Three Argentines biked 11,000 miles through 17 countries — encountering terrorism in Colombia and altitude sickness in Bolivia — in an epic trip to watch their beloved national team defend its World Cup title.
Vicente Conculini, 29, told The Post that his friend Miguel Silio, 56, suggested that they cycled to the US to follow the Argentina team which captured soccer’s top prize four years ago in Qatar.
“Well, Miguel has already been to two previous World Cups by bicycle — he rode from Madrid to Russia and from Madrid to Qatar — and now he’s successfully completing a third one,” Conculini said on Friday. “So, the idea comes from that crazy guy.”
Courtesy of Vicente Conculin
Conculini, Silio and Yomandu Martínez, 49, packed up their summer and winter clothing and hit the road in their hometown of Gualeguaychú, near the Uruguay border, on Aug. 16. Eight and a half months later, on May 1, they crossed into Laredo, Texas.
Then came a pit stop in San Antonio, where Argentine basketball hero and Spurs legend Manu Ginobili hosted them at an NBA Western Conference semifinals game. They finally arrived June 3 in Kansas City, Mo., where the defending world soccer champions are training.
“I think the whole journey has been beautiful — with its challenges, the wonderful people we met, and the scenery — but arriving feels like completing a major nine-and-a-half- month chapter, spanning 17 countries and 17,000 kilometers,” said Conculini, who quit his hotel job in The Netherlands to make the trip.
“I believe the moment of arrival is the best part of the trip — not because it’s ending, but because we actually accomplished it.”
Conculini basked in the joy of cruising with his friends through many cities and countries, especially Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico, and documenting the trip on their Instagram account, @enbiciandoalmundo.
However, the trio encountered adversity in Bolivia, due to the high-altitude conditions, and in western Paraguay, where they spent 24 hours without drinking water as Conculini contemplated returning home.
“The next day, there was just one moment when I asked myself what I was doing there on that trip,” he recalled. “I think that might have been the worst day of the trip.”
While in Colombia, a local suggested they were better off spending the night there after a bomb-laden truck exploded just 12 miles from the restaurant they were dining at.
Conculini and his friends had no luck buying tickets for the Argentina games via the FIFA ticket site. “A lot of people want to see Argentina right now because of (soccer legend Lionel) Messi and the way the team plays — and they aren’t Argentine — so we have to fight to get those tickets,” he said.
They attended the Kansas City Unity Cup, a soccer tournament for adults, held May 6 in Olathe, Kansas, and not only were they honored for their journey, but were also gifted tickets for Argentina’s opening match against Algeria on June 16.
“To be honest, I wanted to follow Argentina for as many matches as possible — the maximum number — and, well, we’ll do our best to be there and see Argentina go as far as possible, but the truth is that tickets are very expensive,” Conculini said.
The soccer-loving trio is hopeful that they’ll be able to attend Argentina’s matches in Dallas on June 22 and 27, and follow Messi’s crew in the playoff rounds to the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Recent Comments