Panamerican Peaks Project

Getting Ready for Part 2

January 11th, 2010

Later today (Jan-11) I will board a plane to Santiago de Chile and then on to Ushuaia, Chile. In a few days I will start riding from the Southern-most point in Patagonia back up North towards Central America. While I rode North to South in the first part (North-America from the top down), I will now ride South to North (South-America from the bottom-up). This way I can again take advantage of the (Southern) summer with relatively warm temperatures and long daylight hours.

In the last two weeks I have spent some time getting ready for this next part of my journey. Among other things, the bicycle needed some maintenance (new chain, new tire, new bearings, cleaning and lubricating). Hence I needed to assemble it out of the (Panama) box and at the end disassemble it again into the (Patagonia) box. This X-Ray screen shows how the bike fits upside down with the two wheels under the seat (and the small wheel from the Bob Yak bike trailer for convenience). Only the front portion of the frame is sticking out a bit, but it’s actually like a handle to move the box and it’s a pain to take the central frame bolt apart…

Then I have the two bike panniers with bike clothing and some tools as well as the bike trailer with camping gear. I also needed to pack my mountaineering backpack for the upcoming expeditions on Aconcagua (end of February) and Ojos de Salado (early March). My total luggage weight came to about 90 kg (200 lb) with three checked and two carry-on bags. With Aerolineas Argentinas I only paid $72 extra for the bike.

Some of the mountaineering gear had still been in the box I had sent back from Puebla in Mexico after Pico Orizaba in Oct-09 and earlier from Anchorage in Alaska after Denali in Jun-09. The mountain gear has travelled back & forth quite a bit…

The last 2 weeks have been a time of reconnecting with family and recharging my energy – both physically and mentally. I have regained the 12 pounds or so I was below my normal weight – a nice “task” during the Christmas time (special thanks to all relatives who baked cookies and cakes)! I also had time to reflect on the previous part of my journey and mentally prepare for the adventures to come. Now I look forward to riding and climbing in South America!

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