PowerCycle

03/12 Canar quickly went from being one of my least favorite towns to one of my favorite. Things started off bad because I didn’t think the hill leading into town would ever end. Then I stopped at 2 different hostels and no one answered the door. Finally I broke down and asked someone where there was another hostel and he pointed me up yet another hill.

I ended up at the Hostel Ingapirca for $7 a night. The bathroom is shared but it had hot water so whatever. The town is at 10,225 feet so hot water was a necessity. The only bad things are the elephants staying in the room above me, the door to the room is as high as my chin (no head smashes yet) and there’s a stupid yappy little dog that barks too much. If a day went by when a dog didn’t annoy me it would be a miracle. Everything I needed was within a block of the place (beer, bank, pharmacy, bakery and an internet cafe). The best part, and what makes it a favorite, was a pizza place right next to the plaza. The food was delicious and they had some wicked ice cream desserts.

My knee is fine again. Not sure why I wait so long before raising the seat up an inch. Its not like this hasn’t happened a half dozen other times.

Perfect weather again which provided more amazing views. The ride to get here was tough; turned into a 5,800 foot day. There were a few places to camp along the way but no hotels or anything until a few miles before here. Saw the biggest beetle I’ve ever seen before. At least I think it was a beetle. It kept trying to charge at me while I was taking a picture of it.

The road was fine except for the stretch after Zhud. They had construction going on which meant gravel, no shoulder and crazy drivers that don’t slow down for anything (they’ll honk at you which is really smart since it just distracts me). This went on for a couple miles. On one section the right side of the road was very narrow and unpaved with loose gravel on pretty steep climb. The other side was paved so I just rode up that which worked out well since there was plenty of room for oncoming cars to get by.

GPX track

Riding high above the clouds.

The killer beetle.

I thought the Nazca lines were in Peru!