News out there from @cyclingtogether 🥰

#cyclingtogether #cyclinglife #timetorest #urubamba #peru

🥳 Whoop, whoop, whoop for us! 🎉
We hit the amazing milestone of 25,000 km
❤️🌎🚴‍♀️🚴🌎❤️

Early in the morning, traffic began to flow again, but the night was very quiet, almost no cars passed by due to the closed border. For breakfast, we had chickpeas (same for lunch, since we still had no fresh food 🙃) and of course a cup of coffee ☕️ —After nearly two months in Argentina, we finally found a decent drinkable coffee in Villa la Angostura. Now, in Chile, the search for good coffee starts all over again... It's really a frustrating act to find good ground coffee! 🧐
In the few rays of sunshine through the tall trees, we dried the damp tent and set off. The route took us through a landscape that reminded us to 100% of Switzerland. Lush green meadows filled with Simmental cows and a large variety of plant and tree species. It felt really good. I noticed with joy how many different plants were growing there, like ferns, dandelion, other green plants with huge leaves, various deciduous trees, red and yellow blooming trees and bushes only to list some of them...
In Argentinian Pampa there were just thorny acacias, eucalyptus and poplar trees in the villages, and in Northern Patagonia finally also pine trees, Arrayàn trees, the famous Chilean pine (Araucaria) also called the monkey puzzle tree and many bright yellow-flowering broom bushes...

—> 11 photos in this post

#cycling #bikepacking #biketouring #cyclinglife #cyclingaroundtheworld #cyclingtogether #photography #naturephotography

We weren't particularly motivated to set off from Bardas Blancas because, thanks to various sources like iOverlander and OrganicMaps (which highlights gravel sections when you switch to car-driving mode), we were expecting a drastic change in terrain soon. For a total distance of 80 km, the road was predicted to be a rough stone track. Unfortunately, we had no other choice.

With no accessible toilet in the village, we took a morning-toilet-break 🚽🪥 a few kilometers outside, enjoying a view of an impressive rock arch stretching over several hills 🏔️ —Since leaving the Pampa, we had been traveling through quite scenic regions 🤩

Not even an hour later, a very friendly Swiss couple we already knew from Malargüe overtook us. In Malargüe we had spent several hours together. We had a great time chatting and Marc had borrowed their drill and tools to construct a new stove windscreen. They had stayed one night longer than us in Malargüe and caught up with us shortly before the gravel section. We couldn't refuse the coffee ☕️ they offered us, and time flew by again as we chatted in Swiss German. It felt incredibly good! Saying goodbye was a bit hard, as we probably wouldn't see each other again soon 🥲 👋

After exactly 23 km from Bardas Blancas, we reached the dreaded turning point of the road surface. The moment we hit the rough gravel road, a large group of rather cool-looking vintage vehicles overtook us, kicking up a huge cloud of dust 🤯😷 Fiona's motivation dropped significantly. For her, such a surface is torture; it requires a lot of energy, and being constantly covered in a thick cloud of dust was a discouraging outlook.

But there was no way around it... So, we pedaled, pushed, and fought our way forward 🥵
Whenever we could tear our eyes away from the gravel road, we were rewarded with a breathtaking mountain panorama 😎

11 📸 in this post

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclingtogether #argentina #andesmountains #photography

About the last three days there is not a lot to tell and show... The pampa where we are cycling through is really boring... At least we are now on a street with almost no traffic 😎
To camp we've found a spot next to a still closed and fenced campground at the border of a lake, the other night we found a campground with houndreds of fix installed tables, benches, grillstations and even a solar powered mate-water-dispenser 😅. Since the season hasn't started yet it was free of charge but without sanitary facilities. The third night we searched for a spot in a area with only fenced fields and privat land. In the end we pitched our tent on the only available public land, in front of the entrance to a privat land.
That night we could hear very funny frog sounds. Do you know the music instrument, a wooden frog with a stick to scratch over its back? Or the metal frogs where you squeeze the belly? Exactly these sounds! Next time we have to go with the headlamp to see them 😉
For breakfast Marc made some super delicious pancakes with corn-, oat-flour and apples 🥰
Yesterday it was hard to move forward. We had a strong headwind with stronger gusts blowing towards us across the deserted and heavy fenced farmland. see 📸 9/10
We reached the village Achiras while sunset. Aproximately 10 minutes after sunset it was already dark. We went to the signed campground (again not officially open yet) and pitched our tent in the windshade of the sanitary building. A streetdog came and stayed the whole night infront of our tent. Such a kind protector 😍

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #argentina #lapampa

Today we tried to find another road, to cycle not anymore on the narrow Routa 5 that is full of weekend traffic. We ended up in a Guinea-flashback 😂
we stuck in ancle-deep duuuuust 🤯
Also today we crossed the german village 'Villa General Belgrano' with an Oktoberfest Park and tons of places where they sell Bier 🍺

