Stages 54-57 of 109, days 75-78 of 142

• Stage 54 to La Quiaca, Argentina: 91.5 km, 1,195m climb, 4:05
• Stage 55 to Bushcamp: 119.8 km, 536m climb, 4:33
• Stage 56 to first campground in Argentina: 147.7 km, 404m climb, 5:02, 2 km dirt
• Stage 57 to Salta: 121.6 km, 1,092m climb, 4:37

Our last full day in Bolivia was a rest day in Tupiza. I didn’t feel like doing any touristic things so just did some shopping, bike cleaning and adjusting (tightened headset), and relaxing. In the evening eight of us went out to a fun restaurant right near the hotel – a very simple and nice rest day.

In the morning, we had to walk over to the other hotel to fetch our bikes, then left at 8:30. We rode fast in a group down the canyon, with nice views of the sometimes vertical walls.

After 30 km, Andrew and I let Wytze and Jens drift ahead and continued up the hill to lunch at our own pace. Our awesome lunch truck driver, Wijnand, had found a killer spot, with shade under the trees, next to a stream. We had climbed 600m to over 3,400m but it was pretty warm. After lunch we had 45 km of mostly flat cranking.

Jens had a couple of flats then suddenly we were in the border town of Villazón. We found some money changing places right by the border and converted all our bolivianos into pesos for Argentina. Exiting Bolivia was weird: just pass on through – they didn’t even look at our passports. On the Argentine side, there were a few windows with a few people waiting. It took maybe ten minutes, visa no longer required for US citizens.

From the border we had 1 km to our hotel in the border town of La Quiaca. The hotel seemed pretty nice although the wifi overloaded and died as we all arrived and connected. I shared a “suite” (a normal hotel room) with Michael and it had nice shower. Dinner in Argentina doesn’t start until 8 pm, so I went out and checked out the town – most everything closed and dark. But the supermarket was open so I bought food and beer for a snack.

A little after 7, we went out to look for a restaurant and found one nearby that looked great. Somehow someone let us in and things were looking up: they had eight artisanal beer taps!

The kitchen didn’t open until 8 but we had a great time drinking IPA and eating snacks we brought until then. Dinner was great too although it’s hard when you get up early, ride hard and then don’t finish dinner until 9:30. We had lost an hour as Argentina is four hours off California time so it wasn’t so bad.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vdvmBDQ21xO

Our first full riding day in Argentina started out with a normal breakfast, maybe a little better than in Bolivia. We left the hotel at 9:15 and rode out of town on a straight, flat road.

I forged ahead at first, then was caught by a big, fast pack. We cruised on and on, trading the lead, then lunch came early at about 55 km. It was great though, as Wijnand had found a great covered area for shade.

Then we had another 65 km to go to camp. We had the most disciplined pace line ever: six riders each taking 2 km pulls. That lasted until about 90 km when the hill started and simultaneously the headwinds hit. Wow was it suddenly hard! It was sometime side wind which is sort of worse in a pace line. We applied rule 5 until we got to the top around 100 km, then had 20 km more of pedaling downhill into the wind. Camp was along the road, with plenty of flat space. Here we were still over 3,500m and it was quite windy while setting up and eating dinner. We had the usual Llama ceremony and Jan gave a nice speech then presented me with the Llama.

I now get to carry her for some days until the next ceremony, then I get to present her to someone – for doing something amazing or stupid or painful or whatever I like. We had a campfire after dinner too.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOd3Km7jkv

It rained a couple of times in the night so I left my tent up for the sun to dry during breakfast. We left after 9, with 150 km to go and the headwind already blowing up the valley. The headwind continued the whole day but our saving grace was that we had over 2,000m of descent and only one small climb. We dropped from over 3,500m to under 1,500m. I rode in a group as it was crazy to tackle this on your own.

Lunch was nice around 75 km, then back at it. Somewhere around 90 km all the traffic was backed up – in both directions. We rode down the middle, on the dirt on the right and left – there was no good solution. It got crazier as we passed cars and buses and trucks by the hundreds. I have never seen such a mess.

It went on for several km, then we got to the cause of the problem: a section that was super muddy. It was like there was a 10-20 cm thick layer of liquid mud flowing across the highway. We had to ride the middle here, threading very unsafely between giant buses and trucks and cars. The mud was spraying everywhere. I looked down after we got though to see my shoes were completely covered in red mud.

But we were free and riding along. At about 125 km, we had our hill for the day, pretty small, but it started raining on top. The next 20 km to camp was pretty crazy too: coasting about 45 kph in rain, barely able to see, on a major highway with drivers pissed off from the multi-hour delay due to the mudslide. Somehow we made it down the 600m descent and turned into the campground, still in rain. Soup was ready but I was frozen and had to have a shower first. The facilities were basic but the water was hot. Then food, then I found some of the smartest (and fastest) people had upgraded to cabins. Only about four were available. Michael and Jens were looking for a roommate who doesn’t snore so I volunteered. For about 2,000 pesos total ($33) we had a nice two room suite with a good bathroom. Jens took the money I gave him and bought a dozen beers for 540 pesos – that’s $9 for about 6L of cold beer. We sat on the veranda sipping, reliving the day. Dinner was great fun, indoors, with the rest of our beers and the Bike Dreams red wine. We stayed up afterwards since it was somewhat warm.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDmQyk8Lv

I slept really well and didn’t wake up until 7:15. Just had time to pack before 7:30 breakfast, then we took off just before 9. It was cloudy and cool but luckily no longer raining. We continued down the highway, going fast with Rob and Wytze setting the pace. The road got more and more freeway-like, then we passed a no bikes sign. We took the next exit then the fun began. Rob had a back way into Salta that was excellent! First uphill a bit, into the fog. Actually it was a lot of fog and we hadn’t really ridden like that before. It was super thick but luckily there was very little traffic in either direction. It collected in my beard and eye lashes. Eventually we started a long descent, and at the bottom, around 45 km, the fog lifted. The next road was a toy road – so narrow it was comical. A sign said it was 4m wide! It looked so crazy with a center line painted and signs just like a real road, but 2m per lane! It curved around, up and down, through a gorgeous forest.

