Motorcycle Explorer December 2014 Issue 3 | Page 82

Ruta 40 - Why?
The Ruta 40 is a road which runs from La Quiaca on the Argentinean
Magellan. If your planning to travel the Pan American highway and ge
before he became a Jedi, you too must also face the Ruta 40, for at le
The first time I read about the Ruta 40 was in Lois Pryce’s motorcycle
motorbike trip and in the book she describes the challenges she face
40. The road is mostly dirt and gravel and famous for its isolation and
least inhabited regions of South America.
Ten Thousand miles into my first motorcycle trip I met two motorcycle
were about to finish their trip. I asked them about the Ruta 40. Jon, a
Rafael, a rider from Venezuela - and both of them sharply sucked air i
memory they’d rather forget. If I wanted to get to Ushuaia there was n
could do about it then, so I put it to the back of my mind and secretly
and throw a couple of inches of asphalt down before I got there.
Over Two months later I crossed from Chile into Argentina near the to
40 to Rio Gallegos. It was a tremendously challenging ride but one I g
Magellan to Terra Del Fuego and Ushuaia. It was only when I was bac
picked up a book called “Ruta 40” and realized that the Ruta 40 actu
bought the book and read it while flying home and when I finished it,
40 and write a book about it, and so here we are! The story of how I g
book fills in all the details between there and Buenos Aires, which wa
consider the total distance between San Pedro de Atacama and Buen
Ok, Let’s get cracking.