A Quick Hello From The Fam

Quinn's mother, father and brother are now in Argentina for the end of this trip. This is from Brad, aka. Pappy.

We just got an email from Quinn and Jeff. They are somewhere south of Rio Gallegos. Yesterday they had a shitty day with gale force winds and rain.
Jeff got a nice introduction to the bicycle touring. They pushed their bikes some thirty kilometers in the wind and rain. Jeffs´bike ¨Pinky¨is holding up. Pinky was purchase from a little old guy in Rio. for about $130. hope she makes it.
Mom and Pappa are basking in luxury in Rio and planning our flight out to Ushuaia this evening. We are staying at the Familia piatti B&B in Ushuaia.
The owners speek English. This is very nice being we only know sign language, of which Rose is getting quite good at. The locals love it.
When we met up with the Quinn he looked like several miles of rough rode. Lack of sleep and fight the Argentinian breeze has taken a toll on him. We had a couple beers and fed him good food so he seemed very eager to hit the road yesterday AM. jeff was very excited to joy him and by now may not be.
mom and I are getting the festivities planned for the finish line celebration in Ushuaia. There will be wine and much joy. Being here in Argentina makes Mom and I really appreciate the feat accomplished even more.
The roads, wind, customs, language barriers and everything else that goes along with it. He is truely an amazing man to have done this unsupported.

Ushuaia, Argentina

I reached Ushuaia on the 23rd of feb. I have been hiking and fishing with the family in parque national tierra del fuego, its been super fun. I will return to Mammoth Lakes, Ca by bike after flying into Reno, NV on the 2nd of march. I want to thank everyone that has helped me on my way and hope everyone keeps in contact. I will update the site as soon as I am back home, for now I need all the time I have for my family.
Oh yeah I saw penguins the other day! holy "#$%
Quinn-

Ushuaia The Southern Most City In The World

Rio Grande Hasta Fin Del Mundo

Rio Gallegos To Rio Grande

Rivadavia To Rio Gallagos

Rivadavia To Rio Gallagos

Esquel To Rivadavia

I turned off of Route 40, 15 kilometers into Esquel to load up on food for the succeeding days. I entered Esquel very exhausted and dehydrated from the 80 MPH side wind that prevailed to the east in Patagonia. Esquel is a touristy andean mountain town housing great skiing in the winter and white water rafting in the summer. I raced to the market to consume much needed produce i hadnt had for 3 days. After tipping back a bottle of Argentinian Malbec wine I soon found the need to sleep. I awoke at 4:30 in a house foundation under construction close to the center of Esquel. I had pitched my bivouac just behind a concrete wall inside a developtment complex. I filled my steel mug with imitation cocopuffs and powder milk which I had aquired the night before while under the influence. While heading towards Route 40 I stopped at a gas station to full my water jugs and to heist some toilette paper.
20 kilometers from Esquel I could blatenly see I was leaving the Andes. 60 Kilometers later and the Andes formed a slight protuberance in the horizon. The Pampas had consumed the surrounding landscape, a brilliant yellow and green hue conquered all. I fought with my thoughts in attempts to feel of some significance in the belittling surroundings. In times like this I've had the time and clearheadedness to grasp some tormenting thoughts, so I appreciate the opportunity.
I knew little about what was in store for the road ahead, all that was certain was I had 10 days and 1800 kilometers to meet with my parents in Rio Gallegos. Since I started this journey in Alaska I've been very speratic with my travels. Its helps me feel more like an explorer than a cyclist. The remainder of the trip though was the most planned I had been. I had a set route, and a set time. The road was flat, the wind constant. The Pampas owned everything in sight. An epic feeling drove me through the windy flats, at times dismounting my bike to push my cargo loaded bike against the patagonic breeze.

Esquel To Rivadavia

Bariloche To Esquel

Bariloche To Esquel

Patagonia

The next 6 days from Bariloche served to be beautifull and brutal. In Bariloche I stayed with a guy that built his house out of mud and old wine bottels. I went climbing for a half day then took to the road south on route 40. Route 40 is the longenst running hwy. in Argentina, it runs from north to south in this 3000 miles of country.