Somehow Wijnand had taken the truck on this road (and had a stern talking-to from the local police) so when we got to about 60 km, there was lunch, all set up. It was a special day since from now to Ushuaia, he will be driving the other truck and our new driver will be doing lunch. So he served us some special cookies and cakes along with the normal awesome food and great music. The new guy has some mighty big shoes to fill!

It was still cool and damp when we got back on and then cranked to Salta. It was 60 km, and Wytze declared that it was “Jens Day” so we would go at whatever speed Jens wanted.

It was a fantastic ride, one of the nicest yet, curving along, little traffic, always pretty, never boring. After 100 km I found myself wishing it would last longer. But soon we entered Salta and cruised a bit off route to stay on the autopiste (freeway) as it was faster. Downtown, we decided there was no reason to get to camp early since we would just have to help with the party preparations. So we found a great coffee shop and stayed an hour and a half, amazed at the choices on the menu – like more than ten types of hot chocolate. And churros! It really felt European, I guess like Spain since everyone spoke Spanish. But it could’ve been Italy or wherever. Just so nice!

We cruised the last 4 km to the campsite and set up tents. At 6 pm, the grocery store opened so we bought several liters of beer with snacks, pre-party provisions. At some point we walked over to the party and Rob was cooking up a storm. They had so many kinds of salads and meats and even fish on the barbecue. Along with beer and wine, it was really a celebration. We are losing ten people here in Salta, including two staff, Lucho the mechanic and Henk the non-lunch truck driver. We gain about seven although only a few were already present at the party. Rob and Anneke gave little llamas to each departing rider and introduced Marc from Belgium and our new Dutch mechanic, Ype. It was very unseasonably cold unfortunately. Just a couple of days ago it was 37°C. But at the party I was wearing both jackets and people we huddled around the barbecue pits for warmth. Marc told me the same party in 2016 was very very different – he rode from Quito to Salta then, and is completing the ride to Ushuaia this year. Dessert was had, much talk, but I was really tired and only lasted until 11:30. It was loud and there was lots of light shining on my tent but that didn’t stop me from instantly falling asleep. We have a couple of rest days in Salta now, then we continue south.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vMq5d7r1gQ6

Stages 52-53 of 109, days 72-73 of 142

• Stage 52 to Bushcamp: 100.3 km, 794m climb, 3:50
• Stage 53 to Tupiza: 95.9 km, 1,217m climb, 4:17, 14 km dirt

We had a relaxing rest day in Uyuni after seven consecutive riding days. This day was special as it was day 71, or exactly the mid point of the trip in time. In a few days we’ll have the middle riding stage, and sometime after that we’ll be halfway in distance. A bunch of us walked a couple of km from town to the Train Graveyard, which was interesting but the walk was depressing due to the amount of garbage and general condition of everything.

We had a surprisingly nice lunch in town, relaxed, then a simple dinner at the hotel. Many of us were on AFD (alcohol free day) due to massive overindulgence the night we arrived. You should’ve seen Jens and Bastiaan at breakfast on the rest day. Destroyed.

In the morning, it was beautiful and warmed up quickly. By the time we left about 9:30, it was perfect. We headed out in a big group and quickly got to the paved road to Tupiza. This stage, and the next, had been quite difficult in the past, due to being all dirt, with constant washboard and deep sand in places. In contrast, for nearly the whole of stage 52, we were on pristine pavement, much better than the typical California road.

We were in Butch Cassidy territory, quite close to San Vicente, where he was supposedly buried in 1908. The first part of the ride was pretty much flat and straight cranking. We rode in pacelines, pretty fast, and made it to lunch at 65 km quickly. After lunch it was more interesting, winding up and down through mountains and valleys. We stopped in Atocha for ice cream and coffee. Camp was by the side of the road, just at 100 km, in a gorgeous setting. The wind picked up after we arrived and you had to be careful eating the soup as it blew off the spoon. I took a nap in the afternoon, then by 6, it was much nicer outside.

We had a great dinner, then, for the first time in a long long time, could sit around and chat as the wind had dropped away. It was getting close to full moon and the whole landscape was lit up beautifully. I went to bed after 8 and slept super well. I took some night shots at midnight when I woke up to pee.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vQvxVZ23M96

In the morning, we had a luxurious 8 am breakfast. It was so nice and warm in the sun, with no stress, and most everyone seemed to be happy. Breakfast was the usual, then we took off at 9. This stage had been very difficult in previous years but we just continued up the excellent new road. There was a lot more climbing, especially in the beginning. It was a series of climbs with small descents, and then we were up over 4,200m again – nearly 14,000′. I think it’s the last time on the whole tour.

The air felt great and then we pulled over after 43 km for lunch. There was still more climbing after lunch – and we found that the paving wasn’t really finished. There were a number of 1-5 km unpaved sections, but not bad really. On one downhill I went nearly 50 kph on the dirt. I hit 80 on a paved descent and I think the record for our riders was 87 – I take it easy these days as crashing is not an option. After lunch I passed a few riders but just went at my own pace which was nice.

We had a little snow at the top – I think later riders had more, I just had a few big flakes which felt nice and cool. Then a quick 700m descent and we were down in the land of warm. There were big tall super green willow and cottonwood trees. We hadn’t seen something like that for weeks. We were still at 3,200m, but it seemed so low and warm. The last part of the ride had lots of road construction, unpaved sections, and a diversion into the river for a while. Then I arrived in Tupiza. About 1.5 km from the hotel, I ran into the fast group, working on another flat on Wytze’s bike. They were out of tubes so I donated mine that had sat in my seat bag since Quito. It didn’t inflate – same as the one Andrew donated. Finally we got him going so we could cruise to the hotel, arriving at 2:10. We had to follow a hotel guy’s car for 1 km to the bike parking at another hotel. Then he gave us a ride back. Baggage wasn’t there yet but we had delicious soup and other snacks. Then we unloaded the truck, had nice hot showers, and a chance to relax.

