May 14, 2017
Another hard day with even more climbing.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Cajabamba, Cajamarca, Peru
Destination: just outside Huamachuco, Cajamarca, Peru
42.14 km trip, 5:57 time, 36.8 km/h maximum speed, 7 km/h average speed
1381 meters climbed, 989 meters descended, highest elevation 3098 meters
Route Description:
The first part of the day is paved and has a slight incline. There is a nice shoulder and the road condition is good. Most people continue on the paved road and visit the Laguna and travel about 10 km more to get to Huamachuco. We decided to try the road less travelled that included about 100 meters more of climbing and 10 kilometres less. Overall it was a good decision. Once you leave the paved highway you descend on gravel/mud road to the town of Macrabal. There were a few restaurants and the towns people were really nice. We were even offered a room to stay for the night from a nice woman. Instead we decided to keep cycling. The road was still mud/gravel but rideable. You climb for a little bit out of town and then drop down to the river before climbing back up on the other side. Overall again not too bad and really nice and remote. We ended up falling short of the city of Huamachuco simply because the sun had set and we ended up camping a mere 5 kilometres out of town. The next day we finished the climb into town.
Accommodations:
We wild camped the first night just outside of town just about 1km past the ruins. Then the next day when we finished the ride into town we stayed at El Gran Pachacutec right on the plaza for 40 soles per night. Great big room with hot water that overlooked the plaza with a balcony. The wifi sucked ass but I think that was all the people from the school next door using the internet. We heard after we left that there is a better place for cyclists to stay at Hotel Mama Wasi. The hosts Roberto and Loti will host you there some times for free as cyclists.
What happened…
Andrew writes: We had two choices today, take the “long way” which would have been all the way on Hwy PE3N, or hop off the road and take some backroads which would save us time, energy, and elevation gain….except it didn’t. We encountered a gorge with a dozen switchbacks on either side, and this took awhile to get down and up again. In the good news column, I was able to load up the Yankees-Royals baseball game on the cell phone and we listed to the Yankees win. Ain’t it strange? Here we are in the mountains of Peru and we’re able to listen to baseball. Perhaps the days only saving grace.
Any day that ends in tears must have a good story to it, right? I dunno, I think it’s just been really hard these past few days, and tensions are running high. Once again, we found ourselves at the limit of our endurance, with dusk approaching and nowhere to camp. We were so close to the city of Huamachuco that I wanted to push on, but Amanda stood firm. Then both of our air mattresses blew up! Argh!
In the morning we checked out the nearby ruins, and then headed into Huamachuco itself. There we stayed in a beautiful hotel right on the Plaza des Armas, thanks to the recommendation of fellow cyclists, Mike and Linda Stuart (Gone4aRide). Even though we rode a short distance, it really felt like a rest day.
Amanda writes: Today’s ride was fun. We went through the town of Shitabamba which I wasn’t expecting to because we were going to head in a different direction than most cyclists. It’s a common town name to take pictures of simply because of the unfortunate name. We then descended into a little town which was really hopping with activity. It was Mother’s Day so I think a lot of the festivities were related to that. We had a nice lunch and then the proprietor wanted to take our picture. I’m never sure if it’s because we’re white or because of the bikes. In any event they were really excited to have us as customers. After lunch we continued riding and it was proving to be harder than I had hoped. As we were approaching the town near sunset I told Andrew I didn’t want to get stuck in a big town after dark riding around.
We had a good battle about this and in the end we camped just outside town; literally like 2.5K. In hindsight we could have made it in the time we were arguing but I didn’t want to risk it again. So we set up camp in the bushes and to add insult to the situation both of air mattresses popped! Shit! Not just because they now have a big bulging baffle in them but because it is so hard to get anything imported into Peru so the likelihood of getting them replaced is not very good. In any event we had a good sleep all things considered and then woke up the next day, checked out some lame inca ruins and then headed into town for a hotel.