Gringo de Bike
Aug 8, 2017 · 5 min read

Pirituba

The idea behind this trip was to check out the progress on the construction of the final part of Rodoanel Mario Covas (Rodoanel Norte); the giant freeway which, when finished, will completely encircle all of greater São Paulo. I had read some reports saying that it would be completed this year and others saying 2018. You can see a lot of the construction from the fairly recent Google satellite shots but I wanted to get up there and have a look, following a route that would take me through some parts I hadn’t yet seen.

I started the ride with my “fastest way out of SP” to the north. This route takes a fairly direct route from where I live, crossing a pedestrian overpass near Água Branca Station, then over the river Tietê. From there you can jump on the Bandeirantes freeway and go north. You certainly couldn’t get to Bandeirantes this quickly using motorised transport. For this ride I planned to return on Bandeirantes and so I stayed on Avenida General Edgar Facó to head north and to check out the cycle paths on the avenue.

Cycle Paths on Avenida General Edgar Facó

As with most cycle paths in SP, they weren’t in the greatest condition but did the job in terms of keeping you out of the traffic and even offered some welcome shade for some fairly pleasant cycling.

Strewn garbage was to become a bit of a theme for this adventure…

I continued north into Brasilândia, another notoriously ‘dangerous’ area and then headed north west through Vila Yara. Here I got a little bit lost and was surprised to come across the starting point of a bus route than runs past my place, the 917M-10. I stopped to photograph my beautiful surroundings…

Once back on track I found myself on the steepest hill…ever!

Photos never show grade properly but believe me, it’s steep!
Looking back down the climb with SP in the distance

So, I pedalled as hard as I could but eventually had to admit defeat and start ‘the walk of shame’…

The road ran along side a large area of forest and as I was walking, I spotted a hole in the dividing wall and couldn’t resist a having a look.

Hole in the wall on the right. More garbage.

Beyond the pile of garbage there was a series of tracks. I didn’t have time today but I’d love to come back and have a look. Certainly some potential urban stealth camping there. Here’s the hole in the wall on street view.

Ready for the final push through Jardim Paulistano.

Finally the hill topped out and I entered Jardim Paulistano; a very poor looking area. I stopped at a shop for a drink and psyched up for a fast ride through the dodgy area to the Mario Covas construction site.

In no time I was there… Check out the excellent 360 degree photo sphere here. I was impressed with the size of the project and this was only a small part of it. Unfortunately for cyclists there will be seven tunnels in this stretch of Mario Covas so we won’t be able to ride the whole section but I look forward to planning routes around them.

Some dodgy phone shots of the construction. You can see the mouth of one of the seven tunnels on the right.
The hillside they are eating up to build the freeway.

From here it was a short ride to the beginning of the completed Mario Covas. I took a quick breather on the on ramp and set off towards Bandeirantes.

It’s always nice to put the ear plugs in and set off on the smooth, wide shoulder of Mario Covas after a long ride on the inevitably shitty road surfaces of suburban SP. Soon I was gliding off Mario Covas and sailing on to Bandeirantes heading home.

Mario Covas intersecting with Bandeirantes
Cruising down Bandeirantes

Anyone who has entered SP from the north on Bandeirantes will know that when you hit area known as the ‘marginal’, where the Tietê and Pinheiros rivers converge, you can either stay in the left lanes to go to Marginal Tietê or right for Pinheiros. I want the Tietê lanes so I have to cross 2 lanes to get to the shoulder on the overpass. Luckily this is at the bottom of a fairly decent descent. I’ve done this a number of times and have been lucky to find breaks in the traffic to get across. If there were no breaks you’d have to lose your momentum, stop and wait. Not the end of the world.

Crossing back over Tietê.

The Tietê overpass spits you out onto the ‘marginal’. Up to ten lanes of traffic with absolutely no shoulder with speeds ranging from 50–90km/h. Not where you want to be on a bike. Fortunately the traffic is almost always congested and you can cross from where the overpass enters to the edge without too much drama. Once off the marginal I put my head down and followed my ‘fastest way out of SP’ route back home. A really nice ride in all further expanding my knowledge of the enormous São Paulo.

Slipping off ‘Marginal Tietê’

Gringo de Bike

Written by

Paul is an Australian who lives in São Paulo with a passion for cycling. Cycling São Paulo chronicles his adventures around the megapolis.

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