In the evening eight of us went out to a restaurant for dinner – pretty nice although slow. Tupiza doesn’t seem like it should be popular with tourists but I saw a number of obvious non-locals. We’re going to bed early without drinking much even though tomorrow is a rest day. Maybe we’re getting soft? Or smart?

https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vjpAzNXJ6

Stages 45-46 of 109, days 64-65 of 142

• Stage 45 from La Paz: 132.6 km, 1,008m climb, 4:54
• Stage 46 to Ururo: 97.8 km, 302m climb, 3:26

It was really nice having two full rest days in La Paz, the last two days of September. Especially for me since my cough has gotten worse lately – I needed two days of not breathing hard to recover. The first morning was a Sunday and eight of us went on a cable car tour of La Paz after breakfast. We walked over to the Estación Central where two of the many cable car lines start. We chose Red first since it went uphill – we had ridden under it the day before descending into La Paz. The special tickets that let you go on all the lines for 24 hours (no more than one hour stop at any station though) cost BOB 11 ($1.59). Such a deal! The system is built by the Swiss and once you’re inside a station or in the cable car itself you don’t really feel like it’s Bolivia. It’s so modern, clean, fast and efficient. We rode up to the top, switched to the Silver line, rode for a few stations, had ice cream/coffee/pastries at a coffee shop with a panoramic view of La Paz, from 4,100m. Then we took the Yellow line down to below the level of our hotel. Then Blue one stop to downtown, then White through the middle of downtown to Orange, up and over a hill and back down to Estación Central.

What a fun and easy two hour tour of La Paz. We saw parades, parties and very little traffic. Sunday seems quiet and relaxed here. Then I had a big pizza lunch with Twan and Andrew by the hotel and relaxed in the afternoon. In the evening we had a huge dinner party back at Higher Ground for 14 of us. A little sad as it was Annabel’s going away party. But absolutely delicious and super fun.

Monday was also a rest day and I really didn’t do much. Martin and I went out and both bought cough medicine (medicina de la tos) in the morning. When one dose didn’t do much, I took a second, but then passed out for a massive nap. I watched a movie after that then we went out for another giant group dinner, next door to Higher Ground. I had a liter of Jugo de Tumbo rather than beer. And more medicina de la tos in the evening.

I felt so much better the morning we had to leave La Paz – also drawing the late breakfast shift (8am, because the dining room doesn’t come close to fitting us all) was great. We took off just after 9 and after just a couple of blocks, more than half the people headed off to the Purple cable car line. The rest of us followed the GPS track down to the start of the motorway, then 10 km up to 4,100m (which turned out to be uncrowded and easy), and through El Alto for a long way until we were out in the country again. The cable car group had a great time bypassing the big climb and quite a bit of El Alto screwing around in super heavy traffic. But the EFI group got smaller: Jan kind of took the cable car by mistake and Karin took it due to sickness. Rob’s opinion: “There is a plane to Ushuaia for those that don’t want to ride.”

I rode with Chris, Jens, Bastiaan and Andrew and we blazed through pretty fast. Out of town it was back to the Altiplano cruising, nearly flat, but with some rollers. Chris kept up a mean pace and after 50 km or so Andrew and I let ourselves be dropped on a hill. We continued to lunch, then headed out together to ride to camp. We met Martin’s group who had bypassed lunch and they warned us the camp had been moved 5 km up to a school due to the forecast bad weather. Sure enough, after 132 km instead of 137, we spied the Finish flag, ducked through a wall and saw the trucks at a school. It was a broken down school and it was comical when we walked into the gym where Bike Dreams was set up, cooking soup. It was a very crappy building, with the tin roof not nailed down, blowing loudly in the wind.

After soup, we found that we could camp in the gym, out on the football field, or next door in the second floor “condos” we named “El Alto”. I chose the condos as it was starting to rain and the weather didn’t look good at all. We fit four tents in the room with glass in most of the windows. Wijnand was the only one who camped in the other room with no glass in any window. Half the remaining people camped outside and half inside. We were looking for a word that means camping in a tent indoors but couldn’t think of one. Dinner was at 6:30, quite yummy, with lots of banging of the roof and rain. It poured later but not in El Alto! No one snored and I slept really well!

https://www.relive.cc/view/vWqBeJnXnQ6

October 2nd started with me looking for a bathroom at 6 am. It turned out there was a pit toilet at the back of the school – not pretty though so no photo. Our room was mostly dry and Wijnand’s was mostly wet. There was lots of fresh snow on the mountains around. Breakfast was at 7 and it was nice to pack everything up dry. No one who camped out on the field seemed to mind too much and some said the rain was a good tent test. At breakfast, the yogurt was lost so it was impossible to eat muesli – I had peanut butter/jam/banana sandwiches instead. Then packed up and started riding at 8:15. It was a shorter day with an option to take the main road saving some distance or the Rob route, with 20 km of unpaved. Lunch was supposed to be on the unpaved route but when it changed to the paved route (due to Rob smartly not wanting to risk the truck getting stuck in the mud) many people like me changed their plan to the paved option. When I started riding, by accident I was right behind Wytze, a dangerous place to be. For 22 km, it was Chris, Wytze, me, Jens and Rob going fast in a paceline.

Then we got to the turnoff for the unpaved option. They all went and I stayed and chatted with Rob waiting for the other riders. I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day and not breathe hard any more and get over this damn cough. When a big group of ten came along, they were dead sure of taking the paved route and I joined in.

We had a lot of fun riding at a very sane pace, and just chatting away until lunch. The shoulder was wide enough for two side-by-side and there wasn’t much traffic. The gentle tailwind was just great. We had another comedy scene at lunch with every one of us screaming at Gareth with the truck horn blowing, but to no avail – he just kept cranking. Later he said he was looking for the truck too – not very hard I guess.

We sat in the sun, ate, then took off in the same big group. We chatted away and suddenly I noticed we had gone 90 km. Then we came to a town and it was Oruro, our destination. It was only 12:30 – a really easy day is nice sometimes. Oruro is actually pretty big (264,000 population) and we must’ve seen every school kid in town as we rode in. All in nice uniforms, walking along the streets – maybe going home for lunch? We finally came to the Hotel Gran Sucre and checked in. We unloaded the trucks, had super nice showers, then soup and snacks.

