A Dream Come True in Peru

Beach Days

Now that we had successfully smuggled Yuca into Peru, the stressful part was over and it was time to relax on the beach for a few days.

I had heard mostly bad things about the Peruvian coast. It is known to be a boring and hot desert full of trash and the first few hours of driving through proved that to be very true.

Few cyclists had traveled it and all advised against it. I wasn’t planning to bike any, only enjoy a few days with Aidan in a nice beach town and then take a bus to the mountains.

Between all the dust and trash, there were a few nice places along the coast. We arrived in Mancora, a small touristy town with a beautiful beach. The landscape was very reminiscent of Baja California, which we both shared a deep appreciation for.

Little Yuca got to enjoy her first time on the beach. Being Aidan’s dog, she was going to spend a lot of time near beaches and water, so she needed to learn to love the water. Her first meeting with the ocean didn’t go well and she was terrified of the water, but I can say now from the future, that she has become obsessed with water and enjoys swimming in the ocean.

I enjoyed a few relaxing days with Aidan in Mancora. We both had some editing and writing to do and after we would go out for some beers and ceviche, which is from Peru.

As nice as the beach was, I was desperate to get to the mountains. A common problem for cyclists in Peru is overstaying the 90 day visa. The country is too big with too many things to do in only 90 days. At least the penalty for overstaying is paying $1 per day. I imagine I will be overstaying for at least a few weeks.

I said my goodbyes to Aidan and Yuca, a bit somber as we became very good friends during our time together and I enjoyed spending time with him. Such good friends at least, that I knew we would see each other again.

Back in the Saddle

I bussed to the city of Cajamarca, the starting city for a popular bikepacking route that will take me to the start of the Peru Great Divide. Cajamarca was a beautiful city, but right when I was about to start riding I came down with a light case of food poisoning and had to delay a few more days.

Leaving Cajamarca, I had a short ride through a valley before it was time to start climbing into the mountains.

In the last town before climbing into the mountains, I tried some chocho for the first time. Chocho is a type of bean that is commonly grown here in the high Andes. It is described online as a “superfood”, but here, it is very common and easy to find, usually served with onion, tomato, and a splash of lime juice. A refreshing maracuya slushie washed it down.

From the town, I knew I had about a 1100m (3600ft) climb to a laguna where I was planning to camp. In the back of my head, I was worried that my knee pain would come back again after a big climb. It seems to come when I haven’t been riding in a while and then try to ride very hard.

To my surprise, the road I was climbing was just amazing. The gravel was smooth and the gradient was very low, around 6%, which made for very steady and easy pedaling. I had been scared from Central America, where roads can easily be greater than 14% and I end up having to push my bike up the hill.

I was feeling pretty good, a bit better than I expected. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, and I was riding through some tranquil farmlands.

As I got higher and higher, the views got better and better, and my strength was getting lower and lower. I was over 2/3rds of the way to the end, but I was going slower and taking more breaks.

As I got to the final 5km, I could do nothing but walk. I tried to pedal but my legs would refuse. This was the first time in a long time that I had to prepare food and water for all day and night. Through Central America and Colombia, there was somewhere to get snacks and drinks at most every hour. I had forgotten what I needed and I had not brought enough water or snacks to keep my body fueled for this ride and it was showing. I was lucky enough to find a house that had some snacks and drinks to sell and keep myself going.

I finally arrived at the Laguna and practically collapsed, my body refusing to go further. I felt awful, I hated feeling this weak. I was finally in Peru, where I had dreamed of being for so long, but I was lacking the strength to bike.

It was only the first day, I told myself. I would get stronger.

I had set up my tent and laid down for a while, letting my body recover. I noticed the sun was setting and found some strength to go on a short hike to get a better view. As soon as the sunset came into view, I felt a massive change in myself. I remembered why I was out here, why I was pushing my body to the limits. The sunset was fantastically beautiful and it filled me with energy.

I had mentally struggled through Central America and Colombia, wanting to be somewhere else, wanting to be in a remote wilderness, high in the mountains. Finally, for the first time in a long time, as I was sitting watching the sunset, I felt like I was where I was meant to be. I finally felt motivated and inspired again.

I lay in my tent, looking at my map with excitement. I now no longer see how much further I need to go, but I see all the places I want to see. After some planning, I catch some sleep.

