Mendoza is a city of trees. Walk or ride any of its wide avenues and you will pass under rows of old plane trees, fed by narrow irrigation channels called acequias, a system that the indigenous Huarpe people started long before the Spanish arrived. The reason is the desert: Mendoza gets very little rain, and every green leaf here exists because snowmelt from the Andes is carried down in channels and spread across the plain. It is a city of nearly nine hundred thousand people in the greater area, set against a wall of mountains that, on a clear winter morning, includes the white shoulder of Aconcagua far to the west.
An earthquake in 1861 flattened most of the colonial town, and the planners who rebuilt it did so with wide streets and open plazas so that people could flee into the open next time. That gives the centre a spacious, calm feeling, with Plaza Independencia as its heart, and cafes spilling onto the pavement under the shade. For a rider arriving on a loaded bike, the traffic is orderly by South American standards, though buses, taxis and drivers who ignore their indicators call for alertness.
The ride from here is a wine ride. Malbec is the grape that made the region famous, and the vineyards of Luján de Cuyo, Maipú and the higher Uco Valley produce some of the best. The roads between the bodegas are flat and straight, lined with poplars, with the Andes on the horizon, and the mood is more of a gentle roll than a hard ride. Many bodegas offer tastings and lunch by appointment, and as a rider you will want to take that slowly, or just buy a bottle for later.
Ruta 7 leads west toward the mountains and eventually to the Chilean border via Uspallata, a spectacular road that climbs to the Cristo Redentor tunnel region and the foot of Aconcagua. In winter, snow can close the border crossing for days.
Fuel is plentiful in the city and along the main roads, and the choice of food is excellent, from empanadas to long beef grills. Summer is hot and dry, so start early. Autumn, with the vines turning red and gold, is the finest time of year to be here.