As we pedaled toward the northern limit of Patagonia, the vast landscape continued to surprise and challenge us. Argentina’s celebrated Route 40 led us across treeless, windswept mesas and picturesque canyons where we pitched our tent far from the few, frontier towns. Along the way we shared the road with herds of goats being driven to new pastures for the winter. And in one small village we experienced a scene right out of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds. With a little help from some kind locals, we managed to keep moving forward - no matter how fiercely the winds blew.

After cycling the Carretera Austral, we chose to cross the Andes quickly, trading Chile’s rainforests for Argentina’s arid foothills. The Pan-American Highway took us along the edge of one of Chile’s largest lakes, with towering volcanos in the distance. The volcanos’ destructive power was evident as we cycled over a mountain pass lined with ghostly dead trees. We then traveled along the Seven Lakes Route, part of Route 40 - one of most fabled and scenic roads in Argentina.

Our cycling journey on the Carretera Austral ended where most people begin, in northern Patagonia. Riding among the glacier-topped mountains and tranquil river valleys, we were reminded of the landscape’s darker side - natural disasters that recently wreaked havoc on isolated towns. We enjoyed cozy cabins that offered refuge between rainforest camps within pristine national parks. While ferries helped us continue our journey whenever the road ended at the edge of a deep river or fjord. And along the way we crossed paths with other cyclists from around the world, gaining inspiration from their stories and dreams of future adventures.

As a steady downpour soaked us and our gear, we quickly learned a truth about the Carretera Austral - the western side of the southern Andes is all about rain. We rode through landscapes reflecting the abundance of water with shimmering lakes, rushing rivers, rainforest-covered hills, and thickets of moss, fuchsia flowers, and ferns. The terrain also was more demanding, as we cycled over three of the highest passes along the Carretera Austral. Along the way it was the many small pleasures, like a crackling fire, a pile of fresh, ripe cherries or a roadside meet-up with friends that created fond, lasting memories.

As we cycled northward through Patagonia, there was one road we knew we must ride - the alluring Carretera Austral (‘Southern Highway’ in English). Although the road was ‘completed’ in 2003, much of it remains unpaved, linking tiny villages that still feel rustic and remote. We entered the Carretera Austral from Tortél, a picturesque village on stilts by the sea. Along the way we were surrounded by Andean peaks swathed in snow and ice, which wrung moisture out of the clouds that nourished the temperate rainforests growing thick on the mountain slopes.

As we sailed across the Strait of Magellan, we left Tierra del Fuego behind. But we still had a lot of Patagonia ahead of us. After a quiet Christmas in the City of Red Roofs, we cycled back onto the Patagonian pampas - encountering some of the hemisphere’s biggest birds, and fields bursting with the pinks, yellows and purples of flowers in bloom. Then three days on stormy seas among the fjords of southern Chile brought us to a tiny town in a steep-sided cove, with no regular streets or sidewalks. Instead there were five miles of boardwalks, and the main part of town lay at the top of 20 flights of wooden stairs.

We departed Medellín in the company of a couple of hundred other cyclists, all climbing a big mountain on a Sunday just for fun. The descent brought us into Colombia’s coffee heartland, but we still had to cycle up and over the Central Andes. We climbed up to a picturesque mountain town, and then over the 11,083 ft (3,378 m) Alto de La Línea pass - one of the highest in the country - where forests of wax palms (Colombia’s national tree) grow among the clouds. From there we dropped back down to the Music Capital of Colombia, and spent a couple of weeks enjoying the Colombian National Folk Festival, where groups from all over the country come to celebrate their cultural heritage.

Our ascent into the Andes Mountains began gently, as we cycled upstream along one of Colombia’s biggest rivers. But soon enough we were climbing out of the valley, and discovered just how formidable the Andes can be. After several days of cycling through a deep canyon flowing with waterfalls, forests shrouded in clouds, and high mountain pastures, we had gained 9,000 ft (2,745 m) in elevation. From there we plunged into Medellín in a single, long and grueling day - where a rest in The City of Eternal Spring rejuvenated us for the road ahead.