May 23, 2017
The final push to the city we planned to meet our friends.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Yuracmarca, Ancash, Peru
Destination: Huaraz, Ancash, Peru
52.76 km trip, 5:29 time, 44.4 km/h maximum speed, 9.6 km/h average speed
1676 meters climbed, 820 meters descended, highest elevation 2285 meters
Route Description:
You start the day in Yuracmarca at 1400 meters and descend for 3K down to 1250 meters near the river. After 12K you reach the town of Huallanca with 7 hostels and stores and restaurants. Then you start the steep climb into the Canon del pato. The beginning is quite steep and then it’s just a gradual climb. You ride through a series of 35 tunnels which is pretty fun and the road is mostly paved with some gravel sections that obviously need some repair. Once you clear the last tunnel you continue your gradual climb through some farming type landscape. Traffic picks up as you get closer to the city of Caraz. More paved road and a few punchy climbs. We came into Caraz and immediately went to the bus station to inquire on the cost of a bus to Huarez as we heard the road is very busy with traffic. We took a collectivo with bikes and bags and two people for 36 soles into Huarez.
Accommodations:
If you decide to stay in Caraz we heard there is a warm showers host. We took the bus to Huarez and stayed at Jo’s Hostal as we had friends there. A private room with private bath is 50 soles. Or you can pitch your tent for 12 soles. There is a shared kitchen area and lots of gringos. The 50 sole room we stayed in is beautiful!
What happened…
Andrew writes: After the last two days of canyon-riding, the much talked about “Cañon del Pato” was a little bit underwhelming. Plus, we’re creeping closer and closer to civilization so the road was really busy. There is only enough room in each of the 35 tunnels for one vehicle (and maybe a bicycle) and there were a few times where cars had to stop and back up to figure out who had the right of way.
We met some other cyclists, Colin and Matteo, from Italy, just after lunch today. Just taking a few months off life to cycle from Colombia to Lima. Lima seems to be a pretty popular spot to start or end a bike tour.
I was ready to have a “real” hotel experience today, and get out of these piss-poor towns that dot the Peruvian landscape, so when we pulled into Caraz I made a beeline for the bus station to find out about getting a lift to Huaraz. At 90 minutes it was a little bit longer than I thought it would be, but when we added up the 6-seats that our bikes and equipment took up, and multiplied it by the price per passenger of 6 soles, we were happy to learn that we didn’t pay a gringo tax. Now we have a few days before Nici and Philip arrive from Patagonia, and then we’ll be off on an adventure together!
Amanda writes: Today’s ride was a journey through Canon del Pato which is a well known route for cycle tourists and all tourist actually. It is another canyon that runs along a river and this one includes over 35 tunnels carved into the side of the mountain. It was the only way to get a road through here. When we began the day we rolled through the town of Huallanca which is where there is a water dam and energy plant that was built in 1913. It was interesting to see the housing development for workers of the dam. It really stood out next to the homes of other people. The dam workers had tennis courts, palm trees a swimming pool and homes that looked very western with windows and doors and driveways. It all just seemed really out of place.
The canyon with the tunnels was interesting and pretty yet still not as amazing as the canyon from a couple of days ago; at least not for me. The road was a continuous gradual climb and quite tiring. Once you finish the tunnels we ended up in some pretty plain landscape headed toward the big city of Caraz and Huarez. We stopped for lunch and met some Italian cyclists and it was such a pleasure to chat with Matteo and Colin. They are cycling in South America with some other friends and their sense of humour was great. We hope to see them down the road again. We continued into Caraz making pretty good time and Andrew just went directly to the bus station.
We had heard that the road from Caraz to Huarez is very busy and potentially dangerous. It didn’t take too much convincing for me to hop on a bus once Andrew was done his negotiations. And just like that we arrived in Huarez 1.5 hours later and checked into a hostel. I was really looking forward to some rest. We technically haven’t had a full rest day off the bikes in 15 days and we’re due!