Adventure
Discovery, a remote location and me
A seasoned unprofessional bikepacker hungry for some more.
So when i heard my friend Mark had planned a three day bikepacking trip across
Patagonia why as you can imagine I was all over it. Have you have you packed light you are you ready for this?
I think I'm ready. Just get used to these bags. Yeah
So let's go on
of endurance rides with this
This speed demon recently won through France and won through England
So I thought we'd go epic this time and actually pack our tents and all that kit. I have to say though
What an incredible day pretty cool, isn't it? Right? You ready? I left Bonnie Scotland in the rain, and it's
It's stunning. It's summer Dame here. I can't wait. I'm excited. Let's do this
Patagonia is the southernmost tip of South America. It's a region without clearly defined borders
Spanning both the countries of Chile and Argentina.
On its western side It has the talent of the Andes Mountains
And on its eastern side a frigid deserts of pampas and grasslands
There is no destination that captures the imagination
Like this one a land of breathtaking beauty filled with volcanoes towering glaciers and remote Plains
Patagonia for me is Absolute heaven.
For this trip, our mates over at BMC have luckily kisses out with the new specific gravel bike
complete with new Shimano
TRX one buy and you might already notice that we're not wearing our usual GCN kit al jarreau have been kind enough to
sources out with some of this
We have made our way to Temuco which is just over 400 miles south of Santiago
Our plan is to jump in the vehicles here and head to Paungipulli where we are going to start our adventure from
We have pre-planned our roots on Camus and there's a total of 320 2.8 kilometers that we are going to tackle we have got
5,000 and 24 minutes of climbing, but luckily we have split the ride into three days
Our first day is going to take us from Panguipulli to Puerto Fuy to get there
to get there we are gonna hug the shore of the Lago Panguipulli
And we may even get our first look and at volcano and our first day. It's a short one
It's sixty three point three kilometers, which I'm quite happy about
It feels so surreal
I was just saying it's like
Being the middle of Jurassic Park somewhat. Yeah, I can't I have to pick myself
Hi, Patagonia
It's genuinely feels like being plunked on the other side of the planet
I mean is it not just that we've gone from winter riding summer riding
But, you know, it's a true wilderness down here for those that haven't been to Patagonia before
Well, I guess you know, this is your first impression totally. Yeah, pretty empty
The sun's already dipped below the mountains. Sunsets officially not till about nine o'clock
But you can still see it sort of kissing the upper
Snowy peaks of the volcano ahead of us. That's pretty awesome. Oh, what a welcome to Patagonia . What a welcome
We ended up having a seriously long day's travel
Flew into Santiago this afternoon got internal flights south
Gone our bikes and madly sort of pedaled inland
it's no dark as you can see and near little place called Puerto foy and
in the morning, we have to get the the ferry the boat across the across the island, but
But, hey, it's fun. Got us out from tents that never been setup before
In the dark this thing weighs
Less than 700 grams, which is insane
Perfect for bike packing. Oh, that's a good idea. How'd you do that? I'll do that
How Are you going to bump it up?
Today we have planned a route which takes us over the Argentinian border weaving through some supposedly
Mind-blowing scenery of lakes, mountains, and forests. We are hoping to end up 76 kilometer later in a town called Quila Quina
Before we ride though given that we're on the shores of lake logon Prihuecto
We're gonna start with a boat trip the players catch the 9:00 a.m ferry
Which would take us across the lake so we better get a move on because otherwise it's gonna be a long long swim
So I'm just looking over there at two volcanoes
On the left You've got Mocho, you know that because it's got a flat top and then to your right you've got Chisuenco
Oh, they look incredible and they're just in that snow cap
But the interesting thing about that snow cap is in the last 23 years. That's just under my lifetime
That snow caps been reduced by 40 percent
when we got off the ferry, we're gonna learn to have only about 10 kilometers
To the argentinian border and from there drop down and actually meet up with Pablo
one of the guys who I was climbing with The last time I was here
and hopefully he's going to show you some amazing trails on the gravel bikes when we get to Argentina
There we go 10k to Argentina 10k to the border what trip that was there
Right, we are headed straight on
First they're gravel, and I love it
Just touchdown and Lloyd deployed off the ferry
And now we got seven three kilometers off gravel
but We're near the Argentina border in about twelve ten so fast already
in my GRX Shimano Back in I luckily she might have sought you out with
If people watching have never Cycled across the border crossing there's something about it isn't there
I mean, I know it's just another meter another mile, but pretty cool riding your bike across the border
We're so used to flying into a new country. But yeah, I'll just go south some never don't fall
You've never touched the first time. I've cycled through border in Europe. I guess you have ah
How do I even Europe?
