Location:

Salta and Tucumán provinces in the Argentinean northeast region near the Andes Mountains and Bolivia, 1600 km from Buenos Aires.


Duration:

9 days.


Activities:

Saturday:
We arrive in the capital of Salta at 6p.m. after traveling for 20 hours. It is possible to fly, but that will be an extra charge. The group will all meet at the first night, which will serve as a rendezvous point for those who chose to fly. Transfer to Chicoana.

Sunday:
We start the day with one of the trip's highlights! We leave our Minibus on Road 68 then cross the town of El Carril and follow Road 33 to start climbing the Quebrada de Escoipe following a river flowing from the mountains. It is a beautiful place surrounded by green vegetation and tremendous mountains. Then we keep on climbing the famous Cuesta del Obispo (bishop slope) an amazing and untiring climb until finally we reach the Piedra del Molino at 3348 meters above sea level. After taking in the amazing views, we prepare to descend one of the most beautiful and lonely dirt roads you'll ever experience, El Camino de Los Colorados (the red's path). Its name comes from the strange ways the red rock took shape after years of erosion. Finally, we arrive at Cachi where we will stay at a "hoteria".
50km of dirt roads.
Elevation gain: 1000 meters downhill

Monday:
Early in the morning we awaken in Cachi, a pre-colonial town that Chicoanas Indians once lived before the Spanish arrived. It has a beautiful old 18th century church, many old buildings and a beautiful little square in front of an archeological museum. After we tour the town, we then ride slowly uphill to see El Nevado de Cachi, an incredible snow capped mountain that reaches 6200 meters into the sky only 759 meters less than Aconcagua, the tallest peak of the Andes. At Las Pailas is where we will find the best view of "El Nevado de Cachi" and the Morteros and pircas that the Indian civilization left behind. After that we descend down hill once again until we are back at Cachi. Then we cycle 27 meters on Road 40 to Seclantás where we come to rest at some beautiful cabins for the night.
58km of dirt roads.

Tuesday:
After breakfast we head towards one of the most unexpected places of the trip. We end up in the middle of red, dry mountains, a lonely place covered by cardones called Brealito Lagoon. Here we arrive for lunch. This scenic and rocky path has many challenges. This is where you can exercise your technical cycling skills on some of the most difficult climbs and incredible downhills of this tour. In the afternoon we'll ride another lonely, only used by locals, narrow and beautiful dirt track to arrive in "Molinos". During the last three kilometers we will find lot of loose sand, so we will probably need to walk and carry the mtb.
45km of dirt roads.
Elevation gain: 800mts uphill- 800mts downhill.

Wednesday:
We pedal from Molinos, an old 17th century town, where we set our bikes up to ride the mythical Road 40 following the Calchaquí River towards Angastaco. Rolling over the Calchaquí Valley we will have the chance to see the colors of the local architecture and culture. Here we get the opportunity to experience other ways of life, lonely and silent totally unlike the city.
42km of dirt roads.

Thursday:
From Angastaco we will begin cycling on one of the most strangely beautiful and amazing roads on earth, the Arrows Road. It is an incredible place that is so much like the moon that will take you another planet. At the end of this ride, we load our bikes on the trailer in San Carlos to arrive a little later in Cafayate, a place famous for its world-renowned wine cellars.
53km of dirt roads.

Friday:
From Cafayate we'll take the Minibus to the Castles for inside trip to another and discover a place that is very similar to Utah and Colorado with gorgeous canyons and red rocks with marvelous cuts carved out by weather - rain, wind, thunderstorms and snow. The most beautiful site will be the glowing sunset as it drifts across the red mountains. An incredible ride on paved road!
50 km of pavement roads.

Saturday:
We pack up the Minibus and drive 50km to the Quilmes ruins where legend says that the Quilmes Indians, a local civilization, resisted the Spanish Invasion for many years. The Quilmes Indians held out for such a long time that while surrounded they finally had to give up when their food and water ran out. Following a tour of the ruins, we take the bikes to Cuesta del Infiernillo at 3200 meters above sea level and then descend over a paved road towards Tafi del Valle soaking up an outstanding view along on the way. After lunch we load up the bikes onto the trailer and return to Buenos Aires...
25km of pavement roads.

Sunday:
We arrive at Buenos Aires around 4 pm.