The Finish Line - Buenos Aires

Current Location: BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
Distance Cycled to Date: 19,048 km
Days Since Leaving Home: 379

And here it ends. After 379 days, Jeff and I cycled triumphantly into the city of Buenos Aires, the city we had left home aiming to reach over one year ago. We did it. We set a goal, and we achieved it. We rode our bikes from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We feel pretty darn good about that.

We had left home with the plan of finishing the trip in Buenos Aires, but along the way we felt the urge to keep going. To see more, and go further. We wanted to keep going throughout Argentina and Chile, spending 3 more months cycling, however, the reality of our financial situation started to show, and we decided we couldn't justify going on and on. No matter where we reached, we knew that we would want to go further - and so, we decided to finish this trip as planned, in the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.

However, in making these plans, we decided not to tell anybody. Many of you may have had no idea how much longer we would be cycling, but the last that anybody had heard was that we wouldn't be home until December. We decided to keep it a secret, and surprise all of our family and friends. So as of right now, sitting in Buenos Aires just hours before leaving for our flight home, nobody even knows that we're in this city. It's been difficult keeping it a secret - we've spent 4 days here in Buenos Aires, celebrating ourselves, but unable to tell anybody else.

The cycling in our last week was, quite honestly, a little boring, scenery-wise at least. From Cordoba to Buenos Aires is nothing but flat farmland, which made for some long days. We weaved and wove down different rural roads, trying to find the balance between the least amount of traffic and the widest road. As much as the cycling was uneventful, every time we stopped we were met with such enthusiasm and hospitality that we couldn't help but love rural Argentina. Every gas station that we stopped at, we would get peppered with questions and encouragement and well-wishes. In one decent sized town, we were invited to be guests on their radio show, which gave us an opportunity to showcase our new Argentinean accent when we speak Spanish. We had initally thought we would be a complete joke to everybody listening, but we managed to follow the whole interview. What a difference since the last time we were interviewed back in Mexico! Following the radio show, we were met by a tv reporter, who asked if she could do a small story on us for the news as well. So our smiling faces and broken Spanish was seen and heard all over rural Argentina last week. We all had a great time with it. As we rode out of the town the usual amount of honks and waves was far surpassed, as everybody who had just heard us on the radio called something out to us. We're kind of minor celebrities around here. You know, not Messi or Maradona, but we've got our following.

The ride into Buenos Aires was, well, crazy. The closer we got to the city the more traffic picked up, until as we were finally entering the city the intensity of the traffic nearly mirrored our emotions. From single lane, to divided 4-lane, to finally 14 lanes of traffic, all on one freeway. With 4 to 6 lanes of service roads beside us. And overpasses and underpasses and 3 lanes merging here and a few more over there - it was kind of insane to be biking through. After we finally did arrive safely, I had remarked to Jeff that it was surprising that they allowed bicycles on there - and he told me that he had noticed 3 different 'no bicycles' signs that we had biked past. Understandable - that was no place to be riding a bike. (As a side note, we had been pulled over by police twice in the past week - once they made us get off the freeway leaving Cordoba, but the second time before Buenos Aires they let us keep going. We were pretty convincing that we knew what we were doing)

And so, we arrived in Buenos Aires. Down Avenida 9 de Julio, straight to the famous Obelisk seen on many postcards. We made it. It was a strange sensation, knowing that we had done it, both that we had reached our goal, and also that the trip was over. It didn't seem real at all, and it still doesn't, 4 days later. Tonight we'll board our plane, and return to Canada. It seems just unreal - it is unreal. (Also, Jeff adds - we're unreal)

However, we've managed to save a little bit of cycling for ourselves. Because in keeping this a secret, we haven't asked anybody for a ride home from the airport in Calgary - instead, we'll arrive home just like we left, on our bicycles. And so we'll have over 200 km of cycling back in Alberta, giving us time to think and reflect on everything we've seen and done in this past year. And then - I guess we'll just show up in our backyard, knock on the door, and walk in the house. Maybe ask what's for supper? We're not really sure just how this surprise will work, but we do know as much as we're sad that this trip is over, we are quite excited to be home. This year has certainly given us the opportunity to appreciate just what a great thing it is to be home.

We won't post this entry until we get back home, in order to keep this surprise in order. But there will be at least one more post, as we still have just a little more biking to go. And thus ends Canada to Argentina by bicycle. Now just a little post-trip cool-down ride to go.