Land of ¨No Hay¨ To the land of Chocolate, Tan Girls, and Coffee!

Argentina.................................don´t cry for me? Argentina have somber, for me? Porque?
The clouds formed a boarder over the Bolivian sky. Argentina could be seen very distictivly in the air as it harvested no rain copioused cumulonimbus fluffs. It has been this ambient since we entered this faroff land. The pace has been clutched and the experience is amazing. The food is worth thinking about, the land is worth burning brakes, and the girls wouldn't look twice at a joey on a weighed down tattered road bike.
Passports stamped we breached the boarder of Argentina at 8 AM. The Elevation at a staggering 12,000 ft. and the road strait and flat. The 1st day into Argentina we discovered food worth thinking about, Simply deli cheese and veggies, it was better than the rancid mess Bolivia offered. We pulled off 170 kilometers this day into a town of Humahuaca. After gathering food for the following day we were invited to stay at a hippy house with a group of artists from Buenos Aires. They entertained us with various intruments, mostly handmade ones. We were also greeted with a feast and so much wine I had to pass out early, 12. In Argentina people seem to have turbo charged night lives. They start partying at 10 and go till 9 in the morning. I have never seen anything like it, they put Peruvians to shame. The next day was really truely amazing with a descent into the Jujuy Valley down to 4,000 feet. Really a ride that I will never forget -- the road took us from cactuses and high desert mountains to humid tropical lowland where the air was thick, along with the vegitation. 200 kilometers this day into Salta.
The days following Salta where very spectacular into cafayate through the worst sand road I have been on. Then through the wine country of the San Juan Valley. We Rode a few days with a couple from Switzerland who had been on the road for almost 18 months. They were very inspiring, great people.
15 days into Argentina and I have slept under a bridge 12 of the nights. It's been oh so sweet to camp. One night a day from Mendoza we stayed the night at a vinyard. Grapes and wine for dinner. When we arrived in Mendoza we had the plan to stay at the fire station as we did often in Equator and Peru. But instead a super nice guy by the name of John let us stay the night at his house and made us a huge meal with his girlfreind and his cousin. Thanks John.
South of Mendoza is a huge desert -- flat and hot. I mean hot like 120 degrees and little to look at -- 1,000 kilometers of it.
Nearing the lake district of Bariloche is really nice, pine trees and blue lakes, glaciers and real sharp mountain peaks. The wind has picked up, so if the wind is with me its like a pleasure cruise. If the wind is contrary, there is no use trying to fight it, stopping is the only way, its quite the episode each day.
I have no more time to write so i will press on down the road.
Hope everyone is doing great
Quinn-

Northern Argentina

Bolivia

There is something real unsettling when you´ve got pneumonia, the flu, fever, chills, headache, hellucinations, and the inability to ingest food in 10 ft. cell style hotel room in a town of 30 in the Bolivian bush. After being rained on for days on end at 14,000 feet I got sick again. I can´t really say again because this sickness was worst than anyother. The day matze and I left La Paz we had been on a mission to do 190 kilometer/day for the following 40 days. It was halted way prematurely by me getting a evel Bolivian bug. I tried harder than ever to make the kilometers but I would only fall short. That night we decided to invest in a hotel(1 dollar per person) in an attempt to get me healthy with some rest. The next morning was bad news, I had a terrible tempurature along with every symptom under the rain. Matze tried hard to find good food to help settle my sickness, instead found only 0 percent juice and cookies. It was the scariest thing that has happened on this trip to date. I was trying to think how I was going to be able to survive the 4 hour bus ride back to La Paz then a 17 hour plane ride back to the states. I thought it was all over. Two days had passed and I was getting worse, Matze then broke out the jack daniels of antibiotics. I lost the fever in a matter of 8 hours and I was back on the bike in the morning.
Bolivia had been really beutiful, it was a great time other than the sickness. It was also the land of ¨No Hay¨(There is no), everytime we would ask for anything in Bolivia the answer was ¨No Hay¨. Neither of us, Matze or I knew why. We think its the combination of us being gringos and the people being really reserved. It was a completely different culture than Peru or any other country at that. Bolivia was really a difficult ride, between the high elevation, huge mountains, and the people always asking for money, it was rough.