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #argentina

📸 1: Half an hour before we left Buenos Aires by train, a crazy thunderstorm broke out over the city. Luckily, we were at a 'papas fritas' stall during this time...
📸 2 & 3: Twenty-two hours later, we reached Córdoba. Of course, first we had to make a coffee at 'Plaza San Martín'
📸 4: A funny, bumpy, and zigzag cycling lane out of Córdoba...
📸 5: Our first campsite in Argentina. Due to fences everywhere, it was super difficult to find a spot, and even in this vast cornfield in the middle of nowhere, some locals told us to leave because it's too dangerous. In their opinion, next to the busy highway, it would be safer 🤔
📸 6: After we cycled for a while on the very busy Ruta 5, a friendly local told us about the empty highway that wasn't yet open. This was—at least for a few kilometers—a relief for our nerves...
📸 7: Here in the desert-like Pampa, the trees have huge thorns... Fiona had her first puncture in ages... Let's hope it will be the only one!
📸 8: View of the lake/reservoir 'Embalse Los Molinos'
📸 9: Second campspot. We found this spot yesterday evening after searching for over two hours between all the fenced 'Propriedad Privada'. The sun had already set, and we had just enough twilight to pitch the tent before it was darkest night.


#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography #SouthAmerica #BuenosAires #Cordoba

An end does not mean "the end"... 😇
Thank you all so much for your nice words, comments and wishings in the previous post! 🤗
Our adventure on two wheels continues!
🚴‍♀️🚴🌎 ❤️
For our third year, we’re off to an amazing new destination: South America! 🇦🇷 ☀️

For the past few months, the plan has been in our heads, but from where to where 🏁, when 📆 and how 🚂 ⛵️✈️🚀 ??? That was still not clear until we reached Trondheim. As we are —we go with the flow— when it feels right, it just happens! In Trondheim, we celebrated our two-year anniversary with a big leap to a new horizon: 🌄 flight tickets booked, Pauline and Max packed in bike boxes, uff... carried all our gear to the bus station 🥵 and off to the airport! 🛫

After a long journey with almost no sleep and a little jet lag, we landed in Buenos Aires 🛬 🇦🇷 🎉
Somehow it feels a bit surreal. Normally, we are used to slow travel; and now we jumped in just 17 hours to the other side of the globe, from near the northern hemisphere to the southern part of the planet, from early autumn to early spring.

We can hardly wait to discover all the new countries, landscapes, cultures, and people that await us! 🤩 But here in Buenos Aires it’s time to take a break first; process the last few months in the Eastern Balkans, the Baltics, and Scandinavia, fully arrive in Argentina and plan our route through South America 🌎

stay tuned and travel with us 🤗
🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️🌎 ❤️ 😎 💨 ☀️ 🌈 😍 🚵‍♀️ 🚵

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#NewBeginning
#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #photography #travelphotography #SouthAmerica #BuenosAires #argentina #GoingWithTheFlow

🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️🌍❤️ 😎 💨💦☀️⛈️🌈 😍 🚵‍♀️ 🚵
with Pauline and Max — our bicycles — we cycled through Europe, West Africa, the Middle East, and through the Balkans, the Balticum and Scandinavia all up to the North Cape.
This exactly 2-year adventure ends today here in Trondheim.
It has been a rollercoaster of emotions: beautiful, exhausting, exciting, tiring, overwhelming, captivating, boring, draining, entertaining, amazing...
Every pedal stroke, all the experiences and the encounters with locals and other travelers has shaped us!
The last 2 years we've cycled over 23'400km (this is more than half way (~54%) around the globe 🌍 ) and crossed 38 countries
🇨🇭 🇨🇵 🇪🇦 🇲🇦 🇪🇭 🇲🇷 🇸🇳 🇬🇳 🇵🇹 🇯🇪 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇧🇪 🇱🇺 🇩🇪 🇦🇹 🇮🇹 🇷🇺 🇭🇷 🇧🇦 🇲🇪 🇦🇱 🇬🇷🇹🇷 🇴🇲 🇦🇪 🇮🇷 🇧🇬 🇷🇴 🇵🇾 🇭🇺 🇷🇸 🇵🇱 🇱🇹 🇱🇻 🇪🇪 🇫🇮 🇳🇴

But now it’s time: onward to new horizons! 🌅
into a new chapter of life. ❤️

#NewBeginning #Adventure #JourneyEnd #BicycleLove
#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography

