Andes Trail Stage 9 of 109 Oña to Loja, Day 13 of 142

98 km, 2,014m, 5:34, 71.8 kph max

Where	Distance	Dirt km	Climb
South America	1,007	39	16,256
Andes Trail	725	30	12,543

When I woke up a bit after 6 am, I sure didn’t think this would be the best day of the tour yet. I was feeling slow and tired even though I got over eight hours of quality sleep (unlike those on the other side of the building that faced the town – the music went on until 4 am). Breakfast was so-so, just muesli and yogurt and hot chocolate for me.

The 1 km downhill warmup when we started at 8:09 am didn’t help and then a long 800m ascent started. Rob and Wytze passed early on (Wytze’s advice to me was “GET IT!”). I kept cranking and did catch up with Rob eventually. We rode together a while then it started raining. We did part of the descent together too, both with shit-eating grins going fast. But right at the bottom, a 700m climb started. Lunch was supposed to be a little ways up in a village but no sign of the truck so we kept climbing, raining on and off.

Finally near the top we pulled over and lunch was setup at a restaurant. It was great because:

• We got to eat inside, in front of a nice warm wood fire.
• I discovered there was Peanut Butter! Take some of the big crackers, smear thickly with PB, then embed as many roasted almonds as can fit. Repeat until done (after eating some power burritos). That is a Power Lunch.
• When we started up again there was only 100m or so to climb.

It started raining soon after I started up again and the descent was challenging – the rain drops felt like needles on the exposed parts of my face. I couldn’t feel anything on my legs. Around km 58, it all got better. We turned off the Pan-American Highway onto an unmarked dirt road which is a genius move from Rob: this road cuts off about 12 km and saves something like 500m of climbing to Loja! Also it’s got little traffic and is SUPER scenic, and IT’S DIRT for 30 km! It was still raining and somewhat muddy but that did not detract. The mud was actually packed by vehicle tires in a great way – it was very secure and you could go fast.

It was mostly down, and I got a ways out in front then stopped for photos and the rest of the guys caught up. But Chris had another flat. A little piece of glass had wedged in his tire – Wytze found it and that should be the end of those flats for him. We continued down, the rain stopped and it was just awesome. Eventually we did some climbing and the road dried out and we ended up going up a river rather than down which seemed strange. A few full-sized buses passed by which also seemed strange. There were giant puddles, lots of animals and people by the side. I saw everyone else had a trail of mud up their bum and back but when I looked at my jacket it was clean. Ass-savers for the win!

We ended up doing the last 10 km of the dirt plus the final 9 km through town in a group of five, nicely spinning fast and made it to the hotel at 3:15. We have a great triple room with Martin with a beautiful shower. We did laundry then went down for soup and it was the thickest and best yet. I’m really loving having four meals a day. Martin came in a bit later super enthused – he also had had a fantastic day. I think we are all glad tomorrow’s another rest day though!

About ten of us went out for dinner and relearned how hard that is on Sunday night in Ecuador. Google said that just about every restaurant was closed, but we walked seven blocks to the one that it said wasn’t and it was. We finally found the one place open in town, a ice cream shop that also made hamburgers and pizzas. I think they were a bit overwhelmed when we all walked in. My first question was “¿Tienes cervezas?” The answer was “¡No!” but that didn’t stop us. We had Jens and he found 3 one liter bottles plus about eight more of the smaller 625 ml ones. So we had plenty of beer while we waited and eventually all had dinner. Mora ice cream cones or tiramisu for dessert – great for about $6 per person. It turned out to be a fun ending to a fabulous day. Now it’s time for sleep. 100 stages to go!

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38821863869

Andes Trail Stage 8 of 109 Cuenca to Oña, Day 12 of 142

106.9 km, 1,683m climbing, 5:24, 66.9 kph max

Our rest day yesterday in Cuenca was really nice after seven straight days of cycling. Breakfast was surprisingly good for just a hotel breakfast, then I did two hours of Garmin loading. Many people needed the recently received courses for Peru and Bolivia put on their Garmins and some still needed the detailed maps. It was interesting seeing so many different models but in the end all but one were updated and the one just needed another factory reset and it was good too. Andrew and I walked downtown to the Cathedral which was quite cool. There’s a good view from “the Terraces”, about 100 stairs up. We looked around more, then did some shopping on the way back to the hotel. I bought a duffel bag for simpler packing and clothespins and toilet paper. We had lunch at another place recommended by Beau, Café de Ñucallacta, which did not disappoint at all. There were people in there working on laptops so I could really imagine Beau there doing the same last summer.