After a relaxing afternoon, seven of us went out to dinner at a pizza place by the main square. We had a massive great dinner, capped off by banana splits. Outside it was quite cool and raining on and off, luckily off while walking to and from the restaurant. In our room, we were shocked that the heater works so well. It’s the first comfortably warm room we’ve had I think. Laundry was dry after dinner. Time for sleep early tonight. We have five more straight days of riding until the next rest day in Uyuni, including the famous salt flats – can’t wait for that.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vNOPnP4dD2q

Stages 43-44 of 109 Puno to La Paz via hotel on Lake Titicaca, Days 60-61 of 142

• Stage 43: 74.4 km, 866m climb, 3:35
• Stage 44: 78.4 km, 397m climb, 3:01

Before the two-day ride to La Paz, we had a rest day in Copacabana, Bolivia, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, close to the Peru border we crossed on Sept 25. The big tourist thing to do is take a boat ride to a couple of islands, Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna (Sun Island and Moon Island). The trip takes about three hours and costs just over $4. Most people, for some reason, chose not to do it. I certainly preferred hanging out in the hotel and the town. Maybe we’re not very good tourists. After a slow morning, Andrew, Martin and I went out for lunch in a 3rd floor terrace right at the shore. A giant meal of trout with onions and tomato sauce with the standard rice, veggies, salad (Tim, I don’t eat raw veggies any more!) and fries set me back a very small amount of money. Washed down with a nice big wheat beer – very good. But it does make for a lazy afternoon that included a nap. In the late afternoon, everyone seemed lazy but Andrew and I hiked up Cerro Calvario, a nice peak right next to town. We took the easier way up, mostly stairs for the 200m climb. We got to the top a few minutes before sunset which is at 6:30 these days. It’s a gorgeous view of Copacabana, Lake Titicaca and over to Isla del Sol. We took lots of photos, then headed down.

We met a bunch of riders in town headed for a really nice Italian restaurant, but alas, it was full. We ended up having a perfect dinner at Mauraz with Miranda and Annabel who is leaving us in La Paz. Everyone had the set course ($3.40) of soup, trout and dessert. I tried an adventurous dark Bolivian beer but it was crap. After only sleeping three hours the night before I tried folding my pillow to make it taller and slept eight full hours – great!

In the morning we had the hotel breakfast plus muesli, nothing special. We took off together at 8:40, uphill, first on dirty brick cobblestones, then onto a nice smooth road. It’s funny, as we had noticed riding from the border, when the pavement gets a hole in it, the repair is just stuffing the hole with rocks, not patching with asphalt. Anyway, it was a nice easy climb of 450m up to about 4,250m, about 14,000′. The road was so uncrowded and pleasant. As we got up high, the scenery opened up – just gorgeous. I caught Andrew and we rode the rest of the way to lunch together. After a few more little hills, we got a great view to the east of some of the Cordillera Real, a large range of mountains with many peaks from 6,000-6,400m. They are all snow-covered and look almost fake. Super beautiful.

Then we descended back to lake level (3,810m). Lake Titicaca is split into the main lake and a smaller one called Lago Huinaymarca (or Lago Wiñaymarka or just Lago Menor). There is a narrow strait we had to cross and there’s no bridge. We had lunch in the warm sun at the “ferry” terminal on our side, then boarded a “ferry” – really just a crappy old barge with a small motor. A Swiss couple traveling in a camper with their little daughter for a year plus a few locals were on ours. The barges go every few minutes – there are tons and it costs under $1 for the 15 minute crossing.

It took a while to land as there are limited spots with vehicle ramps. I wish I could’ve seen one of the Bike Dreams firetrucks cross. It was pretty exciting on the other side since there was a huge band competition going on. Dozens of marching bands were warming up or competing all over. Their buses were parked everywhere. We stopped to take some photos and noticed a larger barge, completely covered with band members, cruising along the shore, playing loudly. Then another and another and another and … we finally left, but we rode up the hill hearing multiple bands playing at the same time.

The afternoon ride was only 35 km, with a few tiny hills, on an uncrowded highway that is in the middle of being expanded into a four-lane highway. We stopped to watch the Bolivian Army do calisthenics (to loud music and with weird purple smoke bombs going off).

We pulled into the Hotel Titikaka a little after 1 pm – a very easy day. While the hotel has seen better days (long ago), it was still ok and no one else was there. We joked that the last time someone stayed there was when Bike Dreams came through in 2016. We had yummy soup and snacks, nearly hot showers, then it was time for beer. Martin and I were caught by the hotel guy snooping in the kitchen trying to find beer and he seemed pretty proud that he had a dozen large ones, cold in the freezer. We immediately bought three and told him he would need to chill many more. He suggested 30 and we said “Perfecto.” We sat outside on a nice deck with a beautiful view of Lake Titicaca, watching people riding the zip lines, spinning inside the hamster cages and playing with some local kids. The big excitement was when a fire started in the reeds just by the hotel – we saw a local woman with a comically small bucket and wondered what she was up to. The fire grew and grew until the flames were at least 5m high. It was burning fast and loud and at one point we could feel the heat from 200m away! It burned the whole area below the hotel to the lake, including some pumps and pipes and stuff that looked important. It eventually stopped.

I think there was another nap involved, then dinner for everyone was at 7 pm, in the hotel dining room, choice of trout, chicken or carne. Most people took trout it seemed. Quinoa soup to start as usual, and dessert was crepes or ice cream. Most people chose crepes and I think they only had about three. So they split them ten ways each. You could eat it all in one or two bites. It was cold but there was a roaring fire going in the next room and we sat for a while. I also got to call home; Google Fi works so well here. Hotel Titikaka is purely pre-internet so no Wifi.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vRO7dd14Gy6

I slept so well, about eight hours which was really nice. Breakfast was as usual, then we started the stage to La Paz at 9. After just a few km, our nice uncrowded nearly four-lane highway teed into a busier highway which we took about 40 km to lunch. I was riding with Jan and Andrew. The wind was light, the hills weren’t steep, the views of the Cordillera Real were awesome and the traffic was manageable. Wijnand had a tough time finding a place to set up lunch and said it would’ve been better to not have it today since it’s short. We hung out with the fast guys for a few minutes before they left. Lunch was ready later – we were in no hurry since we had strict instructions to not arrive at the hotel before 1 pm. Most everyone arrived as we ate and Lucho gave us dire warnings about the traffic in La Paz we would be dealing with. He had stories of having side mirrors break off on his shoulder etc. So we rounded up Greg and Michael to join us. Sure enough after only 3 km or so, the traffic got somewhat nasty. It is chaotic because so many people use the little mini-buses that they have to pull over and stop everywhere, all the time. The whole right lane is almost useless for riding. At this point the highway was 2-3 lanes in each direction, although some are dirt sometimes. But it wasn’t any worse than Juliaca or the other bad places we had ridden in Peru. I only heard of one incident later: Tom was hit by a bus, but like a pro, he just let it push him sideways and didn’t have a problem.

