Category: Bike Tour

Our tree- and mountain-shaded campsite at 12,500 ft. was down to 40°F by bedtime, and 32°F when we woke this morning. “Warm” enough that our water didn’t freeze! The light traffic on the gravel “National Highway” dropped to nearly nothing overnight, so it was easy to sleep, even on our not-entirely-flat tent floor (the mattress…

We took a wander around town looking for a place for breakfast, and settled on a option around the corner. There was one group inside (who surprisingly seemed like tourists as well), but then a lot of other people dropped in, so apparently we picked the right place. No menu, so a bit of guesswork…

By normal standards, today’s ride would be very short, with more downhill than uphill. But we’ve never encountered roads as slowing as Peru’s, and it would take us more than two hours of pedaling time at the very slow average speed of 6.5mph to go from town to town. Chacas and San Luis are just…

Our successful traversal of one high pass in the Peruvian Andes did a lot to quell my fears about our ability to ride through this challenging country. But up next would be something even more-challenging: an ascent to (and descent from) another high pass, but this time on a terrible gravel road, rather than smooth…

Our world-class campsite felt entirely our own (a small but not-inconsequential contributor to its world-class status), so it was rather surprising when a vehicle drove up the the gravel road in the 5am blackness, stopped 30 feet from our tent, and several people spent 20+ minutes talking, laughing, and rummaging about. Eventually the people moved…