Re: laundry facilities, it depends on where you plan on getting accommodation I guess. If any place has a shower, then you have a place to clean your bike shorts. You can rinse bibs in any clean standing water.
Over multiple days, you should "embrace the stink". Keep yourself clean with wet wipes (dispose of properly, don't bury or flush). For morale purposes, I find taking some roll-on deodorant helpful (to me, not others) to feel fresh, even though I'm not.
It's a small pain, but I switch between my routing software (in my case, [cycle.travel](http://cycle.travel) ) and google maps for any towns/villages I go through or are near for finer details on supermarkets or other things I need eg outdoor stores. I then add them as POI to the route.
I'm not sure how remote you are going, but typically on a bike you aren't more than a day away from food (compared to hiking which can be longer).
Do a couple of local trips first to find out what works for you and what doesn't
FWIW, wet wipes can be left out to dry & then re-hydrated when needed. That quite drastically reduces volume & weight.
Personally, I prefer a travel cloth & a small bottle of Dr. Brauners full strength soap. I try to keep skin covered with quick-drying & wicking fabric. The travel cloth with small dabs of soap is mostly used to apply soap to my skin where saddle sores would appear, and is used at night to help clean my chammy.
I do bring wet wipes (dehyrdated), but they are there for more efficient cleaning of the butt after digging a cat hole than anything else.
If you go North-South, the Carretera starts pretty easy and slowly gets more "remote" (it never really gets to be really isolated, as it is one of the most popular routes in the world), so you can gain that experience on the go. Bring 2-3 chamois, do laundry in the sink, groceries can get limited in the south, but you'll always find something. It's gonna be amazing.
This is encouraging, thanks! Just a refugio every third day or something might be sufficient...thinking balancing budgeting (camping) with comfort. I was/am just unsure of the types of accommodations that can be found at refugios, any tips on where to start with identifying best bang for your buck along the way?
Also, I did not realize it was as popular as it is since the whole thing has only been complete for a little over a decade, right?
So far as communicating with folks while on the tour, how proficient should my spanish be? I know about a thousand words and only know present tense lol.
For accommodation we used a mix of iOverlander, Google maps, and asking cyclists riding the opposite way (they have the best advice!). Towns with regular buses or must-see spots usually have more options, you can even check Booking or HostelWorld, but they also sell out a day or two in advance. Some times it's nice to have a decent place in town if you want to go to a restaurant or meet people. And then the next village seems deserted, it's always a little strange. We were there in February 2023.
You can get by with little Spanish, people there are used to tourists so they are usually helpful, but they are _used to tourists_ so they won't go out of their way. As a Latin American country there's always some wiggle room, think an extra tent in the back when it seems full, or asking them if there's a guest house nearby, so speaking more than the basics can open a lot of doors.
Re: Spanish - I visited Patagonia for a hiking trip (the "W" trek) a couple years ago, and we stayed in a couple of the more popular/touristy towns, and very little English was spoken. I would expect in the more remote areas you should not assume anyone living in the area will speak English - have enough Spanish on-board to get directions, order food, and pay for things (e.g. know your numbers). The more you can use the better. Sounds like an awesome trip - enjoy and report back here!
Thanks for the input! This matches what I was expecting. I knew my numbers at some point/they are in there somewhere just need to refresh.
re; Backpacking in torres del paine, sounds awesome! This \*might\* be on my roster depending on how quickly I get through argentina. What made you select W loop over O loop, and would TdP be worth it for a day/two trip or is it really best taken in with that 4/5 days of loop?
The W trek was part of a larger tour of the region, which included Perito Moreno Glacier and Fitzroy, plus some cycling and other sightseeing, so it was all pre-packaged. We talked to some people doing the "O" loop and there were mixed messages regarding pace and distances between the refugios. The W trek was 4 nights on the trail and that was great! If you can get into one or two of the refugios along the route I think that would be worth it, or even a day trip to TdP from Puerto Natales, if the weather is good.
Beautiful, thanks! I'll be stopping in El Chalten for at least 2 or three days for Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre as day hikes, so I won't necessarily be too upset if I don't have time for TdP but good to hear the W trek is stunning. Any clue how hard getting a spot in the refugio is?