Andrew went pedal shopping while I hung out at the hotel until it was time to go out for beers. 4 of us headed down to La Compañia. We scored a great table and had nachos and snacks with our beers. The sizes are 500, 650, 750, 1000ml – we went for 500. Andrew and I had the IPA which was supposedly 9.6% – tasty too. Then we walked over to the Bar Far Out Cervezeria German place and we had to try every single beer they had to find one we could stand. We shared a 1.5 liter pitcher of some Golden Ale that was about a 2 out of 10. But the bartender was quite funny and the music was great. Dinner was at the Moliendo Cafe, also recommended by Beau. I had the veggie dinner of the day, $3.50 for rice and a lentil patty and veggies and delicious guava juice. 1/10 the price of the previous night’s dinner. What a nice relaxing rest day!

Finally, I slept soundly for over eight hours! The alarm went off at 6:30 as usual and breakfast was the same and good. We packed up (the new duffel worked great) and left in a giant group at 8:07. We rode through the cobblestone streets for a few km with a couple of motorcycle police officers escorting us ensuring we didn’t have to stop for pesky red lights of which there were about a million. We just kept cruising for over 30 km, mostly together, gently climbing but mostly just nice flat cruising.

Finally the first big hill started and went on for over 10 km, climbing 800m or so. It was a grind, with headwind and rain, and it got colder and colder as we climbed. I had to stop before the top to put on warm gloves, a jacket and warm legs. We were riding through the mist and rain and the descent was quite cold. I don’t usually even say something was cold but this was pretty much “quite cold”. Lunch was a couple hundred meters down, sort of sheltered, and there was much shivering and adding more clothes. It was great to power up and it felt good to be off the bike for a little while. I took off with Wim, expecting more downhill, but there was still some up before we got to a viewpoint just over 3,000m and looked down to the bridge we’d soon be crossing almost 1,200m below. The descent wasn’t that great since the winds were strong and I couldn’t get that much speed up. But boy was the temperature increase good! At the bridge we stripped down to normal shorts and short sleeves and fingerless gloves etc. Then we had a 5.6 km climb up 440m which I powered up with Andrew at a perfect and consistent speed (not fast). At the top we had only a few km more to Oña and found the little dirt road that led to our hostals.

Again we didn’t all fit in one place, and this time, we got the crappy one with no bathrooms, no wifi, etc. That’s fair since we have had great luck at the other places. We locked up our bikes and soon were enjoying delicious soup and snacks, listening to Radar Love again, sharing videos, and feeling great to be warm and done with the ride. We invaded the other hostal for showers then hung out on a very nice deck writing and relaxing. Tomorrow’s ride is a little longer with a bit more climbing. Time to get tough!

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38769898791

Andes Trail Stage 7 of 109 Ingapirca to Cuenca, Day 10 of 142

75.8 km, 937m, 3:23, 63.8 max kph

Description	Distance	Climb
South America	802	12,559
Andes Trail	520	8,846

Since it was a short and supposedly easy day today, we had breakfast at 7:30 instead of 7. We coasted down to the breakfast hostal on our bikes and the sun was busy warming the place up. It was SO nice sleeping under a big pile of warm blankets and after a pretty hard ride, I finally slept really well.

Breakfast was the usual minus eggs which was fine with me. We did some washing up – Bike Dreams has a great system for that. Then we cycled back to pack up. We started the stage at 8:30, heading up though Ingapirca, then down a ways on the road to Cuenca. Actually the fun stopped pretty soon. Somewhere around 13 km in, the down of up and down stopped and we had a grind of a climb up to almost 3,600m. The headwind was pretty much constant, strong and cold. There was much rejoicing at the top and most people added a jacket there for the descent.

The descent was pretty amazing. It felt faster than it was but suddenly we had done another 20 km and were down in Biblián, the town for lunch. I even passed a motorcycle. Once we pulled over at the square where lunch was set up it was SO much warmer and nicer. The sun came out and I just stretched out and could’ve stayed a long time. But after a few power burritos, and a sweet granadilla to top it off, it was time to go.