Having climbed so much yesterday, I would get to enjoy a lot of descending today. This turned out to be a blessing, as unfortunately, my knee pain came back. Somehow, it wasn’t as bad as it had been before and I was able to push on.

I rode through tons of tiny farming villages all day. People were always friendly and would smile and wave at me as I went by.

One of the tiendas I stopped at had the cutest little puppy. The owner was worried I was going to take the puppy because I was so enamored with the little thing. I was missing Yuca quite a bit, and the idea of traveling with a puppy almost sounded enticing, but it was something I could not do.

I continued to descend on the wonderful Peruvian gravel roads. I had to hike every time there was a climb as I didn’t want to hurt my knee more than it was. I think I ended up hiking nearly 10km that day. I was already feeling stronger than the day before and pushed on.

My Knee!

I arrived in a small mountain town and stayed in a hotel to let my knee recover better. I tried to not let it upset me, but it was tough. All I wanted to do was ride my bike and I was dealing with this knee pain that I could not figure out. I was worried it would get worse when I had to get back to climbing.

The next day I finished the descent to a valley before a big climb up to Cajabamba. It was a busy highway and not wanting to upset my knee more, I decided to hitch a ride. I got very lucky and the first car I tried stopped and picked me up. It was a very kind local who was a big motorcycle tourist and we talked the whole ride about traveling Peru.

I spent two days here, trying to focus on stretching and exercising my knee. It was a a lovely little town so I didn’t mind it at all.

With my knee still feeling a bit stiff and sore, and the route to the next town being more main highway riding, I took a bus to give my knee even more rest.

In Huamachuco, I stayed at a casa de ciclista, a place where cyclists can stay for free. I stayed here for two days as well because I knew from here I wanted badly to be back on the bicycle.

While here, I roamed through the market one day. It was quite overwhelming but even more entrancing. The amount of fruits, vegetables, and other stuff is impressive and they are displayed so beautifully. There are also so many different types of potatoes, over 4000 in the Andean region of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

The meat section was wild also. I saved you from some of the gruesome photos, as it is normal to have every part of the animals on display here. There were entire pigs cut open in half, full chickens hanging by the neck, and guts of all animals organized for sale. It’s a bit jarring at first, but I think it is better. We are usually so detached from the animals that our food comes from that it is easy to forget it is in fact from an animal. I also appreciate that every part of the animal is eaten here. I regularly eat soups with some unknown chewy part of an animal in it.

Getting Back Out There

I felt ready to continue again and was excited to, as I heard from some friends ahead of me that this section was incredible.

I realized quickly that the knee pain still wasn’t fully away, but it seemed to be getting better. I could take a break every here and there and then keep riding without much problem. I was still a bit slower, but at least I could ride.

After a long climb, I was starting to get some fantastic views. Compared to the first day, my body was much stronger. It felt good to be at this altitude and able to keep pushing on. The next two days would be spent at 4000m (13000ft), which still seems so wild to me. In the US, there are not many places at this high altitude. I’m an avid snowboarder and it’s rare for ski resorts to even be this high. The highest ski resort in the US is only at 3900m and most are much lower.

I love seeing such long views with absolutely nothing but a road going through it. This was the remote riding I had been craving.

My goal for the day was this lake right behind. It was a rather short day, only 30km, but this was too beautiful of a spot to turn down.

It sure was a picturesque spot to camp, but it wasn’t the best in hindsight. The wind that is common here in the Andes is brutal and it’s more important to find a campsite with wind protection than one that makes a nice photo. I didn’t sleep too well that night, as the wind was loud and kept me up. Next time, I’ll pick a better spot.

While yesterday was sunny and warm, today was cloudy and chilly. The entire day never got over 10deg C (50deg F). This didn’t bother me too much because the views riding were just fantastic as I was riding through this grassy and rocky mountain land all day. Very few cars passed me all day and it felt like I was out here all alone.

It was a slow day, as I was still getting used to the altitude. I felt really good, just didn’t have the same amount of power. I only had a few small climbs today and I knew that after the last one, I would have one very long descent.

I passed through an alpaca farm on the final climb and almost couldn’t believe how many alpacas there were off in the distance. Here in the middle of nowhere, where hundreds of alpacas are all roaming free. I tried to get close and get some good photos, but they were a bit too skittish.