Michael went a little out of control once when a car cut him off (he imagined) – luckily there was no international incident. We told him to cool down and chill – he apologized and continued fine. With around 12 km to go, we took a slight wrong turn, had to reverse 200m to catch the correct exit of a cloverleaf and somehow lost Greg and Michael. Assuming they were in front, we continued – right onto the motorway! This would be illegal in most countries but we just went through a lane that was “Cerrado” (closed) and suddenly all of La Paz was laid out about 400m below us. It’s an immense city.

The upper part where we were is called “El Alto”, separate but right next to La Paz proper. 2.3 million people total. After checking that this really was the route, we headed down the six-lane motorway, taking it easy. Rob never mentions any details of the route preferring that each person have a bit of an adventure. There was very little traffic (high toll price maybe?) and we had the entire right lane to ourselves. It went down, on and on for over 10 km but finally we came to our exit. From there the hotel was only 370m away! So easy and 1000% percent better than any other possible route. We rode up at 1 pm on the dot and Rob let us in to park. It’s tricky here since in 2016 Bike Dreams got a fine from the police for unloading the trucks here. So Henk and Wijnand drove direct to a cable car parking lot and then taxied the mountain of luggage over. Rob told us this would take more time and to come back at 2. We walked into the first coffee shop we saw and Jan treated us to 710 ml Paceña beers plus giant pieces of delicious lemon meringue pie! What a great way to kill an hour!

At 2, we checked in and while our room is on the 3rd (4th in US English) floor, the shower is super hot, the wifi works, the beds are nice and we have a balcony with table and chairs for drying laundry. Soon we were downstairs having drinks and snacks. We met Karin’s son Twan who is a giant of a 23 year old and will be riding with us all the way to Ushuaia, taking her place. We met Dick, our other new rider, also Dutch. We lose Pip and John, Greg and Annabel here – sad to see them all leave. Annabel has been with us since Quito and is family.

Later a bunch of us headed over to an excellent restaurant called Higher Ground several people discovered. It’s owned by an English guy and has just excellent food and drink. We had one of the best meals of the trip. The bill for nine people ended up at BOB 1100, which makes us sound like high rollers, but no, it was well under $20 per person. Such a cozy, friendly place. The last thing we did was make a reservation for 12 for tomorrow night.

Some of us went across the street to the DT Brew House after for a last round – watching rugby on ESPN from Japan. Their NE IPA was crap but their American IPA was ok. We got back before 10 and it’s hard to believe how much we did today. What a life this is!

https://www.relive.cc/view/v7O9wwrWKLq

143.1 km, 742m climbing, 5:09
Stage 42 of 109, day 58 of 142

We had a really enjoyable rest day yesterday in Puno. A bunch of us signed up for a boat tour of the famous floating islands of Uros in Lake Titicaca. They picked us up at 9 and drove us 1 km down to the dock where we boarded a little boat with a few other people. We headed out and soon were in a channel between reeds (the famous ones that the locals use to build boats and their floating islands). After a little while we got to an area of water surrounded by floating islands. We landed on one and our guide introduced us to the locals who live there. It’s about 2,000 Peruvians and over 2,000 Bolivians. Each island supports about four families, so maybe 20 people. They showed us how they make the floats from the reeds and how they have to replace the top layer every 10-15 days. It turns out that ALL these people living out there have only one industry: tourism. They make trinkets and sell stuff to people like us. They sang songs and the President of the four families on our island showed us how they build the houses, the cell towers, etc. A lady showed us the inside of one of their houses: very small, welcome to the 3rd world for sure. They tried hard but barely any of us bought anything I’m sorry to say. I did spring S10 for a ride on their “Mercedes Benz” boat over to another floating island, where Greg, Michael and I had some beers and relaxed for a while. Then it was time to go back. The air is clean, as is the water of the lake. It’s about 20m deep there and the thickness of the floating islands is 4-5m.

Back in Puno I spied Gareth, Martin and Andrew in a nice looking local restaurant waiting for Kirsten and me. We had beers and lunch there – gigantic servings of trucha a la plancha (roasted trout with veggies) for very little money. We walked back to the hotel later, had a look around, and eventually went out for dinner at a nice cafe. More trout, this time fried and coated with quinoa. Super good. Unfortunately many had taken ill again and I didn’t feel that great at dinner. But I just ordered jugo de maracuya instead of beer and didn’t eat the salad. I think it was psychosomatic as I was 100% in the morning.

We had set the alarm for 5:45 for the 6:15 breakfast. It was kind of a crappy hotel breakfast – I even had to eat the eggs (huevos revueltos) and a couple of the crap rolls. It took a while but we started riding at 7:25 and made our way though traffic out of town. Once we got onto the road around the lake, it was smooth sailing. First with about 8 in a paceline, then Wytze and Rob ended up blasting too fast and Chris, Jens and I dropped everyone else.

We cruised to lunch at 68 km non-stop. I noticed that at 2 hours we were at 62 km, not so shabby.

Lunch wasn’t quite ready so we hung out sharing photos and relaxing. Many others came in, we ate a delicious lunch, and I let Chris and Jens head off on their own. For the next 80 km, it was Bastiaan, Andrew, Jan and I, cruising, stopping for photos many times and really enjoying the riding. When the wind was behind us we could cruise at 40-45 and when it was ahead, more like 28. The occasional hills slowed us down more. We took lots of photos and basically just enjoyed our last ride in Peru. For the first 90 or 100, the road was busy and the drivers pretty rude (unusual). Andrew was pushed off the road once and Marc was really pushed off aggressively, so much that he crashed and was so mad about it. He got scraped up too. Now we have to somehow talk him into not bailing from the tour. We had about 35 km on smaller, less crowded roads to the border.

At the border we just walked into the Peru side and one minute later walked away, passports stamped! Then we rode up a hill for 300m, under a cool arch, then took some photos of various Welcome to Bolivia signs.

