Patagonia & Tierra del Fuego

South through temperate rainforest and the first ferry crossings. The road narrows, the traffic disappears and the pace of the trip changes. Lago Yelcho sits turquoise below hanging glaciers.

The heart of the Carretera Austral. Deep valleys, river crossings and the long gravel sections that give this road its reputation. Coyhaique is the last proper town for a while: fuel, tyres and a night indoors.

The second largest lake in South America, an improbable blue against bare mountains. A ferry crossing takes the group and the bikes to the far shore, one of the days riders remember most.

Crossing into Argentina, the landscape empties out. The Patagonian steppe runs flat and enormous to the horizon, the wind becomes a constant, and fuel stops need planning rather than luck.

Fitz Roy stands over the village like a wall. A rest day here is worth taking: the walking is extraordinary and the weather changes by the hour, which is part of the point.

The Perito Moreno glacier is one of the few in the world still advancing, and it calves into the lake while you watch. The ride in follows the shore of Lago Argentino.

Back into Chile for the granite towers that put Patagonia on every list. Guanacos on the road, weather from four directions in one afternoon, and the light that photographers come here for.

Crossing the Strait of Magellan by ferry onto the island. The road turns to gravel and the landscape goes bare and windswept, with the Andes falling into the sea to the west.

The southernmost city in the world, and for most riders the emotional end of the journey. Beagle Channel, the end-of-the-world sign, and a dinner that takes a while.

North again across the island to Porvenir, then the ferry back over the Strait of Magellan, often in the company of dolphins.

The finish. Bikes crated or ridden on, a last asado, and the flight home from the end of the continent.