A blog about one man, one bike and thousands of kilometres...
Join me on the journey through amazing landscapes, dirt roads and tough climbs. This blog currently covers two of my big adventures on my two-wheeler friend.
Firstly, there is a trans-South-America journey which took 16 months, measured more than 20.000km and in general contained more climbing than is healthy.
And then there is USA's classic - Great Divide Mountain Bike Route cannot be underestimated in the toughness and beauty department and this time I am trying to do a semi-live coverage of the journey.
For this part of the Peru Great Divide route I join forces with Jeremy and Madeleine -- two French cyclists on a trip around the world. The scenery over the next three days is simply amazing. And this is good because otherwise I don't know what would keep us going ...
This short two-day warmup is the first part of the famous Peru Great Divide route. Contrasting to the previous three days this part features golden-grass covered hills instead of the rusty mountains full of mines.
August 22In the morning I say (a temporary) goodbye to the four cyclists and ...
From Licapa I continue riding through a mining country to Huancavelica. This time I am taking a "quick" paved option which goes around breathtaking lagoons.
August 19In the morning I am only slowly preparing for the road. Originally I planned to leave Licapa on nice backcountry roads from andesbybike ...
One pass. That is all it takes to transform scenery of big valleys and canyons into a colorful mining country that remind me of Agua Negra pass between Chile and Argentina. But don't be mistaken -- while the climb isn't as long as then, the 1600m climb to Abra ...
My route through southern Peru is dominated by deep canyons/valleys and high mountains. And this section isn't an exception -- the views are always changing although there is one constant -- they are always stellar.
August 13In the morning I trick myself and two times at that. First, yesterday ...
On the rest of my way to Vilcashuaman I continue with the usual Peruvian style of first climbing high up just so I can descend deep down into a valley to cross some river. And what a deep valley it is -- it takes me day and half just to climb ...
From Abancay my route continues towards a nice historic town of Vilcashuaman. In principle there is a semi-direct road to Uranmarca and then to Vilcashuaman. However, Pikes' extensive notes mention that this road is missing a bridge over a major river. As the notes were written some time ago I ...
The last stretch to Abancay brings in climbs, amazing scenery, fast descent on a pavement and an additional bonus of an unfixable tire puncture.
August 1The potatoes strike back! At least, in my breakfast which apart from them also includes a boiled egg. Full of energy I thus launch ...
Now with the obligatory sightseeing in Cusco done as well as done with the hiking "holiday" my plan is to return back to some good mountain routes. But first I need to get back from Cusco to Abancay.
July 28I hoped to finish all my business with Cusco today ...
The Salkantay trek continues with a visit of Machu Picchu -- the famous Inca ruin. The "lost" city is definitely an impressive sight which makes you wonder about the greatness of the people who built it. And the hike to Aguas Calientes along a railroad is interesting as well. There is ...