photos photos photos of Bolivia.... Argentina=fast internet

Cusco to La Paz, Bolivia

Just before getting on the train to head up to Machu Picchu I met up with Matze totally unexpected, and great to have the company again. That night we got onto a train in route to Agua Caliente(the town at the base of Machu Picchu), the train drove 28 kilometer through the ¨Sacred Valley¨, 80 dollars later. The town of Agua Calliente is a very touristy town, its sole purpose is to milk the tourists. I wanted really bad not to go to Machu Picchu since mode to get there was as deviant as a tramp in church(Tourists pay 80 dollars locals pay 30 soles(10 dollars)).

After I got over the 80 dollar train ride and the 40 dollar entrance fee to the park Machu Picchu was really worth it. The moutains that huddled in on Machu Picchu are very attractive. I had a hard time only spending 9 hours there. Machu Picchu is a place that is poplular for a good reason. Its beauty is spectacular, there are few places I have visited that I would compare to Machu Picchu. I took alot of good photos of this place(It would be really hard not to), but i cant find a computor fast enough to upload them. Frustrating as a one legged man in a.... yeah its no good.



Back on the road from Cusco to Puno was a really great ride and I would recommend it to anyone. The roads are flat for the majority and the mountains and little pueblos(villages) are really sweet. Though at one point the road gradually slopes upward to 4,600 meter to an elevation that actually made my nose bleed. Everyday it was hard to see the sun go down. I have said that places are amazing and I really mean it, but this road I want to say was a good as good. Cusco to Puno I would walk that stretch.

Photo- My nose bleed in the altiplano

Puno was something else, I pulled into Puno(the largest town on Lake Titicaca) at 4 on my birthday after the worst rain and hail storm I have ever seen. The town of Puno was not much to see, the islands made of reed on Lake Titicaca were really amazing but were played out by the locals begging and trying to sell souvenirs. It made a good thing bad.

After Puno we rode the shore of Lake Titicaca for some 200 kilometers before entering the farout land of Bolivia. It seems everytime I cross the boarder of a new country the terrain changes drasticly, Bolivia was no acception. The roads in Bolivia have been really really great. The weather is like something out of Hollywood, Its in the 80´s and sunny, then in 30 seconds its 40 and hailing. Its hard to be equipted for everything, I find myslef putting on and taking of my rain gear 8 times per day.


We camped just outside of La Paz, Bolivia last night in ruins of an old clay farm house. The night was starry and cool, Matze and I exchanged stories that were lived at home for christmas. Suddenly I saw a flashlight across the field from us, I quickly turned off my headlamp trying to stay low-key. As I did this the flashlight turned off, we waited for what seemed like about an hour. I was really freaked out being in a new country, especially one that sounds as crazy as its name, Bolivia. We got into our tents at 8, and tried to write down the adventures for the day so we could remeber them when we are washed up. Lights started flashing, and the thunder shook, the night from hell was about to begin. I started to get really worried about the tripod that was holding my tent up, feeling that it would make a great conductor for a bolt of lightning. I got up and took the tripod 50 feet away to ease the tension. I woke up with it feeling like I had soiled my entire tent during the coarse of the night. Then opened my tent to feel the 35 degree air rush in and overtake the stench of a sleezy biker. My tent had lost its waterproofing and I did´nt notice till it was vital. While pulling my sleeping bag out of my tent I saw the 2 inches of water my tent housed. Everything I needed to keep dry was now wet, and to make things interesting the air outside created frost on the pompa bushes. I tried my best to not throw a temper tantrum while shoving my wet gear back into my bag. Then took back to the road to create some body heat.

Bienvenidos a Bolivia, this country is going to be good.

Cusco

Photos from Lima to Cusco

Before I returned to Peru a freinds aunt gave me a bunch of hats to give to the indigenous people in the mountains. It felt good to give out hats when people asked for money. I think I had an extra 5 Lbs. of hats when I got into the mountains of peru, it took 2 days to get rid of them. The photo of the lone girl on the top row is wearing a hat I wore when i was 10.

Disfruta vida