Finally we begin bike touring in Peru! Eva of course stopped by to see us off as we were loading up the bikes, and for the first time I think she really understood this crazy thing that we’ve been doing for nearly four years. It was also very satisfying to have a 15-minute conversation entirely… Read more…

Our stay in Huaraz has now exceeded a month, which is more than twice as long as we originally intended. And while I won’t say that we’re glad that Rett’s bike crash forced us to stay here longer, we’re at least glad that this was the place where we spent that extra time. It’s really… Read more…

Day 26: Laguna 531 We’ve ascended to glacial lakes in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountain range by a couple of different methods: group tours (Paron, 69) and completely-independent bike-and-hike (Churup). Our fourth (and likely final) ascent, to Laguna 513, was a bit different. For some reason, there is no high-volume infrastructure for funneling tourists to Laguna… Read more…

Days 14-21 A few days after Rett’s crash, we needed to move out of Eva/Nancy’s aptly-named “Cozy House” AirBNB, because someone else had the temerity to book it for three nights. To allow for the changeover/cleaning process between when we returned, we booked a week at another AirBNB. It was a a few blocks closer… Read more…

I often lament, facetiously, that other bike tourers are far better at collecting “stories” than we are. The best of those stories span a wide dynamic range, usually involving risk or danger, but then also rescue and humanity. Due to our risk-tolerance being lower than average, few of our stories would draw the interest of… Read more…

Day 11 All the exhilaration and anguish that our lifestyle can bring was compressed into this one very long day. It began with a repeat of our ride from five days ago, up 2400 feet on paved PE-14A to Pitec, and the trailhead to Laguna Churup. The ride was just as excellent, and in a… Read more…