Leah recently admitted to me that when we were arranging to meet up she thought I might be a touch deluded with my plans. A large hunk of my favorite riders had ridden a fun looking little beach route to the southern Patagonian city of Punta Arenas and I wanted a piece of that pie. Prittle-prattle on the cycle touring grapevine suggested that you’d have to be mad to ride into Patagonia past March so beach riding could have looked a touch ambitious. However, the cycle touring community is chock-a-block with people talking bollocks so Leah needn’t have worried. The ‘Old’ lady massive (Leah and Celine) and I just rode the Seno Otway beach in late April and it was glorious: the air still, the temperatures warmer than a British beach in summertime and the route beautifully devoid of traffic.
Over the course of my slow migration south I’ve passed through a number of information rich areas, parts of the Americas where like-minded riders have explored and documented routes. The generosity of other riders in sharing their findings is central to us functioning as a community and can save curious cyclists that follow inordinate amounts of time and sometimes stress. Riders who share can have a profound impact on the cycle touring landscape, just look at the work of Neil and Harriet Pike whose Andes by Bike website single-handedly opened up large areas of Peru to tourists who would never have thought to research the area themselves. I know many a rider whose approach to cycle touring was revolutionised by the experience of following the Pike’s routes through Peru. Spreading route information is essential if we’re to progress as a community and one of my principal motivations in keeping this website going.
Recently I’ve been in the Skyler Des Roches information domain, a Canadian who laid down some fun tracks on a bike-packing tour of Patagonia last year. Skyler is a like-minded rider with Google Earth skills and a keen eye for a fun route, this ride from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas is one of his discoveries. Riding Surly’s 29+ ECR, Skyler was planning his routes last year around the capabilities of 29 x 3” fatter tires, something I’m grateful for as with my set-up I’d never have previously considered routing down a sandy beach. Now I’ve enjoyed a fun stretch of beach riding my eyes have opened and I’m more aware of the possibilities, another riders different approach has allowed me to grow as a cycle tourist.

Route from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas via Seno Otway… click here to view the fully interactive map, elevation profile and download the GPX track
Having endured some aggressive weather in Puerto Natales Celine, Leah and I were grateful when a window of wind-free sunshine opened. With sun, sand and still air we couldn’t fail. Here is the story of our four day dordle down to Punta Arenas…

Our stay in Puerto Natales was spiced by the abduction of the hostal dog Patan by a drunk who was later discovered trying to sell him for the price of a drink. It was a stressful time for all involved but we eventually recovered enough composure to continue our journey

It is hard not to feel a little smug when your return to the saddle coincides with the start of some good weather. Relieved to be in the sun again we spin out of Puerto Natales…

This stretch of road is famed for its strong winds and subsequent shelters. Many cyclists are reduced to sleeping in these jovial little wind escapes. Thankfully we were riding without wind and didn’t need them, a relief as more than a few of them had been used as toilets

I used to think Leah’s YOLO sweater was kind of stupid but once you get to know her it starts to resonate. Determined to milk every situation of as much fun as possible Leah can’t resist making angels in the sand

A perfect rainbow attempts to ease our transition from traffic free tracks to hectic city mayhem. An understated reminder that without nature, we are all nothing.
Route Tips
4 days, 280 km (174 miles), 1,800 m (5,900 ft.) of climbing
This cute little route was pieced together by Skyler last year (2014). Short, accessible, easy and extremely rewarding this ride is certain to become a classic. All the information you’ll ever need to ride it can be found in his blog post here (comprehensive route notes are in the comments section).
For further inspiration check out Anna, Kurt and Cass’s posts about the same route.
Awesome to see more deviants jumping those gates and riding that sweet piece of beach! There are many more gates to jump on Tierra del Fuego…
P.S. The beach south of Rio Grande is not skinny-tire friendly like this one.
Its crazy how I can feel your intensity grow with each blog as the end of this bike tour nears. It’s beautiful!!
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Speaking of gate-jumping and beach riding: most of the property owners along Seno Otway are pretty cool about bicyclists, except for one that I know of, and those are the folks who own the property that now has to be crossed to get to the penguin rookery. If you are discovered you can expect to be asked to pay for small fee for the (tres)passing since that is part of their little business. Livestock theft is a big issue here and not all visitors are welcomed. On the other hand, once you get to the beach so long as you stay within (I think) 10 metres of the high tide line you usually have a legal right to travel there (same as along lakes and rivers in Chile).