Biking in Buenos Aires, where the lines on the street (including the double yellow) seem to be more of a suggestion than a traffic regulation, seems insane. However, when I sent out an email to see who would like to bike, I was surprised to see that most of the tour group wanted to do it, so I signed myself up, too! I am SO glad that I did! For me, it was the high point of this trip.
I booked a private tour, as the youngest in our group will not see 40 again, and most of our group was 65-75. That way, we did not have to keep up with a group of younger people. This turned out to be a good idea, as we managed to do about 2/3 of the originally planned tour. It was really hot and sunny, and we chose to go a bit slower and take a bit more time at each stop.
Biking Buenos Aires is a great company to work with: enthusiastic, young bikers who love Buenos Aires and want you to love it, too. Their location in San Telmo is only a few blocks from where I used to stay in the neighborhood. They made sure that we were provisioned with water during the entire trip, had sun screen in case we did not, and included a lunch stop at a great food cart AND a lesson making and drinking mate!
Anna, our local guide, and Megan, our American guide, worked really well together. I was amazed at how much Megan has learned about the history of Buenos Aires and Argentina! We learned about the beginnings of Buenos Aires, colonial history, the background of La Boca, Peronism, the dictatorships, the Desaparecidos, modern economic history, development of the city--even I learned some new things, and I studied Buenos Aires and tango for my M.A. in anthropology!