We did the last 28 km to Cuenca in a group of six which reduced to three as time went on. But it was a pretty good ride, generally down, more and more traffic, and then we were riding through town. The hotel was easy to find and we arrived about 1 pm. Soup was hearty and good today with lots of extra snacks. I think every single person (possibly one or two exceptions) is excited to have tomorrow off from biking. I know I am.

It was a relaxing afternoon; some explored the town, but I just hung out. Then it was time for dinner. A few of us walked down the streets, semi-randomly but it seemed that we were not in a restaurant district. Every other type of store was represented but not eating places. We kept going in the direction of a recommendation by my son Beau, Tiestos Cafe Restaurant. We eventually got there and had only seen a couple of other places so went in. It looked upscale as he had warned. But the kitchen was open and looked amazing. Soon the chef introduced himself and asked what we liked. He recommended two courses and said he didn’t really want to cook individual meals – it’s meant to be family style. So we put ourselves in his hands and what a good move that was! Wow, best meal on the trip so far, even including Midori in Puerto Ayora! Each of the two courses had two parts plus a ton of side dishes, toppings, salads, etc. The first course was fish in orange sauce complemented by eggplant with blue cheese sauce. The second course was giant langostinos and beef in tomato sauce (surf and turf, Mar y Tierra in the menu). It did cost a bit but was so worth it. Thanks Beau from all four of us!

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38666865708

Andes Trail Stage 6 of 109 Chunchi to Ingapirca, Day 9 of 142

69 km, 1,969m, 4:45, 70.98 kph max

After a lousy sleep again, things started looking up at breakfast. Delicious fresh-baked rolls and the usual, plus both jugo de piña and jugo de mora. We finally left at 8 am, and as soon as I sat on my bike and started pedaling, everything fell into place. Yesterday was great but the first 30 km of this ride was almost magical. All the wind had stopped and we just rode up and down and along with beautiful scenery and friendly people all along. A few people had trouble with dogs but I was lucky.

Lunch was at 40 km after 1,000m of climbing in a nice spot, sheltered from the wind. We had an amazing fruit:

• Rob: Try this fruit.
• Nathan: What’s it called?
• Rob: Delicious

Turns out it’s Sweet Granadilla, and it is great! Later on this exchange was heard:

• Person 1: It’s really good but the inside looks like sperm.
• Person 2 (Martin): Oh, well then we’ll have to see if she spits or swallows.

After lunch we had 30 more km, mostly up (we ended up 800m higher than we started today), and the wind did not relent. Lots of headwind, sometimes sidewind, somewhat cold, although we were working so hard I stayed in shorts and short sleeves. Some of the grades were over 10% and the last part to Ingapirca was steeper.

It was great to arrive, actually quite early around 1:40 for me, before 1:00 for the hot shots who skipped lunch. We sat in the sun and then unloaded the cooking stuff from the truck. Eventually we rode 500m over to the second hostal where a few of us are staying. That extra may have put the actual climb today at 2,000m. Andrew and I are stuck with Martin tonight but it turns out, the rooms are large and just excellent and have nice showers etc. Before showering and laundry we got cervezas grandes from the restaurant below and enjoyed our veranda.

Later we walked back for soup and snacks, then headed over to see the famous Ingapirca Inca ruins. It’s the most significant and biggest and best preserved Inca site in Ecuador and was really worth a visit. I had wanted to see the famous large stones perfectly put together with no mortar since I was a kid. Sure enough, it’s for real.

Dinner was a first for the tour: a Bike Dreams dinner, cooked in the other hostal. We walked over and it was quite fun. Pollo a la Ingapirca with rice in vegetable soup (without the pollo for me) with local herbs and infinite cilantro. Red wine, lots of seconds, and a delicious fruit with whipped cream dessert. Rob gave a nice briefing for the easier ride to Cuenca tomorrow plus the rest day there the day after. Carol got the llama for all the troubles she had at the beginning with her bike etc. We got back to our palace before 8:30 and it’s time for sleep early tonight!

