So close ... yet
An Easier Day

May 16, 2017

Some tears were shed today even from mother nature and she poured with rain for about a half hour.


What happened…

Andrew writes: Well, we set off with the best of intentions to climb up out of Huamachuco, and ascend to 4200m (our highest ever!) before dropping back down a little bit lower by arriving in Cachicadan. If it weren’t for a pesky rain shower delaying us underneath the eaves of a house, we might have made it. As it was, we finished the climb just as the rain started and by the time it stopped and we had changed into dry clothes, we only had enough time to find a spot to wild-camp, somewhere along the road to one of the nearby mines.

I will say though, that as most of today was back on a real road (asphalt) I really enjoyed the ride, even if it was a ton of uphill. In fact, it only got unenjoyable when we went off-road to find a wildcamp spot; nice views though.


Amanda writes: Today was a tough one. Not just because of the climbing but the mental game caught up with me. I was unclear on the route today and Andrew mentioned a couple of times a different route. I never clearly understand him and I thought he was trying to propose a new route. With that I was a bit irritated and then the skies opened and I couldn’t find my rain gear quick enough. I remember when we were packing up our panniers in Cajamarca while preparing to ride again I said ‘I’m sure it will take a while to get back into the groove with our things’. Boy was I right. By the time we managed to find our rain gear we were soaked and freezing. We were at our highest elevation to date and the rain was like hail/snow/rain. Then I ended up taking a wrong turn because I didn’t see Andrew behind a car and he had actually turned a different way. So I’m bombing down a hill the wrong way. He finally catches me and we decide to try and find cover. We do and in the process I get a flat tire. Fortunately the rain stopped and it gave us a chance to put dry clothes on, change my tire and then climb back up the hill I took on the wrong turn. The whole process took over an hour and again we were closing in on sun down.

So we headed down the correct road which was not paved but not actually in that bad of shape. We tried to descend to at least below 4000 meters so we didn’t run into any problems sleeping at high elevation. We found a flat spot and set up camp just as the sun was setting. In the end it worked out fine, just a few extra wet clothes. I think we’ve come a long way because while that one hour sucked, we were able to put it behind us and enjoy the rest of the ride and sunset. I also give Andrew full marks today as we was pretty patient through the whole process as I shed a few tears of frustration.


Today’s Photographs

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So close ... yet
An Easier Day