Going to Buenos Aires - Should I take my road bike???

[rfuessel]

Hi, I'm a keen cyclist here in Melbourne, and was off to Buenos Aires for a year in Jan. If anyone has been there could they let me know if it is worth taking my road bike. Are the roads safe? And is there a decent road cycling community there for training rides, meeting other riders etc?
Any feedback would be greatly welcomed.
Regards,
Richard

[polishbiker]

Nice, are you going there for work?

I was backpacking sth america and started in buenos, very busy town with lots of cars, the city bit anyway, i am sure you would find some quite roads somewhere eventually -)

[MickFalk]

Hi, I was touring in Argentina a few years ago & ended up staying there for 4 years since I liked the place so much. I came back here to Melb a year ago. I stayed mostly in Rosario but I visited BAires quite often & I rode in & out of the huge metropolis five times. Despite nothing happening to me I think I would now avoid riding right through all the suburbs since it is not possible to avoid some "distasteful" areas.
I saw little of road bikes. Are you staying near/in the centre?
My main memory of seeing road bikes was when I rode in to BA from the airport & the odd road cyclist was riding on the freeway, this was only possible near the airport (upto maybe 10km in the direction of BA) after which the freeway is definitely ONLY for cars.
I now remember riding out of BA (in late 2005) in the southern suburbs & actually stopping & having a chat with some friendly road cyclists, so they must have been riding somewhere! They actually told me that if I get a puncture just keep on riding, regardless of how bad is the problem, due to safety.
I really can't think of an obvious place near the middle of BA to go for a 50-100km road bike ride. There is not an equivalent of a Beach Rd there, that I know of. The major arterial roads can be very challenging to ride along & the quieter roads outside the metropolis are a long distance from the centre.
A possibility, but it takes a fair bit of time & effort, is to take a ferry over to Colonia in Uruguay & take your bike for a ride in the countryside on well made & not too busy roads over there.
Bike shops are quite poor compared to here (you may know this). Imports are taxed quite heavily & the average Arg wage is low so few people can afford very nice bikes. Many people cycle around, even in BA since it is cheap & people can't afford or have the space for a car. Most bikes are of the genre of single speed clunkers.
The people are delightfully friendly (except for the ones that want to rob you!, & it tends to be a matter of being very careful in busy areas like bus terminals, etc & keeping valuebles firmly held onto or hidden. Outside of BA things are far better).
In BA lots of people, especially younger ones, speak English. It's very popular to learn in Argentina & there are English language schools everywhere.
Write if U want to know more!

[toolonglegs]

Drivers are insane.
Once out of well to do central area you would have to worry about security.
But there are a few chain gangs around.
My wife spent a fair bit of time there as we were going to immigrate... In the end it was too far away, no one speaks English.