Just five months ago, Santos Riders Martin and Katja finished a 21-month cycling trip across the Americas. Now, they are starting a new adventure: from the high mountains of the Himalayas to the ancient lands of Anatolia. They have just arrived in the Nepalese city of Kathmandu. Check out how they have prepared for this new trip, including changing to a lighter set-up.
Their GPS reads 4994 meters, marking the highest altitude they have reached so far on their trip. Cycling themselves up to almost 5,000 meters fills them with pride and happiness. Danish Santos Riders Martin and Katja are on small dirt roads in the mountains of Peru, following a route known as the Peru Great Divide.
A day before we arrived at the world's largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni, we were invited to sleep at a Bolivian family's house. For the first time in several days, we had access to WiFi. It was slow, but we were able to send Jace, our friend we had cycled with in Argentina, a message with the coordinates of where to meet. Salar de Uyuni covers more than 10.000 square kilometres, so it's not exactly a place where you bump into each other.
We have now arrived in Chile and are doing Route 7, Carretera Austral. This is a favorite destination for many travelers because it has beautiful landscapes with mountains, glaciers and many rivers. In the south of Argentina, we dreamed of getting away from the strong headwinds. In Chile, we discover that the grass is greener on the other side of the Andes. The reason? It rains a lot!
We knew the wind in Patagonia was going to be strong. Very strong! With nowhere to hide. And the risk of getting blown off our bikes. We also knew it was going to be headwind all the way. So yes, it was going to be quite a battle. Want to know how we survived?
Now at the start! We decided to drastically change our lives and embark on a big cycling adventure: 25.000 km in 20 months. It has taken us almost a year to prepare. Now the big moment is finally here! We have quit our jobs and flown from our home in Denmark to the starting point in Argentina.
Want to know what we had to do to get here? How we decided what to take and what to leave behind? And how we guided our bikes safely through an airline journey with three layovers?
We are Martin (very experienced cyclist) and Katja (cyclist since Summer 2021). Both from Denmark. Both Santos riders. Early 2022 we will embark on a big adventure: we will quit our jobs to cycle from South to North America! 25.000 kilometers in 20 months. In the forthcoming blogs we will tell you all about it. To inspire you and to let you join in the fun!
Santos Travelmaster 3+