Day 5

Today was a fairly low key day relative to the past few days of riding. Our goal for the day was to get to the other side of the major city of Ayucucho on the main ‘3S’ route that runs through this part of Peru. We also had a few errands we wanted to take care of in Ayucucho. Neither of us was particularly looking forward to the prospect of making our way in and around the city, but there was no avoiding it. 

Roughly 30 miles south of Ayucucho we picked up a single lane paved road that would deliver us to the city. The road started out nicely, winding it’s way through the countryside with occasional villages, but as we got closer the road condition went from bad to worse (large potholes together with entire sections of pavement missing altogether replaced by rough mud and dirt), and by the time we reached Ayucucho we’d seen just about everything. Perhaps not surprisingly, we found the drivers to be quite a bit more aggressive. At the same time, as we made our way, we encountered dogs (lots of dogs), pigs, chickens, cattle, kids walking home from school, construction crews… you name it. I’ll spare you further details, but the experience served as a reminder that not all of Peru is as pristine as what we’d seen in the days prior. Ultimately, we made it just fine… had lunch in Ayucucho… completed half our errands… and were on our way. 

Once we got ourselves north of Ayucucho, we resumed the ride on a beautifully paved single lane road up and over another 13,000+ foot pass and into a river valley on the other side. Aside from more incredible riding, what was most notable was the dramatic change in the landscape from lush green to arid. The hillsides were covered with cactus and Yucca plants and lots of exposed rock and sandstone. Hopefully you’ll get a sense from the pictures, but in any case, the change was pretty remarkable. 

Yet again, we underestimated the distance we needed to cover. Our original goal had been to make it to the city of Lircay, but we ended up 2 hours short and, at that, we were on the bikes until 6:30 (which meant that we found ourselves riding in the dark for the last 45 minutes or so… something we would prefer to avoid moving forward). Again, another reminder of just how much time it takes to cover distances in the mountains here. As you’ve witnessed in the “Relive” video’s, there are no straight lines here and so, what is 20 miles as the crow flies, turns into 40 or 50 miles of riding on narrow winding single lane dirt or paved roads, which at an average speed of 25-30 MPH translates to 1.5-2 hours of riding. As it is, we were fortunate to find a small hospidaje in the small town of Secila where we gladly paid the 20 sole (roughly $5) for a room.

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