For the gears, I got 40 tooth on the front. I got 42 on the bike I
Can't let you into the secret I have I should use the toys already
Seem a little sharp. There's some good terrain on there, good terrain
Halfway through our second day. We stumble across the most incredible little beach and a great opportunity to tell you a bit about what kit
We are using although there is a more detailed video over on the tech channel if you fancy some details
Let's start off with the bike. This is BMC's new gravel bike
The BMC URS. URS is short for unrestricted
Which pretty much sums up where mark and I've been riding
But you Paul you don't want to see it with fully kitted up. You want to see the bike, don't you?
So I guess I should get all these bags off
BMC say this bike comes in 8.3 kilograms, which is pretty light and
Added to that this bike has got some really cool features that lead more towards the adventure gravel rider
This is known as the MTC the micro travel technology that BMC have integrated into this URS frame
BMC first introduced this technology on the team elite XE
Mountain bike and it adds an additional layer of comfort to the bike
it gives you just ten millimeters of suspension travel
But, significant enough to take the edge off bumps and is also designed to help with traction on rough and loose trails
Now Shimano has also helped us out on this trip of a lifetime here in Patagonia, and they've also got us their new GRX
group set so I'm using the RX 800 electronic DI 2 version
Now a lot of you bikepackers out There will be shaking your heads at thought of me taking electronic gears out on an adventure
But to be honest with the tech proven over the last 10 years
I am NOT concerned add Marc Beaumont has told me that he wrote the length of Africa using DI 2
While take you a minute to check out our bikepacking kit
We also had a quick pit stop for lunch before meeting Pablo now Pablo is Marc's old friend from previous visits back 10 years ago
I'm Hank good to meet you
Nice to meet you mark. Hey buddy. How are you? Come in here in a while. Are you well?
Very well, very well
Pablo has planned his short detour
which brings in some of the best local single track riding in the area before ending the night at his place with an asado a
traditional Argentine barbecue
You okay mate
well, how was your run?
A puncture, I Know you puntured on the last single track and I realize you got all the energy
What an absolute ridethat was amazing it was red and amazing with you an amazing day well
Certainly I'm the one's got to come last
No, but I need to get one. I'm good. You sure that's that's karma. I'm getting smoke in my eye for leaving you out there
I know. Oh well those buddy what a ride was just a test that
Was yeah that was incredible
Harder than I thought
But I'm so impressed with what those bike can do and the fact the fact that you you know
You punctured on the on the last little bit in the last bit
At least I got time to fix it now
Yep, we're not staying in there back to my trusty little tent
Not like quickly
For our last day we're starting it with a wicked boat trip across the lake before starting our biggest day yet
it's one we are both pretty nervous about it's
183 kilometers across gravel tarmac and single track
This will be a true test of both our handling and our fitness
If you'd asked me a few days ago when I was in Scotland I'd be looking for shade
It's actually quite nice to get go that hot on a midday Sun
um, I'll admit to a bit of bikepacking cheating going on here because
we nabbed a bit of
the amazing spread that the argentinian family put on for his last night and
So stuff you wouldn't normally have on a bike packing trip James. Here's got some of the leftover lamb beautiful. I've got some cheese
Again, that wouldn't travel too. Well if you were going particularly far
But, this is the business. We've had an awesome morning. We run to more like open gravel tracks and somewhere down the road
we're going to find tarmac but
Spa lunch
With a remaining hundred constituent and the border crossing into Argentina
Closing 8 p.m. Me and Mark had to really crack on to make sure we hit it
Well, because otherwise, we'll be spending the night on the side of the road. So the pressure is definitely on
Ten kilometers to the border.
I didn't realize quite how close to the volcano we were gonna get it is there
Well, I guess we made it to the border just in time three days of
Unforgettable bike packing and you'd be good. I didn't know it'd be that good. Yeah, it's been for me
It's been an absolute ride of a lifetime
And there's so many points that I've just absolutely loved massive
Thank you to Pablo and your buddies for showing us some insane single track
Yeah gonzo to be fair the crew who've been filming this have done a superb job. It's been out
It's been a proper adventure in the true sense of the word. Yeah, I've interesting know what your
Biggest bike packing adventure is remember to leave a comment below and hopefully give this a massive thumbs up. Yeah and a massive
Thank you to BMC in Shimano for making this video possible
If you guys are hungry for some more adventure by packing videos then make sure you click on our bikes
Mate, we need to eat these hopefully there's a send from here and we'll get locked up. We don't get our fruit. So let's
quick
Start going down as well. Cheers Cheers, dude. Hold on
another adventure in the back boom
mmm