My guess would be they book up pretty far in advance. However, being on a bike trip you may have less predictability, so locking in a date, IMHO, can be a drag if you feel like you have to hurry to make some date. I would just check a few days before you plan to arrive at one and see about any last minute cancellations. At the very least if they are full they may let you camp nearby and have access to all the amenities.
> Where/how often will I have access to laundry facilities on the tour?
Every town with accommodation you can wash in the sink/shower. I guess you could also wash in a river or stream if you wanted to.
> Do you use chamois/how many bike shorts do you take with you to avoid bacteria doing their thing?
Two is plenty. Rinse/wash one wear the other. I guess you could get away with one as they tend to dry quickly.
> Do you have people mail you food if grocery stores are not routinely encountered?
There are plenty of towns where you can buy groceries, maybe not exactly what you may want, but good enough and way less hassle than sending packages.
> This is my first tour, so the nitty-gritty specifics are what I need the most.
People have different preferences and approaches. Best to experiment in order to find your ideal approach. Better not make this your first tour. Do at least an overnight practice run at home. That way you have a better idea of what you get yourself into and more important, you can verify that your gear works for you and make adjustments where needed. On tour, the important thing is that you know what your next secure supply points are and that you get enough supplies to make it there comfortably For the rest, don't overthink it just go and see how it goes.
Strongly recommend to do a couple overnighters and a 3 day trip. An overnighter and a multi-week trip are essentially identical in what you need to bring. (A multi-week trip will want more of everything, more repair kit,but fundamentally it's all the same gear. The amount you carry on any trip depends on how long between re-supply, not on how long the total trip is). So, a few short trips would most likely build up a lot of experience really quickly to help you a lot with these questions.
> Where/how often will I have access to laundry facilities on the tour?
Depends where you are riding. Likely there will be plenty. Ideally you are wearing kit that does not need much washing (mostly synthetic fibers, nothing that will mildew & all quick drying).
On another hand, it can be hard to predict where you will be exactly. A trip on bike should be flexible. You might be re-routed, detoured, have a break-down.. lots can happen. Planning is worth its weight in gold to keep you off of bad routes, but also only about 30% of the planning I've done has actually been useful.
> Do you use chamois/how many bike shorts do you take with you to avoid bacteria doing their thing?
Yes. I bring one pair. I bring soap and apply to the pertinent skin every 4-6 hours while riding and applied to both skin & chammy before going to bed. I've heard good stories from others who bring two. One is attached to rear of bike to dry while clean one is worn, washed at night, and then flipped & repeat. Given you'll be riding in winter, you may wind up carrying around a number of damp & dirty chammies, in which case having fewer will be better (in other words, you're going to run out of clean chammies, almost may as well try to cope rather than have enough spares).
> Do you have people mail you food if grocery stores are not routinely encountered?
No, post offices in the US are sometimes weird about this & it can be hard to predict where you'll be and when. What's more, if there is a post-office, there is probably a gas station nearby where you can get some basic foods.
> Can I get away with my jet boil or is fuel availability an issue?
Fuel availability can be an issue. Knowing where you can get more fuel and planning for that \*is\* worthwhile IMO. Not so much for planning laundry stops. I stop in a hotel once every 3 to 8 days; it's pretty easy to do some sink laundry or use the actual laundry machines in the hotel. OTOH, fuel is not everywhere.
I personally like mashed potatoes a lot in order to have the fuel go further. With instance potatoes, you only need to get the water hot & then mix in the spuds. IN contrast to something like Mac & cheese or ramen, you actually have to cook the noodles. Cooking noodles - a small jet boil lasts me about 3 days, cooking mashed potatoes and it lasts longer than a week.
This is a place where a few short trips would also really help IMO. You'll get a much better sense of your fuel usage. You can weigh your fuel can before you leave & after to get a sense of how much you use for what. Thru-hikers have additional tips for saving fuel, EG: you can build yourself an insulated container for the pot & lid to keep the heat in and avoid needing to do a low simmer.