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38620527663

Andes Trail Stage 5 of 109 Alausi to Chunchi, Day 8 of 142

35.3 km, 740m, 1:54, 77.9 kph max

For the first time since starting riding I didn’t sleep well but being awake at 4 am gave me a chance to get on the internet and write up yesterday’s ride. I tried to get back to sleep at 5:30 but there were weird sounds of water in the hotel. Soon I heard loud drips and it turned out our ceiling was leaking massively, right onto all my clothes and gear. Once that was moved I slept a little more.

Breakfast was an hour late due to the easy ride today. We had breakfast and the briefing outdoors in perfect temp, at 8 am. We left around 9, with a short but steep climb back up to the through road. We basically just took that road for 35 km, up and down, through a couple of villages, to Chunchi. It was pretty windy, sometimes tail wind, sometimes headwind and sometimes the one I hate the most, the dreaded side wind. Most of the descents were too scary or headwindy to go fast. Kees hit 79 on the one I hit just under 78. I stopped for photos many times and it was a nice easy ride.

Since we finished so early, 11:20, it took a while to get a room etc. The group was split into two hotels, the “main” one being older. Andrew and I got a big comfortable 3 person room with Kees in the new hotel. We had a couch, two windows and everything. As we were all showering etc, I procured 3 one liter beers from a shop next door so it was a party in room 22-04. Then we went to the roof of the other hotel for a combined lunch/post-ride soup. It was really pleasant and seems like everyone liked the ride today although a couple of people are still sick and not riding.

Like Alausi, Chunchi feels like it’s up in the mountains; the people look tough and strong, and many of them are very short. We saw a well dressed local woman yesterday who couldn’t’ve been more than 1.30m.

After lunch we had a look around downtown – there’s a beautiful square with a fountain in the middle that seems to be for public bathing. One very large guy was taking a bath with soap and no one seemed to care at all. We checked out some restaurants and decided to not sign up for the group dinner – and take our chances out on the town. We had some drinks (yummy grande jugo de naranja) and relaxed on our half-rest day.

Later on, four of us, quite the international crowd representing UK, Australia, Holland and USA, had a nice dinner downtown. At first it looked a little grim for me when the lady said they only have beef and chicken, but then said she had a single fish she could fry up. It was good and the other guys had beef churrasco, a giant meal with rice, fries, two eggs and avocado over lots of beef. And lots of beer, then dessert – have to carbo load for tomorrow’s big ride!

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38561614576

Andes Trail Stage 4 of 109 Riobamba to Alausi, day 7 of 142

89 km, 1,537m, 4:23, max 93.0 kph

We started off as usual at 8 am after a good breakfast. It was partly cloudy and warm enough to ride with just shorts and short sleeves. This stage started with flat and rolling for a while so I was warmed up before the hills came. Our maps said that there would be over 2,100m of climbing, so we were all ready for a harder day. The first climb was over 500m, about km 6-20 but it was pretty mellow and the road was uncrowded and much more rural and pleasant than the previous days. It felt like we were finally out in the country.

Then a nice fast 80 kph descent and the long climb of the day started around 30 km. A number of people got dropped off here to do a shorter day. This was a long climb, almost 40 km, but mostly gentle, with some flat and small downhills mixed in. We pulled over for lunch just before 50, the usual, except I had two power burritos plus a sandwich in anticipation of the remaining 1,300+m of climbing. Again I let the fast guys disappear and ended up on the summit around 3,400m with Andrew and Jan. There was a pretty strong tailwind (sometimes sidewind) for this part. We stopped in a bus stop in the somewhat desolate little “town” for food and a seat adjustment for me.

Then the big descent to Alausi! The first half was great, pretty decent pavement, going over 90 kph for a good bit. One scary time was when a large dog came running out into the highway right at me, but I was gone so fast he had no time to attack. Then there was a last 200m climb, the steepest so far, and I learned that the Edge 530 has a gradient steeper than red: purple. The tailwind pushed pieces of trash up the road faster than I could ride! The riding was really scenic – now we’re finally in the Andes.

The second half was steeper and the road wasn’t quite as good and the wind got squirrely due to the canyons and rocks we were riding by. The road snaked down and then a big turn into Alausi. It was a little confusing but finally Jan and Lambert and I got to the end of the GPS track, nowhere near downtown, with no sign of a hotel or the trucks. I pulled out my phone and put “Hotel Europa” into OpenStreetMaps and voila, one block over, four blocks down, one block over. This gave us the confidence to commit to going down. Apps like OsmAnd (OpenStreetMaps) or Maps.me really make navigating easier.

