01/29 Long day but I’m pretty happy that I made it to Latacunga if only because I wanted to make sure I could still ride 50 miles in the mountains. :) The weather broke this morning and I had a great view of the crater lake. Yesterday was a wet one– rain all day so we just hung out in the hostel next to the fireplace.

Today was cloudy and when I crossed over the 13,000 feet mark the wind knocked at least 15 degrees off the already chilly 60 F. No rain which was a treat. Nothing broke either. New altitude record of 13,182 feet.

The road from Quilotoa to Latacunga was paved all the way and the climbs, although very long, were not very steep. Had a pack of 5 dogs come running after me including one very big St. Bernard.

Staying in the Hostel Tiana for $15 (I had to get a double and they charged me an extra $5 for it). The city seems pretty big but I’ll have to check it out tomorrow. Need a beer now. The backpacker couple that stayed at the hostel in Quilotoa just showed up here. Small world. K&M might have stopped outside town because they wanted to check out the market in on of the towns. We’re thinking about either taking a bus back to Tumbaco or hiring a truck. Maybe Sunday we get back there but more likely Monday. Zdenek emailed me and said my frame hasn’t arrived yet.

Here’s a GPS track (GPX format) for the entire Quilotoa Loop .

Elevation Profile
GPX track

Life at 13,000 feet.
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I was in the pink one.
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Mood:Good Weather:Cloudy/Cold
Wind:Brisk Wind Direction:Headwind
Avg Speed:9.8 mph (15.8 km/h) Top Speed:35.5 mph (57.1 km/h)
Avg Grade:3% Max Grade:12%
Total Ascent:2971 ft (905.6 m) Max Elevation:13182 ft (4017.9 m)
Distance:49.45 mi (79.6 km) Total Distance:17305 mi (27849.7 km)
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Leg 3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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