Then we walked into the Bolivian customs office. Again, I was out in one minute. They didn’t ask a single question – just scanned and stamped the passport and took my photo (which took about 10 seconds). SO different from entering into Peru. The four of us rode away, on a comically crappy Bolivian road. We had about 8 km to the hotel in Copacabana and we took it easy, stopping for photos. The small town looks beautiful and we soon were in the very nice Hotel Mirador, just above the lake shore. We were lucky today with the dogs – no actual attacks while I was riding. Joan told me a funny (scary actually) story about one of the previous stages where she opted for the paved option I didn’t take. She lead the way on that route and counted the number of dog attacks on her: 24.

It’s a climb to our room, but wow is it nice! It’s a giant two person room, with a gorgeous view over the lake, a shower that cranks out hot water, electric plugs that sort of hold our chargers, beds, towels, and delicious soup and snacks after riding – basically perfect.

We had lost an hour due to switching to Bolivian time so 6 pm dinner came soon. Eight of us went out and discovered that Copacabana is a backpacker town, full of great, inexpensive restaurants. We picked one and I had the special for BOB25 ($3.60): Quinoa soup, trout grilled with veggies and fries, and bananas with chocolate sauce for dessert. We also had nice big Bolivian beers for the same price. Delicious and fun! After we went to a little bar run by a Brit and had delicious Bolivian IPA!

Wow, it looks like life is great here! Best part: another rest day tomorrow! Then two days of easier riding to La Paz.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vQvyzz7D94O

Stages 39-41 of 109 Cusco to Puno via bushcamp and hostal, Days 54-56 of 142

• Stage 39: 119.7 km, 1,022m climb, 4:38
• Stage 40: 161.6 km, 1,048m climb, 6:42, craziest weather ever
• Stage 41: 106.3 km, 425m, 4:13

After three full days off the bike, it was nice to get ready, mount up, and cruise out of town. We’re missing the people who left in Cusco, but now have four newbies which is good. The ride out wasn’t as crazy as the ride in, and it was gently downhill so went pretty quickly. Soon we were out of town and blazing along. After 25 km, I let myself fall off the paceline (Chris at the helm with Jens egging him on).

I took it easy, stopped for food at a lake around 40 km, then met everyone at lunch around 60 km. I rode with Andrew and Jan after lunch and although it was about a 60 km climb, the last part was very gentle and we made it to camp no problem. It rained a bit on the way but just for a little while. Camp was by a soccer field, right next to another set of Inca Ruins. The main attraction there for our crowd seemed to be the public toilets – much better than trying to find privacy by the soccer field. Villagers were everywhere too, tending crops and watching.

It was cold at night as we were back up at 3,500m and lots of clothes were on at dinner. After dinner I stayed up a little but then retreated to my nice tent. I woke up at 2:09 am and peed in the field, then at 2:12, the rain started.

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I don’t know how long it rained but it had stopped by morning, still things were pretty wet. We had an early breakfast at 6:30 due to the long distance to cover in stage 40. The public bathroom was supposed to open at 6 but didn’t. Yvonne and I talked a lady into opening the two bathrooms in her restaurant for us at 1 sol per person. Boy did I need that! It was cold at breakfast, then we packed up wet tents and got ready to ride. I made a rookie mistake: because I was cold while eating, I over-dressed for riding. That meant that after about 25 km of glorious pacelining with Chris at the helm, I had to bow out to reduce clothes. They never stop. So I did the rest of the 60 km climb to lunch by myself, stopping for photos sometimes.

The riding wasn’t hard although lunch was at a pass at nearly 4,350m, higher than all but two mountains in California. For once, at a pass it was nice weather and we enjoyed a relaxing lunch.

Andrew and I took off just after Chris and Jens and somehow managed to catch them on the downhill. It wasn’t steep and only dropped about 400m, but soon we were back in a line of four, cranking along. We were in the Altiplano now, a large, high plateau in southern Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina and northern Chile. It averages 3,750m and is the biggest high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet. It’s flat, with some hills that the roads mostly avoid. We had 100 km to go from lunch and made quick work of the first 50. Then we stopped for refreshments at a tiny stand where we had a funny encounter with a local who took to Chris (who doesn’t speak any Spanish at all).

Then it was time for the last 50 km. About halfway through this we saw thick black clouds and rain showers ahead.

Suddenly, the wind increased hugely. Our speed dropped to maybe 10 or less. And the side winds kept nearly knocking us over. I was thinking this was Patagonia training. We survived maybe 500m of this, then came to a toll station. The guys offered us their little bedroom to escape the storm. It started hailing and the temperature dropped hugely. So we took them up on their offer. They also liked Chris and asked me why he was over 2m tall, and a bunch of other funny questions. They were amazed that the four of us were from four different countries.

After 45 minutes, Wytze rolled up, wet and cold. He and Bastiaan had stopped at the hotsprings further back, and maybe some Pisco Sours were involved. Chris gave Wytze an extra jacket and the rest of us put on everything we had (very little for Andrew, but the full kit for me). It was now after 3pm and it seemed like the wind had dropped and the rain was less, so we took off. How hard can 22 km be anyway? Answer: super hard. The wind was going I don’t know how many km/h, from about 10:00. The rain was POURING painfully hard and the spray from the tires was blowing everywhere. We had to ride close together but it was dicey and it almost seemed like the traffic was going faster because of the bad weather. Giant trucks giving us very little room. I think my speed would’ve been 10 or 12 but we were going 24 thanks to Wytze. He is an amazing athlete. I was so soaked – I think it may actually have been the worst riding conditions I’ve been in ever. I don’t know how we would’ve dealt with a crash or a flat tire. Chris was so cool – making sure whoever was flagging was protected. I can’t imagine how Andrew felt bare-legged. He later said (imagine excellent Australian accent): “It was a bit cool.” The road surface was also utter crap in this section – continual bumps, terrible. After a while I was just hanging on to Wytze’s wheel and I noticed the rain had reduced and the wind had dropped. Now we were going 34 so I was still working absolutely at 100% effort. I told him we had dropped the rest so he slowed down to 32. Amazingly they caught back up. At this point we only had 5 km to go so it was almost in the bag. The last 2 km was super hard for me, nearly used up. Then, it was 800m, 400m, 200m, and we turned off the road onto the dirt road to the campsite. The turn-off was marked by a large Bike Dreams “Finish” flag. We got to the end of the GPS track, and there we all were, in the middle of a field, nothing around, no people, no campsite and our Garmins were all playing the happy song indicating the end of the track. Wytze started to call Henk then I spied his truck coming down the road toward us. He stopped at the Finish flag and someone waved us over. They told us camp had been upgraded to a hostal due to the weather! We just had to go 4 more km to the town of Pucara. We did that at a sane pace, and there was Tom, telling us where to turn. Ahead we saw one of the trucks, and we high-fived while riding. I finished the ride holding hands with Chris, way up high, what a victory. I wish someone got a photo.