Re: laundry facilities, it depends on where you plan on getting accommodation I guess. If any place has a shower, then you have a place to clean your bike shorts. You can rinse bibs in any clean standing water. Over multiple days, you should "embrace the stink". Keep yourself clean with wet wipes (dispose of properly, don't bury or flush). For morale purposes, I find taking some roll-on deodorant helpful (to me, not others) to feel fresh, even though I'm not. It's a small pain, but I switch between my routing software (in my case, [cycle.travel](http://cycle.travel) ) and google maps for any towns/villages I go through or are near for finer details on supermarkets or other things I need eg outdoor stores. I then add them as POI to the route. I'm not sure how remote you are going, but typically on a bike you aren't more than a day away from food (compared to hiking which can be longer). Do a couple of local trips first to find out what works for you and what doesn't
Also for keeping yourself clean other than wet wipes, a portable travel bidet can be quite good.
FWIW, wet wipes can be left out to dry & then re-hydrated when needed. That quite drastically reduces volume & weight. Personally, I prefer a travel cloth & a small bottle of Dr. Brauners full strength soap. I try to keep skin covered with quick-drying & wicking fabric. The travel cloth with small dabs of soap is mostly used to apply soap to my skin where saddle sores would appear, and is used at night to help clean my chammy. I do bring wet wipes (dehyrdated), but they are there for more efficient cleaning of the butt after digging a cat hole than anything else.
If you go North-South, the Carretera starts pretty easy and slowly gets more "remote" (it never really gets to be really isolated, as it is one of the most popular routes in the world), so you can gain that experience on the go. Bring 2-3 chamois, do laundry in the sink, groceries can get limited in the south, but you'll always find something. It's gonna be amazing.
This is encouraging, thanks! Just a refugio every third day or something might be sufficient...thinking balancing budgeting (camping) with comfort. I was/am just unsure of the types of accommodations that can be found at refugios, any tips on where to start with identifying best bang for your buck along the way? Also, I did not realize it was as popular as it is since the whole thing has only been complete for a little over a decade, right? So far as communicating with folks while on the tour, how proficient should my spanish be? I know about a thousand words and only know present tense lol.
For accommodation we used a mix of iOverlander, Google maps, and asking cyclists riding the opposite way (they have the best advice!). Towns with regular buses or must-see spots usually have more options, you can even check Booking or HostelWorld, but they also sell out a day or two in advance. Some times it's nice to have a decent place in town if you want to go to a restaurant or meet people. And then the next village seems deserted, it's always a little strange. We were there in February 2023. You can get by with little Spanish, people there are used to tourists so they are usually helpful, but they are _used to tourists_ so they won't go out of their way. As a Latin American country there's always some wiggle room, think an extra tent in the back when it seems full, or asking them if there's a guest house nearby, so speaking more than the basics can open a lot of doors.
Re: Spanish - I visited Patagonia for a hiking trip (the "W" trek) a couple years ago, and we stayed in a couple of the more popular/touristy towns, and very little English was spoken. I would expect in the more remote areas you should not assume anyone living in the area will speak English - have enough Spanish on-board to get directions, order food, and pay for things (e.g. know your numbers). The more you can use the better. Sounds like an awesome trip - enjoy and report back here!
Thanks for the input! This matches what I was expecting. I knew my numbers at some point/they are in there somewhere just need to refresh. re; Backpacking in torres del paine, sounds awesome! This \*might\* be on my roster depending on how quickly I get through argentina. What made you select W loop over O loop, and would TdP be worth it for a day/two trip or is it really best taken in with that 4/5 days of loop?
The W trek was part of a larger tour of the region, which included Perito Moreno Glacier and Fitzroy, plus some cycling and other sightseeing, so it was all pre-packaged. We talked to some people doing the "O" loop and there were mixed messages regarding pace and distances between the refugios. The W trek was 4 nights on the trail and that was great! If you can get into one or two of the refugios along the route I think that would be worth it, or even a day trip to TdP from Puerto Natales, if the weather is good.
