After nine months and 25,000km, BEN CUNNINGHAMand his fellow riders on the Panamerican Cycle Test had one final challenge after finding themselves in a legal predicament
THE PAN-AMERICAN Highway ends in Ushuaia, a city in the most southerly Argentinian province of Tierra del Fuego. A roadside plaque about 20km outside town indicated that our journey, which started nine months and 25,000km ago in Alaska, was over.
The final month of the trip was one of the toughest. After our descent from the Andes into Mendoza we travelled first through the expanse of open plains in central Argentina called the pampas. It is here that the vast cattle ranches produce the beef that Argentina has become famous for. Also, sprinkled throughout the plains are enormous orchards growing apples, pears, peaches and vines.
When we cycled through La Pampa in the middle of February the fruit harvest had just started; from the road we could see hordes of pickers combing through vineyards and orchards. The sporadic yet intensive agricultural productivity died out as we got farther south; it disappeared as we got into the barren heartland of Patagonia.
After hugging the Pacific coastline for so long over the past eight months, the road veered southeast, and we eventually arrived on the opposite side of the continent, at the town of Los Grutas, on the Atlantic Ocean.
The challenge this far south has been the wind once again. Patagonia is famous for it; it has left this place a desolate and barren landscape stretching for as far as the eye can see.
Unlike in the deserts of northern Peru, the wind is not generated by heat and does not rise and fall according to the time of day. There is no time when the wind does not blow, so we have not had any windows of opportunity, such as the very early morning, to cycle when it is calm.
The farther south you travel into Argentina the stronger the wind blows. As the continent becomes progressively narrower it becomes more affected by weather systems generated by the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. At times it was difficult to gain any momentum on the bikes at all; it seems the toughest challenges of the journey were left until last.
Dealing with the harsh elements was made more difficult by a series of bad luck over the past couple of weeks.
In the province of Chubut our trailer was broken into on the side of the road, and all our spare parts and important equipment were stolen. On two other occasions two spare bikes were stolen. With very little Spanish it’s difficult to deal with the authorities out here.
Ultimately, there was almost no point in reporting these thefts to the police. Unfortunately, according to a French hotelier who has lived out here for the past eight years, and who speaks perfect English, police corruption runs deep, particularly as you get farther south. He said it’s getting progressively more difficult to conduct business under the circumstances, and he is moving on to the more reputable ski town of Bariloche, in the Andes.
We witnessed it first hand as fully armed police demanded 4,000 pesos in cash – €1,000, or three months’ wages out here – from us when a door of a hostel succumbed to a bit of horseplay. It’s tough to argue your case when you’re not afforded a translator and when a police force has a reputation for firing weapons first and asking questions later.
The past nine months have taken us through some of the world’s most inhospitable environments; none more so than Argentina.
On the whole our experiences cycling the length of two continents have been overwhelmingly positive; the goodwill of the people we have met along the way and at home has definitely been a factor in getting us over the finish line.
It’s a huge honour after nine months of cycling to be part of the first Irish group to have cycled the length of the Pan-American Highway, the world’s longest road.
When we come home our project now takes on a new focus. Over the next six months we are committed to reaching our goal of raising €200,000 for Aidlink and our charities in Kenya.
To donate, see www.pa cycletest.com