The hostal turned out to be basic but quite a bit nicer than camping. It had a big courtyard where soup was being cooked. It had covered bike parking. The rooms had beds. It was missing a few things like toilet seats and hot showers, but all in all, it was great. We ate, then more riders came in. In the end almost half the people rode the whole way – the others rode one of the trucks or in local transport. For some it was their longest bike ride ever, 100.4 miles. It was a challenge for everyone, for sure. This trip seems to be about personal challenges. They don’t come every stage, but when they do, wow, be ready to dig deep. Andrew and I went to lay down for a minute before dinner – deep sleep instantly. Luckily I set the alarm. We got up for dinner, appetizer of small tomatoes, guacamole and tuna dip with real corn tortilla chips. Pasta in cheese sauce with a lot of garlic and ham for the meat people. Red wine. Yum. Went to bed at 8 and slept hard. I got up at 12 and 4 to pee. Then I was laying there listening to cars drive by the window, splashing through deep rain puddles.

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Breakfast was at 8 so we got up at 7:30 and I looked to see how wet it was. It was brilliant sunshine with not a cloud and no water anywhere. I had imagined the whole puddle thing. There was frost all over so it had been cold. Breakfast was in the warm sun in the courtyard, then we packed up and headed out for our last full day of riding in Peru. It was 105 km, mostly flat altiplano, with a 200m hill at the very end to get to the town of Puno, on the shores of famous Lake Titicaca. Andrew, Jan and I took it easy, stopping from time to time for photos or food breaks. We joined up with Greg, a new rider from Poland, and started looking out for the lunch truck at 55 km as it was supposed to be before the town at 60 km. We didn’t see it and rode into the town which turned out to be large, dirty and super chaotic. The amount of trash laying around was staggering. It was another place just absolutely jammed with buses and tuk-tuks, a hell of motor traffic. It’s also #4 of the top 10 list of most dangerous cities in Peru and is tiny compared to the others on the list. Don’t ever go to Juliaca, Peru.

It took some patience and balls but we made it out without accident, and then continued along the road to Puno. Now at 75 km, we still hadn’t seen the lunch truck. We stopped and ate the food we had, then maybe 10 more riders pulled in doing the same. I gave my last bar to Kirsten who had already eaten the six she had and was still having a calorie crisis. We left first and after 4km found the lunch truck with Wijnand, Rob and Guillermo sitting quietly at a decent spot by the side of the road with lunch all set out. So we had lunch, then took off for the last 32 km. It was boring and flat until the hill at the end. Bastiaan had caught us with Lambert and we cruised up to 4,000m again, took some photos at the top, then headed down to the hotel.

Soup was on, with snacks, then we went up and had luxurious hot showers. It was so hot you had to add cold which almost never happens. We hung out afterward, then went out to dinner with at least 15 of our riders to a fancy restaurant called Mojsa. It had great food, many vegetarian and fishetarian options, plus great IPA. For dessert, Mr G. directed us to a gelateria/bakery a couple of blocks away. I had a triple of Pisco Sour (surprisingly tasty), chicha morada and the ever-great maracuya. What a great end to a fun day and a challenging block of three stages. Rest day tomorrow!

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At last the triple rest day is here! It’s the only time in 4 1/2 months where we have three full days off the bike. Bike Dreams organized an optional trip to Machu Picchu which most signed up for. So at 9 am on the 18th, we piled into a pair of mini-buses and headed back on the route we had ridden to Cusco the day before. After about 20 km we turned off toward the Sacred Valley. It took almost two hours to get to the little town of Ollantaytambo. There’s a very famous archaeological site and we exited the bus excited to see. But the entrance fee of S130 turned everyone off. We all either walked up the free but not so impressive site across the valley, or spent the couple of hours we had checking out the cafes and restaurants. The town appears to be 100% tourist-oriented. The proportion of gringos here is even more than in Cusco. After milkshakes, we walked around town a little, then shared a pizza for lunch.

In the afternoon we walked about 1 km down to the train station. The Peru Rail Machu Picchu train picked us up, all reserved seating including snacks and drinks. The Vista Cruiser windows were great since the valley we cruised through is steeper and as deep as Yosemite. It has vertical granite walls too. The ride was beautiful, about 90 minutes and then we arrived in Aguas Calientes aka Machu Picchu Village. This town is also purely tourist-oriented but it’s not a bad thing for us. The options you have for eating and drinking are infinitely more than in normal parts of Peru. If you only came to places like Lima, Cusco and here you would have a strange view of Peru I think. Six of us had dinner at an upscale Craft Beer restaurant, then went to the 7 pm Machu Picchu briefing about the next day. Basically we all had 7 am tickets so could enter any time after that. Our guides had two groups planned for 7 am and one for 11 am, so you could sleep in or hike more beforehand if you wanted. We had a round of Pisco Sours courtesy of John, then went to bed kind of early with the alarm set for 4:45 since we had decided to hike rather than take the bus up.

Breakfast was excellent, right at 5 am. We ate fast then started hiking around 5:15 when it was just barely starting to get light. You hike down the river for maybe 2 km, then show passport and ticket at the control office and head up the hiking trail. It climbs steeply, up 400m to the upper entrance into Machu Picchu itself. They say 90-120 minutes but we took 30 minutes for the climb due to bike fitness. It was humid though and my shirt was soaked at the top. Andrew set a perfect pace and we passed a ton of people. We had 45 minutes to wait for our guides and the people who rode the bus, which was nice for shirt drying.

Finally we got to go in – the crowds are daunting but if you expect it like we did, it’s not as disappointing. If you are expecting some kind of magical pristine experience you should not come. Peru has done a great job managing the huge demand but it’s done by having a ton of very restrictive rules so this is not for everyone. The Machu Picchu ruins were about what I expected having seen a million pictures from friends and others. But the setting is amazing and makes the whole experience better. The vertical relief is immense and the area around Machu Picchu is just incredible. The valleys are so deep, the peaks so high and steep and the whole place is just so improbable. As Andrew said, “They could’ve picked an easier building site.” We took a million photos and walked through one of the prescribed one-way only routes. The max group size is 15 so we were split between guides and ours explained lots, but it’s almost better to tune it out and just appreciate being there.