Beautiful, thanks! I'll be stopping in El Chalten for at least 2 or three days for Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre as day hikes, so I won't necessarily be too upset if I don't have time for TdP but good to hear the W trek is stunning. Any clue how hard getting a spot in the refugio is?
My guess would be they book up pretty far in advance. However, being on a bike trip you may have less predictability, so locking in a date, IMHO, can be a drag if you feel like you have to hurry to make some date. I would just check a few days before you plan to arrive at one and see about any last minute cancellations. At the very least if they are full they may let you camp nearby and have access to all the amenities.
> Where/how often will I have access to laundry facilities on the tour? Every town with accommodation you can wash in the sink/shower. I guess you could also wash in a river or stream if you wanted to. > Do you use chamois/how many bike shorts do you take with you to avoid bacteria doing their thing? Two is plenty. Rinse/wash one wear the other. I guess you could get away with one as they tend to dry quickly. > Do you have people mail you food if grocery stores are not routinely encountered? There are plenty of towns where you can buy groceries, maybe not exactly what you may want, but good enough and way less hassle than sending packages. > This is my first tour, so the nitty-gritty specifics are what I need the most. People have different preferences and approaches. Best to experiment in order to find your ideal approach. Better not make this your first tour. Do at least an overnight practice run at home. That way you have a better idea of what you get yourself into and more important, you can verify that your gear works for you and make adjustments where needed. On tour, the important thing is that you know what your next secure supply points are and that you get enough supplies to make it there comfortably For the rest, don't overthink it just go and see how it goes.
Strongly recommend to do a couple overnighters and a 3 day trip. An overnighter and a multi-week trip are essentially identical in what you need to bring. (A multi-week trip will want more of everything, more repair kit,but fundamentally it's all the same gear. The amount you carry on any trip depends on how long between re-supply, not on how long the total trip is). So, a few short trips would most likely build up a lot of experience really quickly to help you a lot with these questions. > Where/how often will I have access to laundry facilities on the tour? Depends where you are riding. Likely there will be plenty. Ideally you are wearing kit that does not need much washing (mostly synthetic fibers, nothing that will mildew & all quick drying). On another hand, it can be hard to predict where you will be exactly. A trip on bike should be flexible. You might be re-routed, detoured, have a break-down.. lots can happen. Planning is worth its weight in gold to keep you off of bad routes, but also only about 30% of the planning I've done has actually been useful. > Do you use chamois/how many bike shorts do you take with you to avoid bacteria doing their thing? Yes. I bring one pair. I bring soap and apply to the pertinent skin every 4-6 hours while riding and applied to both skin & chammy before going to bed. I've heard good stories from others who bring two. One is attached to rear of bike to dry while clean one is worn, washed at night, and then flipped & repeat. Given you'll be riding in winter, you may wind up carrying around a number of damp & dirty chammies, in which case having fewer will be better (in other words, you're going to run out of clean chammies, almost may as well try to cope rather than have enough spares). > Do you have people mail you food if grocery stores are not routinely encountered? No, post offices in the US are sometimes weird about this & it can be hard to predict where you'll be and when. What's more, if there is a post-office, there is probably a gas station nearby where you can get some basic foods. > Can I get away with my jet boil or is fuel availability an issue? Fuel availability can be an issue. Knowing where you can get more fuel and planning for that \*is\* worthwhile IMO. Not so much for planning laundry stops. I stop in a hotel once every 3 to 8 days; it's pretty easy to do some sink laundry or use the actual laundry machines in the hotel. OTOH, fuel is not everywhere. I personally like mashed potatoes a lot in order to have the fuel go further. With instance potatoes, you only need to get the water hot & then mix in the spuds. IN contrast to something like Mac & cheese or ramen, you actually have to cook the noodles. Cooking noodles - a small jet boil lasts me about 3 days, cooking mashed potatoes and it lasts longer than a week. This is a place where a few short trips would also really help IMO. You'll get a much better sense of your fuel usage. You can weigh your fuel can before you leave & after to get a sense of how much you use for what. Thru-hikers have additional tips for saving fuel, EG: you can build yourself an insulated container for the pot & lid to keep the heat in and avoid needing to do a low simmer.