I made it to the final pass, 4330m (14206ft), a new high for me on the bicycle. Ahead of me was a nearly 3500m decent over two days.

Again, the Peruvian gravel road was something out of a dream. It was so smooth and such a steady grade that it felt like I was flying.

I descended for over an hour until I reached a small town with a hotel. After my poor sleep the night before, I wanted a shower and a nice bed.

I have a deep fascination with the common houses here in Peru. They are made almost entirely from clay and wood, and come out so beautiful.

Into the Canyon

After a good night’s rest, it was time to continue my descent.

For a brief section of the road, it was some glorious pavement. One thing I’ve realized in my short time in Peru so far is that almost every road in the mountains of Peru is gravel. While I prefer gravel, a bit of pavement here and there is very welcome.

I reached the bottom of the valley and now I’d be following a road along a river for the next 80km while descending 2000m, which sounded like an absolute dream.

And a dream it was.

Even though it seemed like it would be fast and easy with so much descent, it was pretty bumpy and slow.

It was also slow because I couldn’t stop stopping to take photos and videos.

I had to cross the river twice. This first time was easy as the water didn’t get deep, but the second time was a bit tougher. The second crossing was deeper and I decided to instead take a small, very sketchy bridge a bit further down. The bridge was short but was like a railroad track over a very fast and dangerous part of the river. I had to step very carefully and move my bike slowly across the rail as one wrong move would be bye-bye bicycle.

I always love seeing the landscape change, and the past two days were a really dramatic change. I would be going from 4300m to 500m, the biggest altitude change I’ve ever experienced. It went from green and wet to brown and dry.

I stopped in a small town where I saw there was a tienda for a lunch break. The two young daughters of the owner were very interested in me and asked me tons of questions about what the USA was like. They then shared a lot about their life and listed all the farm animals they had, until they mentioned they had some Cuy. I immediately stopped them and asked if I could see them.

They were sooooo cute but it was sad as well. There must have been nearly 100 in this completely dark shed. As the door opened they tried to all run and hide, as I’m sure that when the door usually opens, it doesn’t mean anything good for them. Ultimately, it is not different or worse than the massive chicken farms we have in the US, where thousands and thousands of chickens are packed tight and farmed for our McDonalds nuggies.

Continuing back on my bike, the rough gravel road turned into pavement. This was about as good as it gets, smooth pavement through a remote and beautiful landscape. I was also relieved because I was starting to worry if I would make it to my goal destination in time before sunset. And with a road like this, it would be much faster and easier.

For a while, I was flying down the paved road. Until the headwind started to get strong. The valley acts as a wind tunnel and it was blowing right into me. It wasn’t awful, but it does suck to have to pedal downhill.

Right as the sun was setting, I pulled into the small town I was hoping to get to. I treated myself to a nice big dinner and a cheap hotel bed for the night.

It had been a long day, but I loved every second of it. It was one of the best days riding and I’ll remember it for a long time. I love the feeling of being out on my bike from sunrise to sunset, making the most of the day, and going as far as I can.

To Caraz

The next day, I needed to get to Caraz which was too far to bike in a day. I would be meeting a special friend in Caraz for a trip around Huascaran National Park on a motorcycle, which I was very excited about. So to get there in time, I hitched a ride with a German couple, Raphiel and Delphine, who were traveling South America in a van. They had also done some bicycling touring and were happy to let me tag along to Caraz.

It was a larger, more trafficked road, but still went through some amazing canyons and desert landscapes.

It was nice traveling with them because they also loved to stop for photos and enjoy the scenery.

We arrived in Caraz and they dropped me off before finding somewhere they could park their van in town to sleep.

I spent two days in Caraz working and getting ready for the motorcycle trip. While I was there, I got to witness the celebration of the Peruvian Independence Day. The celebration was not at all what I had expected. I was expecting lots of fun and partying, but it turned out to be very different. The parade was very authoritarian and more of a display of military strength.

In Closing

I had high expectations of Peru, and Peru had already surpassed them, and I had not even seen a fraction of what Peru had to offer. I was so happy to be excited and motivated to be bicycling again.

But it was time to take a week’s break from the bicycle as someone special was coming to visit me for a trip around the Cordillera Blanca on a motorcycle. Who was this special person? Stay tuned and see, I plan to release that blog in the next few days.

Thanks for reading, see you next time.