We pulled into the hotel around 1:45 which had been billed as a very basic hostal (“you’ll get a bed, shower and anything else is a bonus”) but in reality was really quite nice. Andrew and I got a room with a shower, even nicer than the day before. The internet worked and soon soup and bread was on. No one minded skipping out on 600m of climbing for the day!

The downtown part of town looked really great so we went out for beers. But first we spied a giant statue on the hill nearby. We voted and the group decided to climb up first, beers later. Martin was the dissenter. 185 steps later we were up at the San Pedro de Alausi Mirador, a beautiful viewpoint. The city is surrounded by mountains in all directions. It was sunny and gorgeous and we talked to the guys flying their kite with about 1,000m of string out. They kept having panics when the wind dropped and the kite looked like it would crash on the other side of town.

Then it was time for beers and we found the regular plus artisanal at a friendly sidewalk cafe. The sun set early so we walked back and on the way went into a restaurant for an early dinner. There were five then seven of us and I guess it took about two hours even though we were the only customers. But the food was pretty good and we really had a great time. After that we read for a while and settled down without setting the alarm. Half day tomorrow means breakfast an hour later at 8 am!

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38516323871

Andes Trail Stage 3 of 109 Latacunga to Riobamba, Day 6 of 142

102.4 km, 1,708m, 5:12, max 79.6 kph

Today’s stage started out under cloudy skies, with cool temps and a wet road. We left Latacunga in a big group and cruised nicely along together. Just before 40 km, there was a great 70 kph downhill, but abruptly after that the big climb for the day started. We climbed from 2,400m to over 3,600m and there were some downhill sections so the net climbed was more. About 10 km into this we stopped for lunch. The crew had found a great place with cover from the rain, bathrooms – everything!

Lunch was about the same as yesterday, a power burrito with tuna and cheese and veggies, plus more stuff, gumdrops for the win. Soon it was time to continue on. A bunch of us started together but I didn’t want to push it so let the speedsters disappear slowly. I just kept going and being entertained by my Edge 530 and how it splits the day into climbs automatically, for each one telling you how many more meters and km you have, where you are on a plot showing grade, etc. Red=harder, orange=not so hard, green=easy. This distracted me enough until I hit climb #4 of 6 which it told me was 438m over 8 km. I counted that down too and after a short climb #5 I was up at 3,600m. I was riding with Jan and Andrew and we blasted down the other side. My speedo registered 79.6 but then some wind hit and I couldn’t break 80.

We stopped for a rest after most of the downhill, now getting close to Riobamba. There was one more short climb, then more descent into town. Riobamba is much bigger than I thought, over 150,000 people. It was really fun riding through the traffic in town, with people staring at us from the cars.

All the vehicles were pretty friendly today. The only issue is dogs. First it was dead ones. Yesterday at lunch someone asked about the many they saw. I didn’t notice any. But right after lunch, sure enough, there was one in the ditch. And a very live dog was vigorously eating what looked like his brain. First you think “Poor dogs, hard life, etc”. But then after they start attacking you while riding, once in a pack of five, you probably think something else, I know I do. It’s scary and they are hard to out-sprint. I nearly cramped both legs today escaping a couple of really mean ones.

We followed the GPS track to the hotel and soon were showering and doing laundry. The best part was the soup and snacks afterward. Yum. What a great way to end a long ride. I noticed we finished at 2:20 pm, the same time as yesterday and the day before for me. I wore my jacket for all but 30 km to lunch today – the weather was “cool” all day, which I like. I also like how no one is complaining – everyone on the tour is tough and competent. It’s hard to imagine that we get to do this type of thing 106 more times to get to Ushuaia, but I guess it’s true. First quarter of the first 1,000 km is DONE!

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38467023472

Andes Trail Stage 2 of 109 Quito to Latacunga, Day 5 of 142

97.9 km, 1,326m, 5:05, 81.6 kph max

Our first “full” stage started with a good breakfast at 7 am, then departure from the Ambassador Hotel a bit after 8 am. It was exactly a week after I had tried testing this route and only made it something like 6 km to a big crazy intersection and then the climb out of town was un-doable – stopped trucks, buses and cars solid everywhere.

