Yesterday, I started the actual biking part of my trip: frm Buenos Aires to a small town about 65 kilometers away.  Confession.  I don’t think there’s a worse way to leave a major city than to bike out of it.  The roads exiting most cities will be congested and polluted; the drivers a little too anxious to leave; the sights non-existent. Biking is awesome in many different places, but those major roads out of cities aren’t one of them.

My original plan was to take a train out of Buenos Aires.  It looked like  an easy, cheap way to leave the city.  The day before I left, I asked Paul and Mariana, the people I was couch-surfing with (who are totally awesome, by the way!) where to get the train. Then, I noticed the color had drained out of Paul’s face and Mariana looked visibly nervous. Paul explained, “The train?  Don’t take the train.  Unless you want to get robbed.”  “No, no, the train is not safe” Mariana added.

Ok, so I wouldn’t take the train.

I decided to try and get a bus.  Monday morning I headed over to a local travel agent and explained that I need to get about 100km outside of Buenos Aires.  The exact city didn’t matter - I was flexible! - but the bus needed to be capable of carrying my bicycle.  I suggested a bus to Lobos or Lujan.  “How about a tour to Tigre?” she asked.  “All-inclusive, one day.”  “No, that’s not really what I’m looking for. Where is Tigre?” She looked a little surprised.  “I don’t know, I just book the tour.”
She continued trying to ‘help’ me.  “You have a bicycle?  How about a bicycle tour of Buenos Aires?  Look, they give you a bicycle.”  “Umm, I have a bicycle already.  I just need to leave Buenos Aires so I can cycle my way towards Bariloche, maybe get there in three weeks or so.”  She brightened.  “Oh, I can buy you a ticket to Bariloche!” 

Now, normally I would assume language problems were to blame here, but her English was excellent.  Unfortunately, it looked like I didn’t have many options to escaping out of Buenos Aires.

So, despite my best intentions, I biked out of there.

***

The ride out of Buenos Aires was largely as miserable as can be expected, but all things considered, it was better than getting robbed on the train or taking an all-inclusive tour to Tigre.  Sure, there were more busses on one road that I even thought possible.  Sure, there were traffic lights every 50m.  Sure, I almost got run over at least twice.  Sure, the view is uninspiring.  But I was out of the city in 30km, the neighborhoods all felt safe to me, the road is fairly easy to follow, and except for the millions of busses traffic is pretty light.  Also, everyone was respectful of my space, with no one honking at me to get out of the way and onto the (terribly potholed) shoulder. I could have done worse than cycling out that way.

My day did have a few bright points.  When I stopped to buy alcohol for my stove, everyone in the store gathered around to hear where I came from and where I was going.  I was peppered with questions and got to practice my Spanish.  I’ll probably be bored soon, but for now, the narcicist side of me still enjoys the opportunity to talk about myself. They seemed worried that I was traveling as a female alone, and asked if I was afraid.  “My parents are more afraid than I am!” I explained.

Another time, I stopped at what appeared to be an ice cream store.  It turned out to be more of an ice cream distributor, so they didn’t sell pieces singly.  The manager told me to wait “Un momento” and gave me two ice cream bars as a gift!  Mmmm. 

It’s such a nice change to be able to communicate in quasi-meaningful ways with people I meet on the road.  My Spanish is far from perfect, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well I understand most people.  Argentineans seem to speak slowly… at least when talking to me.

Also, you can see the picture of my bike above.  I have quite a bit more “stuff” than last time!

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