I took my first bus . . . to get into downtown Santiago, Chile in time for Christmas and avoid the US style beltways/four lane traffic that ring the city. I can be adventurous but heavy fast highways are just terrifying. Plus after asking around to Chilean cyclists all said the same thing, "take a bus to the center," so I did.
I almost felt guilty but also relieved when I noticed the practically non-existent shoulders on the highway coming into the city but once inside the city there were bike paths of sorts . . .
But I feel that I more than made up for my slacking jetting around Santiago doing errands.
Santiago, Chile is a big city - 6 million plus people and quite vertical - sitting in a valley with huge snow capped mountains in the near distance. I have been staying in a cousin's apartment in a wonderful neighborhood , Belle Artes, in the city center with all the essentials close at hand - including the Latin American supermarket chain Lider, owned by Wahlmart. . . so much for shopping local or maybe I am just in a global sense. I arrived with a laundry list a mile long which included washing my sleeping bag that had not seen soap since . . . Guatemala - yikes! You can imagine the ring on the tub. Most other errands were gear related. So after Christmas it was time to boogie around a big city. I generally love riding in big cities which typically has meant NYC for me.
Chile is not notable for its bike culture and most cyclists seem to ride on the sidewalks - which drives me crazy because they are crowded and it is illegal most places in the United States so I am not accustomed to weaving around shopping peds. I used the bike paths occasionally but they also have pedestrians and were very indirect - so I decided it was safer and faster to ride in the streets. Chilean drivers are conservative and not that fast so it has been pretty comfortable except for the double length buses pulling into my lane - also pulling out of street lights is the best speed work I have done in a long time! The city itself is not difficult to navigate using notable high rises and the river running through the city. Below is pictured a building projected to be the highest in Latin America at 60 stories - not that big but considering Chile has some of the strongest earthquakes in the world pretty daring and a damn good land mark.
Santiago is covered with parks, public space, and sculpture which makes the city a human scale despite its size and the forested hills within the city provide good landmarks for navigation.
Downtown parks, streets and plazas are thronging with people.
Shoppin', makin' out, hangin' out, people watchin', chess playin' etc . . .
it can be a bit of a circus in an orderly Chilean sort of way
After Christmas eve dinner with Alicia and Marco's mother(Marco is my cousin's boyfriend), my first order of business was to replace my Patagonia rain coat that was no longer waterproof. I cannot honestly blame it on the jacket given the amount of use it has seen between fishing, skiing and mountain biking in one of the rainiest places in the the United States, however a lifetime warranty is a lifetime warranty. Patagonia has not only bombproof design but a bombproof warranty - I suppose they count on the fact that most people 1. do not use gear that hard, 2. will not return 20 year old jackets like I once did for a $175 gift certificate.
The Patagonia shop was friendly, expecting me, and I walked out with my new raincoat. That was the easy errand - next I needed to find a decent bike shop - not so easy. Santiago has plenty of bike shops but trying to get service? Forget it. Chile specializes in poor service and I could not get anyone to remove my cassette so I could rebuild my hub . . . a one minute job, literally. They were all impressed with my trip but not enough to help. Annoying and frustrating after riding all over the city for a long day. And I am not impressed with Chilean bike shops . . .
I wrote to a friend in Binghamton,NY, who lives part time in Chile, and he hooked me up with a very cool local bike touring company, La Bicicleta Verde (http://www.labicicletaverde.com/es) that does day tours around the city and wine country. I walked in and they told me to make myself at home! So I bought some beer to leave and treated it like my own shop - what a relief to meet some genuine bike culture, hang out with friendly folks, and get my rear hub in a semblance of working order.
Happy New Years everyone - I am off to Mendoza, Argentina a mere 350km away.
I almost felt guilty but also relieved when I noticed the practically non-existent shoulders on the highway coming into the city but once inside the city there were bike paths of sorts . . .
But I feel that I more than made up for my slacking jetting around Santiago doing errands.
Santiago, Chile is a big city - 6 million plus people and quite vertical - sitting in a valley with huge snow capped mountains in the near distance. I have been staying in a cousin's apartment in a wonderful neighborhood , Belle Artes, in the city center with all the essentials close at hand - including the Latin American supermarket chain Lider, owned by Wahlmart. . . so much for shopping local or maybe I am just in a global sense. I arrived with a laundry list a mile long which included washing my sleeping bag that had not seen soap since . . . Guatemala - yikes! You can imagine the ring on the tub. Most other errands were gear related. So after Christmas it was time to boogie around a big city. I generally love riding in big cities which typically has meant NYC for me.
Chile is not notable for its bike culture and most cyclists seem to ride on the sidewalks - which drives me crazy because they are crowded and it is illegal most places in the United States so I am not accustomed to weaving around shopping peds. I used the bike paths occasionally but they also have pedestrians and were very indirect - so I decided it was safer and faster to ride in the streets. Chilean drivers are conservative and not that fast so it has been pretty comfortable except for the double length buses pulling into my lane - also pulling out of street lights is the best speed work I have done in a long time! The city itself is not difficult to navigate using notable high rises and the river running through the city. Below is pictured a building projected to be the highest in Latin America at 60 stories - not that big but considering Chile has some of the strongest earthquakes in the world pretty daring and a damn good land mark.
Santiago is covered with parks, public space, and sculpture which makes the city a human scale despite its size and the forested hills within the city provide good landmarks for navigation.
Downtown parks, streets and plazas are thronging with people.
Shoppin', makin' out, hangin' out, people watchin', chess playin' etc . . .
it can be a bit of a circus in an orderly Chilean sort of way
After Christmas eve dinner with Alicia and Marco's mother(Marco is my cousin's boyfriend), my first order of business was to replace my Patagonia rain coat that was no longer waterproof. I cannot honestly blame it on the jacket given the amount of use it has seen between fishing, skiing and mountain biking in one of the rainiest places in the the United States, however a lifetime warranty is a lifetime warranty. Patagonia has not only bombproof design but a bombproof warranty - I suppose they count on the fact that most people 1. do not use gear that hard, 2. will not return 20 year old jackets like I once did for a $175 gift certificate.
The Patagonia shop was friendly, expecting me, and I walked out with my new raincoat. That was the easy errand - next I needed to find a decent bike shop - not so easy. Santiago has plenty of bike shops but trying to get service? Forget it. Chile specializes in poor service and I could not get anyone to remove my cassette so I could rebuild my hub . . . a one minute job, literally. They were all impressed with my trip but not enough to help. Annoying and frustrating after riding all over the city for a long day. And I am not impressed with Chilean bike shops . . .
I wrote to a friend in Binghamton,NY, who lives part time in Chile, and he hooked me up with a very cool local bike touring company, La Bicicleta Verde (http://www.labicicletaverde.com/es) that does day tours around the city and wine country. I walked in and they told me to make myself at home! So I bought some beer to leave and treated it like my own shop - what a relief to meet some genuine bike culture, hang out with friendly folks, and get my rear hub in a semblance of working order. 
Happy New Years everyone - I am off to Mendoza, Argentina a mere 350km away.
ok, i got something to say...almost nothing better in life than being met by genuine friendly humans...the city looks tall but the obscurity is just a few miles away...enjoy and peace...p
ReplyDeleteLots of cycling culture, that is something terrific!
ReplyDelete