This time it was better and we rode in groups and did the climb fine. That first climb is over 400m but not too steep. Then we had rolling and downhill, 81.6 kph max, on the route I had seen last Sunday. It was raining a little but not bad. We stopped at a gas station to inhale more food then headed on. After a while the second, bigger, climb started, but a few km into that we pulled off for lunch at the half-way point.

The crew prepared a great lunch, with a big circle of chairs for everyone to sit. Burritos, more stuff and gum drops! I think I stayed about 30 minutes and left at 11:30. The climb continued for a long way but now the headwind really kicked in so it was not easy or fun. It was scenic though. We had a few more drops of rain but the temperature was nice – I wore shorts and short sleeves all day and had to reapply sunscreen a couple of times.

Finally the descent to Latacunga came at about the two thirds mark. It was much easier and nicer although the headwind made speeds slow (mostly under 70). Then it was just a matter of cranking out another 20 km or so, all into the wind, but slightly downhill. We ended up at almost exactly the altitude we started with – about 2,800m. I didn’t notice it being harder to breathe climbing at 3,500m – it was hard all the time. For the last few km I got to tuck in and draft behind Rob and Luccho which was great. So much easier and faster. We found the hotel and I was really surprised how nice it was. Our room is great but what was really cool was the snack provided by Bike Dreams, soup, bread and other stuff. We had excellent showers, did laundry and had hours to relax before dinner. Seems like a great life so far. How will I feel after two more days a little harder than this one?

My goal: ride the next stage. Long term goal: make it to Cuenca for the rest day (five more stages, 376 km, 7,637m climbing). Extreme long term goal: make it to Peru (five more stages after Cuenca).

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38415076810

Andes Trail Stage 1 of 109 Quito to Mitad del Mundo to Quito, Day 4 of 142

51.3 km, 629m, 2:35, 60.8 kph max

Where	Distance	Climb
South America	333	4,362
Andes Trail	51	629

It was great fun as everyone arrived here and the hotel filled up more and more with cyclists. On the 30th, I just took it easy, met a lot of people and did shopping. On the 31st, I went for a short ride with my roommate Andrew from Perth, Australia. It was quite different riding in brilliant sunshine and we had a good time. On the 1st of August I was a little sick and nearly took antibiotics but it turned out to be short term and I was fine by dinner. I bought more over the counter antibiotics – nice to not need a prescription. We had a great tour orientation in the late afternoon. One highlight of the day was that Carol finally succeeded in extracting her bike from Customs where it had sat for over a week. She estimates it cost her about $1,500 in fees, taxis etc but the stress and pain was more than that. Do NOT mail your bike to yourself in Ecuador! Bring it with you as baggage.

The second of August was the first riding stage and the 4th official day of the tour. We had an enhanced breakfast (the normal hotel breakfast plus Bike Dreams extras like muesli and yogurt etc). Just after 9, we headed out in a giant group, all decked out in our excellent Andes Trail 2019 jerseys.

We rode 25 km to the Mitad del Mundo complex as I had done a week before. During the ride I kept getting overwhelmed by how cool the moment was. It caused me to just break out laughing/crying in the middle of riding. I’ve been waiting three years for this MOMENT and now it’s here! And the weather is perfect with everyone having a fantastic time. It turned out to be way more fun and less stressful to ride with people in dealing with the traffic. In no time we were there.

We had an hour to look around, climb through the nine floors of museum in the Equator monument, take pictures etc. Then our first Bike Dreams lunch, great food, sitting in a little gazebo in the shade. After lunch we had photos and the official starting ceremony with words from our fearless leader Rob and then the “gun shot” – he blew up a tube with the microphone right next to it!

Then we were on our own to ride back to the hotel. I started out alone but rode more with a fast group and we went non-stop, arriving at 2:20. On the flat part we were joined by a guy who had ridden solo from Medellín, Columbia. He was going to ride to Santiago over the next nine months, taking it real easy and seeing as much as possible. All in all this was a perfect introduction to the Andes Trail and I am looking forward to a harder day tomorrow!

Here are my photos and videos from the ride.

Here is the GPS data visualized with some photos.

https://www.relive.cc/view/gh38364179737