BIKING THE AMERICAS 2010-2012: 2/26/12

After getting back from the Antarctic , I spent one more night in Ushuaia , then the Big Push North

It was 3067kms to Buenos Airs , with not a lot to look at , so it was head down and go for it .

It started bloody cold , with my first stop being a Border Crossing (298kms) . Luck would have it ,that it was a long weekend and everybody from Ushuaia was heading for El Calafate or Punta Arenas . I have to Que for 1 hr to get into Chile . After getting through to Chile , there was 176kms of the last of my Ripio (great ) , and it was all good Ripio , so I wasted no time to arrive at the next Border Crossing Chile to Argentina . The Argies have a great system at the borders so it was not long and I was on my way for my first night into Rio Gallegos (80kms) .

The next day it was up early and heading for Comodoro Rivadavia (818kms )

On the way to Comodoro Rivadavia I run into a guy from Brazil on a Suzuki 650 VStrom (Geder Grohs) , his English was not that good and my Portuguese in nil , so we had some great conversations , as you can well imagine . We rode together for the rest of the way to BA , really nice guy

Again all the way up there was very little to see just the same land scape hour after hour , but in saying that I enjoyed it a lot , Big Roads Big horizon's .

Next from Comodoro Rivadavia to Rio Colorado (866kms)

On leaving we go to the first Petrol Station we come to in town to fill up , only to be told that there was no Petrol in town (this is a really big town ) , and it could well be late afternoon before any arrives (petrol is a real problem in southern Argentina for some reason , it was hard to find out why . People say its Argentina and its complicated ) . I have half a tank and approx 6 or7 Lt's on the back of the bike , Geder has about the same . So off we go for the next town (approx 150kms ) , I make it with about 10kms left in my tank , only to find no petrol there either . Shit so we fill our tanks with our reserves and go for the next town which is approx 190kms ( I will make it but that's it and the next place is just a petrol station no town ) . I arrived at the next stop with about 20 or 30 kms left ), but we are in luck Petrol and a Que (as is usual in Southern Argentina, I have Cued for up to 1.5 hrs one day )

Late that afternoon we arrive in Gral Conesa (just a petrol station ) to find I have a flat tyre , but luck would have it , it being a holiday weekend , that the guy who does tyres is still there ( how lucky is that ) . So under Geders guidance I get the wheel off and have the tyre repaired and we are off in no time at all , we arrived in Rio Colorado just after dark (a big, big day ). We started the day travelling below 100kms to conserve fuel and ended at around 150 to 160 kms per hr

The picture above it my riding companion just on Dusk and below its Geder

It was great riding just on dark, big roads , not a lot of traffic and warm , very very beautiful

Notice the big horizons

Then the last day (approx 920 kms ) Buenos Aires

They were very long days , but I really enjoyed the riding , the last ride up to BA was riding through all farming land . Just beautiful farms as far as the eye could see , just so much of it and not a hill to be seen .

The next day I said bye to Geder as he was off home to Florianopolis Brazil (approx 2000kms for him , which he was going to do in 2 days , they are real riders over here)

I booked into a Hotel the 3 Brits had stayed in , only to find that Terry had missed the boat (he went up to the Iguacu Falls, and the sail date for there was moved forward, while he was away) , he had to wait 2 more days , and then travel 100kms up river to catch the boat where Bob and Dave were . So for the next 2 days Terry and I had a good look around BA . Above a Cafe we had a coffee in , it goes back a long way (in time that is, cant remember how long but a long time )

On arrival I took the Tiger into the local Triumph Dealer for a service and to get the Idling problem sorted , it was there for 3 days before a young guy named Carlos found the problem . he said that there were a number of problems including air leaks etc , now the Tiger is a real Tiger , just so smooth , I love that Tiger

After 3 days in BA it was time to get moving up to Rio , so I booked the ferry ( I had to book the 3hr one , as the fast one 1hr was booked out , another long weekend ) for 9.30am the next day to Colonia del Sacramento .

On the boat was another bike BMW1200 , with heaps of stickers on it . But the most noticeable was the South African Flag .

The bike is owned by Ronnie Borrageiro , he has been on the road for 2 years now and heading into his 3rd year in a few days . He has visited 87 countries and has the stories to go with it , hes been every where .

So now Ronnie and I are travelling together up to Rio , then down to the Iguacu Falls , then into Paraguay . From there Ronnie is going on up to Alaska , then back down and over to New York where his trip will end (what a legend )

Check his Blog

www.motogypsybiker.com

From Colonia del Sacramento we rode to Punta del Este (310kms,

Its now getting hot) for our first stop . Uruguay is another big farm country and also a retreat for the rich and famous . The coast is all beautiful beaches with heaps of high rises , Punta del Este is a beautiful beach town , and by looking around with some very rich people .

The next stop was Pelotas in Brazil (bugger all there , just a farming town ) , the ride was all beautiful farm land

A bridge that is a bit different

A seaside cafe , which was owned by a guy the Ronnie knew . We called to say hello but he was in Europe . This was still in Uruguay

We had to catch a ferry at one stage

Some of the wild life we saw on the way to Palotas

Pelotas Brazil

Then a big ride up to Florianopolis (approx 730kms )

There was a lot of Highway riding , below no hands Ronnie

A lunch stop and the kids just like the Tiger

Florianopolis

Its an Island just off the coast with heaps of beaches all around it . We both got new tyres while we were there and stayed 3 nights , I also had dinner with Geder ,

Florianopolis is a great place with a very lay ed back feel .

Florianopolis

After leaving Florianopolis Ronnie went on to visit some friends in Sao Bento do Sul , i went on to a very small town called Iguape (535kms ). I got a little worried as I got close to Iguape , that it was going to be a small Jungle town with no accommodation , as it was starting to get dark . But it turned out to be a very nice little town of about 25,000 people , I real liked it there a thought about staying an extra day , but Rio is calling , so on I went up to Sao Sebastian (353kms) , which included getting through Santos and San Paulo (shit loads of people)