PowerCycle

03/11 More crazy hills but it was sure worth it. Things started off kind of low key. For the first 90 minutes I just rolled along through some colorful farm land. It almost looked like I was out of the mountains and into some rolling hills but that changed fast. There was a huge downhill into the very scenic town Alausi and then another big climb right back up again. Went from over 11000 feet to 8000 in no time. Broke my speed record when I hit 47 mph.

Once I got up to the top of the climb past Alausi the scenery was incredible. The valley is probably once of the most dramatic I’ve seen on my trip. Huge hills on both sides and visibility was excellent so I could see forever.

My knees are getting a little sore from all this climbing. I’ve been averaging a bit over 4700 feet per day over the last 3 days and I can feel it. 2 more days and I should be heading downhill and then it’ll be flat for a while. I’ll also get a 6 month stamp on my passport for Peru which means I can take a day off if I need it.

Chunchi is a million times more visually appealing than Guamote. This is also the place where Karin and Marten left their bikes when they flew back to The Netherlands. The hotel is the only one in town I think and it was $7. Once I scared out the dozen flies it’s not so bad. There’s even (very) hot water courtesy of a sucicide shower. Sure beats the $20 rip off from last night. If the stupid dogs would stop barking it would be perfect.

GPX track