The road around Volcano Tungurahura in Banos, Ecuador to Puyo.

Tungurahua, Ecuador. photo - rtwrider photos at pbase.com

Nice twisty riding. Make sure you stop at the little Italian joint for lunch.

The only downside is the long dark unlit tunnels with buckets of water dumping from the ceiling.....I certainly did not ride through them mumbling MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY in a high pitched voice.

I'll list three because South America is too big for just one.

The road from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, to Jama, Argentina. 100 miles. I liked it so much, I did it three times. I left San Pedro at 6 AM, arrived in Jama at about 10- stopping for tons of pics. I had a cup of coffee (with a fly in it- made me vomit), then I rode back to San Pedro de Atacama. I gassed up (thanking the gods of gas tanks for my 11 gallons) and rode as fast as I dared (100 mph, baby!) back to Jama. I think the road tops out around 16,500 feet.

The road from Nasca to Cusco. Holy shit this was ****ing epic. I've heard it described as beautiful but it kicked my ass. At one point coming around a curve there was a bus down a cliff a few hundred feet. People were building a shrine. They said 28 people died. I hit a bad stretch of potholes and broke my speedo cable. I rode the whole thing in one sitting- 660 km. I saw my first flamingos. Amazing and the hardest ride I have ever done.

The road from Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia- and back. On the way back, leaving Ushuaia, the snow on the mountains is amazing. The views were kind of like the Rocky Mountains in the fall- only more beautiful and more amazing. Snow covered jagged peaks and red forests and perfect road, except for about 100 miles of ripio in the rain with the mud coming off in a fine bloody mist. And it was windy. I finished the ripio completely covered in red mud. The mud stuck to the exhaust on the bike and it's still there, even though I'm with the bike in Wisconsin. The mud baked on like fancy ceramic.

There were other great roads- if we can count Central America, I really liked the road from San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, to La Mesilla. And the coast in El Salvador was nice. Add all of Colombia.

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Latin America Ride Report
Wisconsin to Alaska Ride Report

on the map this just looks like the shortest way from the argentine border to uyuni, but it is a great road if you up for an adventure and can hack the 40-odd km of grotty corrugations at the uyuni end.
it's dirt all the way, goes over 4000m and stays up there, gives you every surface from good gravel to clay, bulldust, some deep sand (and plenty of other sand) river crossings, llamas, mining traffic, a welcoming town (atocha) at the 200km mark, and best of all, about 15 or 20km of sandy riverbed, with flowing water! first you go downstream, then up! not to mentiond mad scenery.
we just did it two up on an r11gs. lots of fun.
cheers,
andy.

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www.outforaspin.blogspot.com

Thank you guys. It will help to finalise my route ( I don't know how many times I am going back to drawing board:confused1.

This road of death reputation must be of interest. I would very much prefer to be on my own bike on this road than couped up in a bus, or any other vehicle - read on.

News from today's date is:-
British cyclist killed on 'Highway of Death'


© ITN 2008



A British cyclist has been killed in a crash which claimed the lives of nine people in Bolivia.
The man, named by the British Embassy in La Paz as 22-year-old Tom Austin, was involved in a collision with a Toyota Land Cruiser with 13 people inside.
The vehicle then left the road and rolled 300 feet down a rocky embankment, killing eight people inside and injuring the five others.
Louise Taylor, vice consul at the British Embassy, said two other British cyclists were injured. She named them as Daniel Roberts, 23, and James Marshall, 22.
She said: "He died on the road between La Paz and Coroico.
"Two other British citizens were injured at the same time. They were quite minor injuries."
She said the riders were not taking part in a race as far as she was aware.
Lieutenant Colonel Agusto Angulo, head of the La Paz transit police accident division, said the accident took place just minutes after the cyclists began their tour on a paved section near a 15,400-foot Andean pass.
Mr Austin was the second tourist to die on the notorious stretch of road, nicknamed the Highway of Death, in the past week.
The highway east from La Paz - the world's highest capital city - winds dramatically down the face of the Andes, dropping 11,800 feet in just 40 miles.
The narrow, largely dirt track earned its macabre nickname for the frequency with which Bolivian buses would plunge off its 3,300-foot cliffs, killing hundreds a year until a new paved highway opened in 2007.
But the old route's stunning vistas and hairpin turns now draw an estimated 25,000 thrill-seeking mountain bikers from around the world. At least 13 cyclists have died on the road in the past ten years.
On Monday, Kenneth Mitchell, 56, of Fullerton, California, died when he tumbled from his bicycle and fell over a cliff along the road.
A spokesman for the accident division of the La Paz police refused to speculate on the causes of the latest accident and declined to give any more details about the British casualties.