Three whole days we spent in the truly pretty town of Trondheim. 😍
It was so relaxed, even when it came to camping. We set up our tent in the Øya neighborhood, next to the sports ground and spent the following night in the woods near Kristiansten Fortress. Most people didn't even notice us, obviously, Tronheim is a relatively touristy city. But there were always people who greeted us with a friendly smile and even a few who started a conversation with us. One of them was the Norwegian sailor Kent and his French girlfriend Emma. After we met them a second time that same day, they invited us to sleep on the sofa in their apartment. So we enjoyed a nice evening with exchanging exciting life stories 🫶

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #norway #tronheim #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography #architecturephotography

From Moskenes, south of the Lofoten, we jumped onto the ferry (free of charge for cyclists 🤩) and sailed 3 hours to Norway mainland and the harbour town Bodø.
For the night with lots of rain predicted we choose to cycle to a shelter near the Soløyvatnet lake. We arrived when it was dark and realized the shelter was already full of other travelers. Luckily we found a flat spot nearby to pitch our tent and even more luckily, there was almost no wind that night. So we slept very well despite it was a super cold night.
Since we reached our goal, the North Cape, we talked a lot about our next steps... The first decision was, to skip the part to Trondheim by train. When we sat in the train, staring to the snow covered mountains through the train window, we said to eachother that we are happy not to cycle out there. Winter is really not our season 😅

10 📸 in this post

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #norway #travelbytrain #publictransportation #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography #landscapephotography

The night was a super stormy and rainy. We had to hold our tent from inside and were scared the poles will break or the heavy windguts will rip our tent apart. Luckily the tent is still entire, 'only our bikes fell (see 📸 nr. 10 and see the picture 📸 nr. 10 of this campspot in the evening, without storm, in the previous post).
The next day it was bright again. We enjoyed the spectacular views during this last day on the Lofoten but had to be honest to ourself; it was (for us!) not really a pleasure to cycle there. The strong winds all the time on top of the traffic was extremly tiring. On the pictures it looks impressive, no wind and no annoying noise are visible 😅

—> 10 📸 pictures in this post

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #norway #lofoten #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography #landscapephotography

Wow, what a fantastic day on the Lofoten 😍
Still windy and chill, but finally sun is out 😍

10 📸 in this post...

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #norway #lofoten #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography #landscapephotography

Despite the persistent rain, grey sky, and still heavy wind, we set off after the second night in the 'glass-house'. Our food supplies were slowly running out, and after the enforced rest day, we wanted to move on.
Together with Dennis, we pedaled through the surely very stunning landscape. Sadly, we couldn't see a lot because of the gray rain clouds hanging deeply over every mountain and because it was quite demanding to pedal in these weather conditions within the Lofoten traffic. 🚌🚕🚗🚛🚚🛻

This day we had to cross the Gimsøystraumen Bridge. It was terrifyingly scary. The storm was again very strong; the display showed a wind strength of 60km/h 😱, and this wind we got sideways in the face. Cycling over the bridge? No way! We pushed the bikes. For Fiona, it was almost too heavy to push the bike on the small sidewalk over the bridge. She feared being blown into the motorized vehicles and almost went crazy because of the super loud noise of the wind in her ears 🤯 For sure, one of the scariest experiences so far.
(Wikipedia: The concrete bridge is 839 meters (2,753ft) long, the main span is 148 meters (486ft), and the maximum clearance to the sea is 30 meters (98ft). The bridge has 9 spans. The Gimsøystraumen Bridge opened in 1980 and is one of many bridges that connect the islands of Lofoten to each other as part of the European route E10 highway.)

—> 6 📸 in this post

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #norway #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography #lofoten

When we arrived in Melbu, it was pouring rain again. We first took refuge in a supermarket and considered how to proceed. The weather report had predicted extremely strong storms and rain for the next 48 hours, and even the locals advised us to book a hotel room. On the map app #organicmaps, we had discovered a shelter, but we had no idea if it would provide us enough protection. In front of the supermarket, we met two cyclists from France. Fortunately, they knew that the shelter was a completely enclosed building. With this positive outlook on a dry place, we set off with enough food in our bags toward the Lofoten Islands. The shelter turned out to be the absolute best place we could have wished for. For the first few hours, we were alone in the house made of wood and glass; then Dennis rode up, followed by Jannic in the evening. Together, we cooked, talked a lot, and bivouacked in the lovely house, all really happy not to have to camp out there in the storm. The next day we spent together with Dennis in the ‘glass house' (Jannic had set off toward the North Cape during five minutes of no rain—at least he had tailwind). We cooked liters of tea with filtered water from the nearby tiny river or the collected rainwater, knitted, played guitar, talked a looot and had a great time! Maxime, who was currently working nearby for a family, came to visit us in the afternoon. The sun briefly came out and gifted us with a magnificent rainbow. 🌈

10 📸 in this post

#cycling #bikepacking #cyclinglife #cyclingtogether #nomad #cyclingaroundtheworld #traveling #norway #photography #naturephotography #travelphotography #rainbow #shelter #lofoten