MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

A group of 16 Brits touring Magallanes on bicycles

This week sixteen British adventurers who have chosen bicycles for sport and pleasure will be arriving in the extreme south of Chile for a sixteen days tour of the Magallanes region including Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine national park, reports Punta Arenas La Prensa Austral.

The group with an "average age of 55 and extremely fit", reports the local press is led by Peter Kroft an experienced two wheels traveler who is on his one hundredth cycling adventure and chose Chilean Patagonia for such an extraordinary event. The group of sixteen Brits which also includes ladies has contracted the Punta Arenas agency Patagonia Antártica for guidance and logistics. According to La Prensa Austral the organization of the adventure involved almost twelve months with a detailed agenda of lodging, special food for the cyclists together with a support truck and bus, both to carry the bicycles when problems emerge or if one of the group becomes exhausted and needs a short recovery. "The idea is not only the sport but really getting to know the places we visit and learn from the locals and the wildlife", said a member of the group. The Magallanes itinerary includes Fort Bulnes, sightseeing to the south of Punta Arenas, then north to Puerto Natales, Serrano river, Blue lagoon, crossing the Grey lake and finally part of Torres del Paine. With the exception of the water crossings, the leg between Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales is entirely scheduled on the bikes.