Buenos Aires to La Cumbre, Cordoba by motorcycle

This trip was unexpected since I only went along to accompany a mate who has a sister who lives in La Cumbre. But it was also a great way to test out some new kit.

Anyway, after a marathon return ride yesterday, battling high winds and ferocious heat, I still feel a tad zombified, so I'll give a full report over the weekend...

Here's a short version of the first few hundred kms.

Quote from Rice

Splinter, when you were on open stretches of good road, like the blacktop one on the way to Rosario, what average speed were you going?

The pace seemed to be comfortable, yet you made very good time.

About 110kmh, depending on the wind.

Quote from UK Man

Just finished watching them all...you got great weather. The last few reminded me of my twisty road bike rides in Scotland. The Titi Hotel in Ballesteros looked 'interesting'.

I'm glad you enjoyed the videos and will divulge more revealing information about Hotel Titi later. It was an eye opener...

Quote from GlasgowJohn

Is it the sort of 'hotel' , I think it is?

Sorry to spoil the fun, but it wasn't a 'telo'. My companion would have got the wrong idea if it had been.

I didn't fancy doing nearly 800kms in one day, so I picked Ballesteros as a good stopping point with only 250kms to ride the following day. Anyway, it's the only hotel in town and reviews on Google Maps at the least were not too off-putting. I phoned the owner and booked a couple of rooms at $18.000 each per night, so for that price, I wasn't expecting much and I wasn't disappointed.

It was a punishing ride along the Rosario/Cordoba motorway because we had a very strong crosswind and when we arrived in the one horse town of Ballesteros at around 5pm, it was deserted, as one might expect in a tiny country town in Argentina. Our first view of the hotel at the rear was not exactly awe inspiring, to say the least.

Once we'd parked our bikes in the spacious, covered open shed and were unloading our bags, the landlady appeared and ordered us to move our bikes closer together because 'it could get busy later', which I doubted.

My companion obliged and we then followed her through 'reception', down a dark corridor reminiscent of The Shining and thence into the 1950s bar area, where we were informed by the owner that we were lucky to have caught her because she usually has a siesta until 6pm. I then apologised for having disturbed her slumber, at which she asked for our DNI numbers and ages, but nothing else, which I found a little puzzling, so I gave her an estimate, which finally broke a smile. She scribbled the scant information that we had delivered into a well worn scrapbook, which she cast aside on the pile of other crap and broken odds and ends on the bar area, at which point I asked when we could have a beer, for I was extremely dry of throat.

I even asked if she had Imperial Golden, knowing that she probably didn't and I was correct because she'd never heard of it and offered Quilmes Classic 1L or Corona which she considered far too expensive 'for these parts', which I agreed with. Once we had finished checking in, she informed me that all I had to do was let her know when we wanted a beer, hustled us out of the bar, locked the door and vanished, so we inspected our accommodations, such as they were.

I had to force the bathroom door to open, but I was lucky because Claudio didn't even have a bathroom door, but when I did peer inside, I didn't stay long.

After trying to force the locked door to the bar and having unloaded everything from the bike (when you live in BA, old habits die hard), Quilmes was calling me, so I sent the lady a text, at which she magically reappeared in the bar ten minutes later. Naturally, I chose the Quilmes Classic, large bottle and just as the lady opened it, foamy beer spurted out all over her face and top, resulting in one or two familiar expletives, at which she put the bottle in a polystyrene shroud to keep it cool and disappeared again, but this time to change her top. I then settled at a table with my beloved Quilmes and everything was right in the world. I guessed that Claudio had fallen asleep dreaming about bathroom doors and I was right.

Part two to follow!

Part two coming shortly...

In the meantime:

The Tech I Took On My Recent Motorcycle Trip

I clearly remember the day I was handed my first company car as a salesman for a Canadian shipping company. When my boss gave me the keys, he also gifted me a…

davescomputertips.com

Here's an edited version of Part One written in my blog and Part Two will follow in the same format.

