Location:

Tucumán and Catamarca provinces in the Argentinean northeast region near the Andes Mountains and Bolivia, 1300 km from Buenos Aires.


Duration:

8 days.


Daily Itinerary:

Friday: We leave Buenos Aires at 7 p.m.

Saturday:
We arrive in San Miguel de Tucumán, the capital of Tucumán at 3p.m. after traveling for 15 hours. It is possible to fly, but that will be an extra charge. The group will all meet on the first night, which will serve as a rendezvous point for those who chose to fly. The afternoon will be free for visiting. The recommendation for dinner is "Yerba Buena" neighborhood.

Sunday:
We jump in the van and travel towards "Yerba Buena" and we drive a very steep zigzagging hill. Our destination will be San Javier where our ride starts. We will enjoy an amazing view of the green and emerald landscape, large sugar cane and tobacco fields and, possibly, some paragliders. The ride will be uphill at the beginning through Villa Nogues, an ancient and traditional summer tourism villa with exquisite golf fields and centennial mansions. From Villa Nougues we will cycle over the hills, and start a dramatic descent passing by "San Javier" towards "San Miguel de Tucumán".
41.5km of paved roads
Elevation gain: 790,00 meters (2592 feet) uphill- 1.260,00 meters (4134 feet) downhill.
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Monday:
From Concepción we will drive west towards provincial "Road 365" following the "Alpachiri" river. After 22km, we will stop in "Alpachiri", the last town before arriving in "Catamarca" province. Here, we will start our ride at 600 meters above sea level and witness a remarkable transformation as the farming surroundings turn into dense, green jungle filled with countless types of different vegetation. Its trees and ferns are the best place for fauna to hide. After 12km we will pass by"Cochuna" at 1100 meters above sea level. This is where the challenge begins as we will ascend 800 meters in 12km arriving at the "Catamarca" province border - the landscape and the views will change dramatically in a short time. We will then enjoy the downhill to "Buena Vista-Las Estancias" where we will be spending the night.
41km + optional 13.5km of gravel roads
Elevation gain: 1330 meters (4363 Feet) uphill- 565 meters (1854 Feet) downhill.


Tuesday:
After breakfast we leave the hotel and ride towards "Andalgalá". During the first section of the 22km ride, we will slowly ascend from 1650 to 1850 meters through a lonely desert "puna" dirt track with a constant view of the snowcapped "Nevado del Aconquija", the natural border between "Tucuman" and "Catamarca".
Suddenly, we will arrive at a natural balcony, a viewpoint from where we will have a great view of the "Andalgalá" valley and the "Pipanaco" salt mines.
At this point, we will follow a great downhill of 20km and descend 1000 meters - a moment to fully enjoy the pleasures of mountain biking!
Once in "Andalgalá", the second most important city "Catamarca", we will stay at an important farm, the "Estancia Huasan", which was built in 1711 during the period of Spanish colonization and is now a specialized ranch producing and exporting quality olive oil.
57.5km of gravel roads
Elevation gain: 750 meters (2460 Feet) uphill - 1200 meters (3937 Feet) downhill


Wednesday:
We leave early in the morning from "Andalgalá" (1100 meters above sea level) passing by "Chaquiago" and "Choya" and riding towards "Minas Capillitas" a mining complex at 3100m where copper, gold, silver, lead and "rodocrosita" or "Inca Rose", a semiprecious pink rock, have been discovered.
The narrow and soft ascent on a cliff dirt road allow us to view a never ending desert landscape, including snowcapped mountains, salt mines contrasting with the green vegetation of the uphill.
After riding 42km and ascending 2000 meters we have lunch and then enjoy great downhill ride to "Andalgalá".
42km of dirt roads
Elevation gain: 240 meters (787 Feet) uphill - 2110 meters (6922 Feet) downhill


Thursday:
From "Andalgalá" we drive back to "Cuesta de las Chilcas", the great downhill we did two days earlier. Just 4 km before "Buena Vista-Las Estancias" we will take the detour south through the provincial "road 4", drive 13 more kilometers and start riding a beautiful gravel road that follows the chain of "Aconquija" mountains along a river. The path will take us on a downhill tendency although we´ll have small but strong climbs until arriving in "El Bolsón".
50km of dirt roads
Elevation gain: 880 meters (2887 Feet) uphill - 1300 meters (4265 Feet) downhill


Friday:
After enjoying a our breakfast at the "hosteria" (Inn´s), we will drive 22km up to the top of "Los Varela" hill. There we will start downhilling an impressive descent that reduces in altitude in a ratio of 100 meters per kilometer! After descending from 2000 to 1600 meters (the landscape is stunning), we will start climbing up to 1850 meters. After more downhills and upnhills we will end in Las Juntas, a small town where locals lodge. We will have lunch by the river and then load the bikes for a short drive to spend the night in "El Rodeo" where the program ends.
38.5km of dirt roads
Elevation gain: 700 meters (2296 Feet) uphill - 1200 meters (3937 Feet) downhill


Saturday:
We leave early in the morning, pass by "San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca" from where there are flight connections to Buenos Aires. The van will continue towards Buenos Aires to arrive late at night (15 hours drive).

-Difficulty level: Advanced
-Total elevation gain & loss
Uphills: 4690 meters (15387 Feet)
Downhills: 7635 meters (25049 Feet)