will sprinkle in hostal days here and there.

ryanelvis

Just a quick bump to see if anyone is interested now....

mev

Ryan - if you haven't found it already, the panam-riders group is a good source for contacts and for information on cycling South America: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/panam-riders This bikeforums group is a good source for general touring questions.

Timing doesn't work for me. I'm hoping to depart Prudhoe Bay in June 2016 and cycle south for the next 18 months. However, I will be interested in following your trip and learning from it if you post a blog.

seeker333

Watch your back in Brazil - evidently the roads are in good enough shape there that motor vehicles travel sometimes at >100mph:

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...st-brazil.html

ryanelvis

Can anyone point me in the right direction for info on South American border crossings for a U.S. citizen? My research skills are continuously coming up with conflicting information. For example, I've found for a particular country that it is free, $160, need nothing but a passport, need several copies of a passport, $135, 30 day visas issued, 90 day visas issued, etc.

I've only ever entered a country through an airport, so this will all be new to me and I want to be damn certain I am knowledgeable and have all that I need. The only countries I'll be visiting (starting in Ecuador) will be Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Thanks in advance!

TheLibrarian

I was looking at Ecuador but for mountain biking in i think Qotopaxi state park (I completely spelled that wrong). and only for a few days. and during the winter to get away from the N.E. You often get conflicting information and then when you go actually to a border they often dont care much. You think oh no the US border with Mexico but that is a special situation. For example we used to not have such a tight border on the north and still dont. there are in fact towns that straddle the border and small roads going back and forth that aren't patrolled or have any checkpoints. There is even a library that straddles the Canadian border. Right after 9/11 and the ensuing paranoia they actually did have some guy standing guard in this little library. People really have no clue. And they put a little like bus stop checkpoint porta potty in the middle of the road and had some guy stand there for a while too before they rightly realized this is ridiculous. If you're riding a bike unless you go in on the main highway chances are you wont see anybody. In the book into the wild he rode down the rio grande into Mexico, followed some channels and boarded his kayak for a bit and sailed back up on the ocean. No excuse to flout local laws and you are ultimately liable but so long as you have a passport and are prepared to pay the fee chances are you won't talk to anybody at all going in or out unless you go to the place or road where they have the checkpoint. You also dont live on the border and have no excuse to be wandering back and forth on a daily basis. I'm sure they can harass you if they choose.

mev

I typically start at the US State Department pages: travel.state.gov

In addition to reading what is there, I also (1) make sure I have a yellow fever vaccination certificate (2) bring a few extra passport size photos (3) review country information from the CDC site.

ryanelvis

T minus 6 months!

Just thought I'd bring this back to the top just in case someone out there might wanna join me.

Ridefreemc

You may want to go to CGOAB and post an ad there too.

Perdido

I'm hoping to do the Salar in austral spring (Oct?) before it fills with water. When are you going to be in Bolivia? I'm a gringo and I used to live in Cuzco.

mikedefieslife

You guys are going to have a fab time. I got back from South America in February (moto touring). I had so much respect for the cyclists on the Salar (wind), and the Carretera Austral (dust, bad/deep gravel).

Here's what you have to look forward to:

Perdido

Is that first shot Incahuasi?

mikedefieslife

Yes. Met a few cyclists there. I camped on the other island away from most people.

In mid-October it definitely got down well below freezing at night, but with decent gear I was boiling in the night.

The wind is bad during the day, but dies down at night. That being said, it always blows in the same direction, so you only really need to put effort in when going in one of the directions.

Perdido

Cool, thx for posting those. I'm going down to Laguna Colorada to see the Flamingos. I'm more worried about the rains coming early than the wind. The weather has been so crazy everywhere, would prefer not to be pedalling thru 4 inches of water.