Motorcycle Trip – Buenos Aires To La Cumbre, Cordoba – Part One – A Brit In BA

Part Two

Motorcycle Trip – Buenos Aires To La Cumbre, Cordoba – Part Two – A Brit In BA

The friend who rode with me to La Cumbre back in November has finally moved there, so on Saturday I joined him for part of the trip to get his motorcycle up there, being the last of his possessions.

We left the YPF at Debenedetti, Martinez at 0730 on Saturday when the temperature was a reasonable 19c and clear, sunny skies. I had planned to join him all the way to La Cumbre and stay there for a couple of nights, maybe even stopping at Villa Maria on the way. However, with the weather deteriorating this coming Tuesday, I decided to go half way with him and stop at Venado Tuerto on the way back.

With two or three stops for coffee and a rest, we arrived at a charming little YPF ACA in Tortugas at 1330 which is around 400kms from BA.

By then it was getting really hot, about 36c and we found some shade under some huge eucalyptus trees in a picnic area, ate our sandwiches and melted alfajores and finally parted company at 1400, when my mate headed off to Cordoba and La Cumbre. He wasn't sure if he was going to slog it out all the way or stop somewhere for the night.

After fuelling and stocking up with water, I then headed the 160kms to the Hotel Molino in Venado Tuerto in the blazing heat, having made a phone reservation the day before - I always like to know where I'm sleeping at any destination.

Adri and I stayed the hotel back in 2006 and it's famous for being founded by the famous racing driver, Marcos Ciani and we both remember him sitting in reception, watching TV at that time, clearly a much older and frail gentleman by then.

I lost count of how many litres of water I drank on the way, or indeed how many litres I lost in sweat. Suffice to say that when I arrived at around 1630, I had to peel off my full protective motorcycle gear and hang it out to dry. At that point, a shower was absolute bliss.

After unloading all my gear from the bike, I was getting seriously thirsty, only to discover that the hotel bar was closed and they only had soft drinks on offer and no dinner either. But the owner kindly told me that I was welcome to pop over to Carrefour some two blocks away, buy what I needed and enjoy my aperitifs on the hotel terrace.

Having found my favourite beer, Imperial Golden in two massive, ice cold bottles, I finally sat down to a refreshing rectification at around 1730 - a little before beer o'clock, but who's counting? It was so hot that I had to wrap the bottles in towels so they wouldn't warm up, because a cold beer after a long, hot ride is one of my great pleasures in life.

After a rudimentary dinner of sandwiches left over from lunchtime, by 2030 the heat caught up with me, so I turned the not so silent air conditioning on in my room and went out like a light switch.

At 0530 I made a coffee with my travel kettle, listened to the boom, boom of the disco still raving in the next block - it didn't finish until 0700, which is when I went for the included breakfast in the dining room with other fellow travellers. The hotel staff couldn't have been more helpful and obliging and they also gave me 15% discount for paying in cash ($42k), which is par for the course in Argentina.

After loading up the bike, topping up the oil and other checks, I left Venado Tuerto at 0930 and with the day getting hotter and hotter, I hit the relatively new and perfect motorway R8 just past Colon and stopped for a rest at the YPF ACA Arrecifes at 1230, desperate for some shade, which is always scarce at service stations, unless there are plenty of trees!

From there on, it was motorway all the way home, where I arrived at 1600, extremely hot and frankly, glad to get off the bike. At times it felt like I was riding through a hair dryer and wearing full kit, it wasn't ideal weather for motorcycling, even when moving because you don't realise how much fluid you're losing until you stop.

I'm glad I did the trip, but I won't be doing it again in that kind of heat. It's too exhausting.

Later that evening, my mate confirmed that he finally arrived in La Cumbre at 1930, exactly twelve hours after we had set off. He did bloody well to cover 760kms in that heat, I have to say!