PowerCycle

05/31 Another crazy climb out of the way. This one ranked up there as one of the harder ones thanks to lot’s of steep, loose stone sections. It also got pretty hot and shade was rare. Hit over 100F during lunch time. I hate to jinx anything but it sure is nice feeling 100% healthy and having the bike running perfectly.

Staying at a fancy place in Yanama. It’s called Andes Lodge Peru. The room was S50 a night but I guess I can spoil myself every once in a while. The shower is fantastic! Best one in a loooong time. They dropped this town right next to some very beautiful snow-capped mountains that I pedaled closer and closer to all day. Looking forward to riding across. The plan is to stay here tomorrow and try to get some pictures uploaded. It’s nice having wifi but it sure is slow.

GPX track

05/30 I love Peru. It’s like the people knew when I’d be finished riding for the day and built up a town at just the right spot so I’d have a place to sleep. Camping is still a difficult proposition. There are almost no spots along the road to put up the tent and be hidden from view.

Kind of an easy 9 mile ride back up from the river but the road is still beating me up a little. I dread the downhills more than anything. Just imagine sitting on a jackhammer for 7 hours. It’s kind of like that. Nice views of the range all day. Hardly a cloud in the sky all day. Looking forward to getting into the park and seeing the good stuff.

Staying in a decent room with 2 beds for S10. Cold shower only. It’s in the same building as the restaurant. There’s a big hostel but I think it’s just overflow for this place.

GPX track

05/29 Well, with the help of Karin and Marten, who are on the other side of the mountain range (and who have fast internet access and a grasp of Spanish that I lack), its been determined that my dreams of seeing “the most beautiful mountain in the world” have been shattered. The only route across this part of the range is via a trekking path more suited to travel via donkey. I just can’t get into the idea of doing this whole trekking thing for some reason so that option is out. I like being on my bike and even though I used to do plenty of hiking I’d miss sailing along down the bumpy roads. Hiking with just a guide or with someone else I don’t know for days isn’t too appealing either.

Looks like I’ll be heading south to the town of Yanama where I’ll make a crossing on a dirt road (that I know exists). I don’t want to miss the Cañón del Pato so I’ll be riding back up that way which means for at least two days I’ll have to ride the same section of road twice. I’m still glad I got to see the infrequently traveled east side of the Cordillera Blanca range. From Corongo on this has been one of my favorite parts of Peru.

Pomabamba has been a great place to hang out for a couple days. The market was today which brought in all the women from up in the highlands to sell things. It still amazes me how ornately dressed some of them are and how much the styles change throughout Peru. The people in the local bakery and at the fine grilled chicken place Mikey’s are sure going to miss me. The lady at the internet cafe isn’t going to. I kept bugging her to print maps for me. There’s even a bike shop a block off the plaza that had a plastic bottle cage since the only metal one I was using just snapped.

I have to give some props to Koolstop brake pads. The ones I’ve had on the back were just replaced after 2000 miles. These weren’t easy miles either. I’ve chewed through generic brand ones in 2 weeks when I’ve have to use those. I’ll be grabbing a couple more sets in Florida when I go back.

05/27 Today turned out to be unexpectedly long. My trusty map showed the distance to Pomabamba to be 55 km. It was actually 68 km. Those extra 8 miles normally wouldn’t have been a problem except the road was in rough shape and it was raining almost all day. The temperature was in the high 40′s for most of the climb up to the pass at 12,420 feet. The cold wind quickly forced me to stop and change out of my wet clothes and into something dry–not something I’ve had to do at the side of the road before. There was also supposed to be a village at the half way point called Palo Seco but I never saw it. Only one village all day which worked out great because I got there at lunch time and they served some great chicken. It was a couple miles after the bridge.

Had it not been for a couple vehicles that came by when they did I don’t know where I would have ended up tonight. Twice today the road I was on intersected with another road and I had no idea which way to go. If you are heading along this route go left at the first junction and right at the second. Why they can’t put up a sign is beyond me. I stood in the rain at the first junction for 10 minutes because I didn’t know which way to go. The way I was thinking about going would have been wrong so I’m glad I waited. Having to ride unnecessary miles on this road is something I’d like to avoid.

After the pass, and where you make the right, the road descends all the way to Pomabamba (25 km or so). It just takes forever to get here because the road is so bad. I ended up arriving 1/2 hour after the sun had gone down. Riding down the mountain road with my headlamp illuminating the way was kind of fun but it killed my depth perception so I went over a couple unmarked speedbumps faster than my ass appreciated.

Once I got into town a helpful guy in a car guided me to the central plaza and I went looking for a hotel. It seems that there’s only one place in town with hot showers and it was full so I’ll try to head over tomorrow morning and see if something has opened up. I’m in Hostel Pomabamba tonight. Cold showers only.

This weather kind of messed up my plans a bit. I’m not going to ride across this mountain range to see the “most beautiful mountain in the world” if visibility is limited to 100 feet. Hopefully I can get out of here Sunday. Tomorrow can be a rest day to check out the much more touristy town than I expected.

Update: this hospedaje I switched to is so much better than Hostel Pomabamba. It’s less money (S20 vs S25), the room is much, much nicer, there’s a hot shower and I have a room with two beds. It’s called Las Begonias. The only bad thing is that the walls are paper thin so if your neighbors get frisky you’ll hear all about it. No rain today. Keeping my fingers crossed for a Sunday departure.

GPX track