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Dave

hey off for a year in june loving reading this anyone got any more please.............

I'll name Argentine's roads I know and some of them you have just quoted.
Cordoba province is full of wonderful routes:
-Nº 38 from Carlos Paz to Capilla del Monte and from there, the 22 (consolidated) to San Marcos Sierra.
-Nº 5 from Alta Gracia to Embalse.
-Nº 34 (High tops road) from Carlos Paz to Mina Clavero and then the road that goes from Mina Clavero to Yacanto or inclusive to Merlo in San Luis province.
Cordoba has many more beautiful paved and consolidated inner roads that are a must.
Ruta 40, from North to South along the Andes Rocks, is full of incredible places. As happens with route 66 in USA, route 40 is a traditional way.
Nº 307 from Famaillá to Amaichá del Valle. It's unforgettable!
Nº 7 from Potrerillos to Uspallata and from there to the limit with Chile.
Nº 9 from Salta city to Abra Pampa in the Northwest.
Bariloche, Mendoza, Neuquen, Salta have also a lot of imperdible inner paths.

Hello!

There is so much information on here, I love it! But i'm also a bit overwhelmed, so I figured i'd ask for specific suggestions for a 2 week trip, anywhere in south america (or central america) during the month of Januray. We would need to start off in a city that we can either rent/buy (and sell back) a motorcycle from. We took a trip last year to Veitnam for three months and had good luck with buying a Minsk for $400 and selling it for $250, so if that's possible, that'd be great. smooth roads, dirt, gravel, whatever! as long as you don't need a dirtbike for it, we're set. just interested in seeing beautiful scenery, meeting beautiful people, and taking in the culture of the locale. Any suggestions on an itinerary would be highly appreciated!

Hadas

i am going in january 2009... cant wait!

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www.yamarider.com

2 weeks, 2 bikes, 2 people: Salta North/West Argentina! All you can imagine (roadslike) +very nice people and cheap!
Peter

What about Serra do Rio do Rastro and Serra do Corvo Branco in Brazil?

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Robson Giovanni Parisoto.
Fortaleza dos Bruxos Moto Grupo
Visite: http://fortalezadosbruxos.blogspot.com
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Jaborá, SC - Brasil
Fone: +55 (49) 9104-5536
GPS: 27° 10.445' S 51° 44.107' W

Hello Charlie,
It's in Santa Catarina, near de cities of Urubici, São Joaquim, Lauro Muller e Grão Pará.
If you have a MSN, add me, we'll keep in touch.

Regards,

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Robson Giovanni Parisoto.
Fortaleza dos Bruxos Moto Grupo
Visite: http://fortalezadosbruxos.blogspot.com
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Jaborá, SC - Brasil
Fone: +55 (49) 9104-5536
GPS: 27° 10.445' S 51° 44.107' W

I rode Pasto to Meddillin 650 miles in one day.... easily best day of my life..... curving through the colombian mountains..... it had everything imaginable that day....from cold to hot .... rain to hail...... even lightning.... all while taking curves at 80+ mph what more could you want....

From Rio and further south along the Coast of brazil.... absolutely amazing to florianopolis

If you like deserts, then the ride from the Peru/Ecuador border to Lima is for you. After riding through the desert for hundreds of kilometers, I finally reached the half way point to Lima. Eat your heart out...