5th Olympic Expedition – continuation BC 2021 & 2022

from the Iguazú Falls to Tokyo

Route day by day | Conditions of participation

maps: South America, Hawaii, Japan

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites on our route – here.

After a long lockdown Argentina as well as other neighbour countries are opening borders for tourists. It is a good time to continue the 5^th BC Olympic expedition “From Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo” suspended at Foz do Iguaçu in April 2020. We decided to split sections of the Olympic route by time. 

• Section 2 – “From Iguazú Falls to Salta” from November 14 to December 14, 2021.
  An astounding natural wander – the Iguazú Falls – is surrounded by the Brazil and Argentina National Parks. We will visit both of them. After Iguazú Falls we will enter Paraguay, and cycling the rolling terrain of Paranena region will arrive to the capital city of Asunción. From here we will take a two-day trip on a cargo boat up the Paraguay River – “big mirror of waters” in the native Guaraní language. It will bring us to the sparsely populated plains of Chaco. Cycling here we will have an opportunity to meet people of Mennonites colonies and indigenous communities. After crossing Chaco, we will find ourselves in the pleasant streets of Bolivian town Villamontes at the Andean foothills. Going south we will reach Salta, the northwest province of Argentina, surrounded by mountains, valleys and vineyards, and its beautiful colonial town called Salta la Linda (“Salta the Pretty”) with imprint of Spanish and Andean cultures.

• Section 3 – „From Salta to Valparaiso (Santiago de Chile)” will be shifted to February / March 2022.
  This part of the route through South America will go parallel to the Andes joining the longest National Route of Argentina – Ruta 40, stretching from Bolivian border in the North to Patagonia in the South. Spectacular valleys, stunning gorges, impressive colours of rock walls will rejoice us all the way. We will have a chance to see the highest peak of South America – Aconcagua 6962 m – before crossing the Andes at the Paso Internacional Los Libertadores and cycling down to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. We will finish the continental part of Olympic ride at the Jewel of Pacific – Valparaiso – the Seaport and the World Heritage city.

• Section 4 – “Around the Big Island (Hawaii)” is postponed to undefined time.

• Sections 5 & 6 – “Hokkaido and Honsiu (Japan)” are shifted to 2022, July 9 – August 21.
  Hokkaido is the second largest island of Japan. In 2012 Olympic expedition we have cycled to Tokyo from the South, this time our route will join the north end of Japan with Tokyo. Hokkaido is called the cycling heaven of Japan. Rolling green hills and farmlands, winding seaside roads, unspoiled national parks with mysterious lakes, volcanoes, and natural hot springs (onsens). We will start cycling from the northernmost city of Japan – Wakkanai and will head at first to the easternmost Nemuro City. Cycling through the Shiretoko Pass and the Cape Nosapu we will take a close look to the southern Kuril Islands – Northern Territory to Japan, occupied by Russia. Further our route will go west crossing the island and visiting the Olympic town of Sapporo. The route in Hokkaido will end at the charming port city of Hakodate from where we will take a ferry across Tsugaru Strait to the largest island of Japan – Honshu.
  The route in Honshu we mostly prepared following the recommendations of the Japan Cycling Navigator. We will cycle through scenic Tohoku region from North to South while entering Tokyo area. This region suffered by the earthquake and tsunami causing Fukushima nuclear accident on March 11, 2011. We will complete the ride in Tokyo.

Join us for a month, a week, a day or for a whole route! See you on the road!

Ride coordinators:
Sigitas Kučas (Lithuania), bc2020@bicycle.lt, +370 686 59 375
Maryla Zielińska (Poland), bc2021@bicycle.pl, +48 663 266 553