It is possible to (briefly) see things by yourself and take photos without hordes of people in them, but it’s not easy. At the end of the tour, the guide leaves and you can explore a little bit more – the Condor Temple etc, we actually needed a 20 minute rest from walking around so slowly. It’s surprisingly strenuous. Way harder than hiking up the trail at full speed. We strolled down and at the entrance checked to see if it was possible to catch a bus – we had been warned the line can be 30-90 minutes and we knew we could hike down in less than that. But it was still before 11 so the line was small and we headed down the super steep switchbacks on the rough dirt road and were soon back in town. I couldn’t help thinking they should hire the Austrians to build a teleferique.

Our train back didn’t leave until after 4 pm so we had a nice drink of juice, then a look around parts of the town we hadn’t seen the day before and a fancy lunch at a great organic restaurant that happened to have fancy craft beer of course. The number of places advertising Vegetarian food out numbered the total I had seen in over a month in Peru by a factor of a hundred. After more walking around and seeing a weird, large, hairless dog, we ended up at different craft beer restaurant for another round. Then ice cream down by our hotel and then it was time to head for the train. It was a pleasant ride again, with a funny fashion show by the train staff, with Alpaca shawls and scarves etc that they modeled for sale. At 6:30 we were back in Ollantaytambo and were dropped off at our hotel in Cusco around 8:30. Martin, Andrew and I took Wim out for a drink at our favorite bar (Cholo’s) – boy is that Inti Puntu IPA great! Even though we had been up since 4:45, Andrew and I stayed up reading until midnight then settled in for sleep.

In the morning, it was amazing. We hadn’t ridden the previous two days and today was another rest day! We had a lazy breakfast and then Andrew worked on his bike while I joined a few others and went on a two hour walking tour of Cusco. We saw a bunch of Inca stone work, some old Spanish aqueducts etc and even got to see the famous 12-sided stone.

At the end for S5 we could take a mini bus up to the Christ Statue on the hill. It was a nice view from up there, then I came down for lunch.

Tom, Andrew and I ate in a Quinoa restaurant across the street. Then I worked on my bike – replaced the chain and cleaned it all up. It was still shifting great but that chain has over 3,100 km on it and since I brought three spares, it was time to replace. Amazingly the tires are still in top shape.

At 4 pm, we had a “Pisco Sour” party, organized by Wim. We all contributed some money and we had 3 liters of home made Pisco Sour, lots of snacks and other drinks. It was also a birthday party for both John (65 today) and Wijnand so we had a couple of big delicious cakes. It was also a going away party for Niek, Elke, Wim, California Chris and unfortunately for Kees who has to go back to Holland for medical reasons. And it was a welcome party for Greg, Michael, Bianca and Raymon who have joined us for the next couple of sections to Salta. It was a great success, very fun. It went on through dinner when we ordered a few pizzas. It so felt like a Sunday night although it’s Friday – we have to go to work tomorrow.

Stages 37-38 of 109 Abancay to Cusco via bushcamp in Limatambo, Days 49-50 of 142

• Stage 37: 115.6 km, 2,421m climb, 6:46, hot!
• Stage 38: 77.5 km, 1,425m climb, 4:34

Missed distance 282 km, 3.5 stages (19, 20, 31, 32)

It’s hard to imagine we’re only just over a third of the way done with this crazy trip. But that’s what it is. We’ve just completed the third of the nine sections. From the schedule, it’s 3,356 km of 10,943 km total. And 48 km of climbing out of the 111 km total. Who even measures climbing in kilometers?

Stage 37, the “very hard day”, started with a steady climb, 35 km long, ascending from Abancay at 2,400m to a pass at 4,000m. While the road was good and the views got better and better, it’s mostly a mental game of getting yourself to just keep spinning up and up and up. We had a nice lunch up top, then a 60 km descent down to 1,800m where it was hot. I don’t know how hot but my Garmin said 43°C (109.4°F). Boiling. From there, it was a 20 km climb, up 900m, to a campsite at an Inca Ruins that was quite nice. Halfway up it was getting later and cooler which was nice. There was a shop across the street that sold ice cream and beer in 1.1 liter bottles. We had a nice dinner, hung out talking for a while, then went to bed around 8:30. I think most people who rode the whole way were tired (except Wytze of course). I slept nine hours, soundly!

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In the morning, it was breakfast at 7, and there was no dew at all so packing up was a breeze. There were ant problems; they get into anything food-like, especially water bottles that had electrolyte stuff in them. Instead of a 35 km climb straight from camp we had a 25 km one today, only climbing 1,000m, so easy!

Instead of a 2,200m descent it was only a few hundred meters, then a longish section to about 52 km where we had lunch. Soon, powered by burritos, gumdrops and gummy bears, I took off with Andrew and Jan and we cranked out the last 25 km to Cusco. The climb near the end wasn’t that bad really, only 300m and gentle. We came over the hill and had a pretty good view of the big city of Cusco from above. We wound down to town, then wrestled with increasingly bad traffic. Finally it was just a gridlock in both directions.

Eventually we made it onto the sidewalk and proceeded walking at 2 kph with the pedestrians. We could ride the last 850m on bumpy cobblestones and then we were at the hotel. It was nice to see Kees, Marc, Carol, Gareth and healthy Kirsten all looking relaxed. I met a couple of new riders who will be with us until Salta. Soup was excellent, then we had hot showers!

At 5, we had a “briefing” for the trip to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. It will be very touristy of course but should be fun. At 6, we went out for beers and found a great bar. We had dinner and a couple of rounds, then went to another place which wasn’t as good, then back to the original (Cholo’s) for a final round. We were with Javier, a cyclist from San Francisco who has been riding from Vancouver for 17 months. We had ridden with him a bit during the day and look forward to meeting him when we get back from Machu Picchu, He plans to get to Ushuaia a couple of months later than us. We had SO much fun it was just great. Inti Puntu IPA FTW!!!!

https://www.relive.cc/view/vxOQA8gL4MO