May 9, 2017
After our longest break off the bikes yet, we loaded up and headed out on the road again.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Cajamarca, Cajamarca, Peru
Destination: Jesus, Cajamarca, Peru
29 km trip, 2:32 time, 49.5 km/h maximum speed, 11.3 km/h average speed
319 meters elevation gain, 489 meters descended, highest elevation 2756 meters
Route Description:
We left Cajamarca and went on the main road to Jesus. It is paved with no shoulder and traffic is very courteous. It’s a short ride to Jesus of 29 km and very little if any elevation gain. As a matter of fact you go downhill a bit. Upon arriving in Jesus we kept going along the road which becomes dirt and rocks. We ended up taking a wrong turn and went an extra out and back worth 12 km. With that being said don’t follow our GPX tracks for this day beyond Jesus. Fortunately we realized our error and only ended up doing a recoverable amount.
Accommodations:
We ended up staying at Hospedaje Esmeralda. Not our worst ever. Certainly very simple with no wifi and inexpensive at 20 soles for both of us. It had a private bathroom with a hot shower. It’s on Jr. Grau 517 in Jesus.
What happened…
Amanda writes: Today was a big day for us. Back on the bikes for the first time in 6 months! Nothing like just diving in head first. So the last time we were off the bikes for an extended period we started in Cuba which is flat. Peru is anything but flat. Peru is described by some cyclists as the most difficult riding in the world. Knowing all this I think we were mentally prepared but our bodies sure let us know how they felt. Many times while cycling you come across men working on the road. As a female cyclist I’m a bit of a novelty for these men. Not only am I on a bike, I’m white! So men typically stop what they’re doing and stare. I used to think that my ability to ride past them was pure determination and pride. Today I learned it also includes some strength. Strength I clearly don’t have anymore. I was cycling in a pretty rough steep stretch of road that the men were working on and I gave it all I had to pedal past them. My legs just couldn’t do it and I ended up stopping right in front of them completely out of breath so I couldn’t even come up with something witty to say. Oh well, guess I’ve got some muscles to get back.
Oh ya, we took a wrong turn too. Ended up going the wrong way for 6 kilometres which as an out and back means 12K. And as that 6K was uphill it means we didn’t get very far. Oh well, let’s hope we got the wrong turn out of the way.