Day 2

Great day! Day 2 was our first full day and we had a great time. Incredible riding throughout the day. Windy paved roads and a long extended stretch on dirt. In the end we only covered 185KM (135 or so miles), but given the roads we were on that was plenty. We started at 9:00 in sunshine and ended at 4:00 in a downpour. From a directional standpoint we made our way north a bit and then ran pretty much due west. 

The first 2/3rds of the day was on pavement and the final 1/3rd was on dirt. From Urubamba, we rode along a river for an hour or so before we started climbing. Ultimately we crested at just over 14,000 feet by 11:00 or so, (You’ll get a sense of the road when you look at the photograph I took looking back as we neared the top). After cresting we descended in the fog and rain and bottomed out at about 5,000 feet before we gradually made our way back up to just under 10,000 feet (see video below that traces the last 1/3rd of our route). Throughout the day we remained in the area settled by the Inca’s and we saw signs for several ruins along the way. Ok, so we didn’t actually stop at any of them, but that’s beside the point. We’re here to RIDE, not see a bunch of ancient ruins (Fact is that Claudio is not much for historical sites and I know I’m going to get my chance after we finish our ride when I’m joined by Nancy and my kids for 10 days in Cusco and when we visit Machu Picchu). Point being though that we’re still within the broad orbit of Cusco and Machu Picchu and we saw our fair share of tour vans and gringos. Starting tomorrow that’s going to change as we make our way further north.

The overriding impression from today is just how ‘steep’ the mountains are here. Hopefully, you’ll get a sense of it from the photo’s, but they don’t really do it justice. The roads really tell the story. You either find yourself climbing or dropping on a series of switchbacks or you’re in a valley running along the contour of the mountainside at various heights above a raging river. The other overriding impression is how wet it is in this region. Other than the first hour or so, we rode through a series of showers (and occasional downpours) throughout the day, and you get the sense that that’s pretty much how it is here throughout the year. It never seems to rain for long, but it is constant throughout the day.

That’s where I’ll leave it for today. Tomorrow we head due south to the town of Andahuaylas (don’t even try…) and then we’ll head northwest towards the major city of Ayacucho.