Ups and Downs from Huanuco to Ayacucho

Current Location: Ayacucho, Peru
Distance Cycled to Date: 14,541 km
Flat tires to Date: 53 (Keenan - 29, Jeff - 23, Laura - 1, Sarah - 0)

We left Huanuco feeling pretty good. We had a pizza night, restocked our food supplies, and were excited about the prospect of getting back on to pavement for the next few hundred kilometres. We got on the road early, and after dodging the Peruvian moto-taxis that seem to take over every city, we made good time early in the day. However, a combination of flat tires and the start of a problem with Sarah's knee slowed us down, and we covered less than 40 km before finding a campsite hidden in the ditch. The flat tire wasn't too serious, except that it forced us to use our very last 700c tube, which caused a little bit of stress. Sarah's knee on the other hand we knew could be potentially problematic, and we all hoped that the next day things would just get better. But, anybody who knows anything about knee problems knows that they don't just disappear, and so the next day we called it a early day again, after spending all morning working on the long, slow climb from Huanuco at 1900 metres, that would finally end at Cerro de Pasco, at over 4300 m.

We had spotted the 'Hospedaje Trucha' (Trout Hotel) just a kilometre or so back of where we were taking a break, but rather than all of us backtracking downhill (which breaks two of our cardinal rules of this trip), I biked down by myself to check it out. If I hadn't returned in 20 minutes, it meant that I deemed it sufficient (read: cheap) enough, so the rest would come down. I pulled in and had a quick look at the room, and for 5 soles a piece (less than $2 Canadian) we could have a hotel room, which satisfied all my requirements. So, in the remaining 19 minutes, I was invited to join in a volleyball game on a makeshift court beside the highway. I got a good warmup in before Jeff, Laura, and Sarah showed up to join in as well, and we played a little Canada vs. Peru 3 vs. 3 volleyball. We did pretty well, but in the end (as a result of some questionable scorekeeping) the Peruvians came out on top. The hotel wasn't anything too special, unless you consider green algae oozing out of the bathroom taps and showerhead as being special - but we did enjoy some fresh caught trout for supper each night, and some good quality rest time as well.

Getting back on the road we continued to slowly gain altitude, but after looking at the dates, our current pace, and the condition of Sarah's knee, we decided it would make the most sense for them to skip a bit of the less scenic section we were on, take a bus to Huancayo, and get a bit of rest before Jeff and I caught back up on our bikes and we could continue on our way to Ayacucho. We were getting close to Cerro de Pasco, but still had nearly 700 metres to climb and 15 kilometres to go with an hour of sunlight left, when as we were chatting with some friendly locals in a pickup truck, they offered us a ride to Cerro. Now, Jeff and I have had a pretty good streak of never taking a ride on this trip, and we knew that we wanted to continue, but since Sarah and Laura were planning on taking a bus to Huancayo anyway, it made sense for them to take the generous offer. And so, we said our goodbyes and good-lucks at 5 o'clock on the side of the highway, and they loaded their bikes in the truck. Jeff and I did a quick calculation that if we biked hard for the next hour without stopping, we just might be able to make the city - and so we did. As the sun dipped below the horizon the temperature dipped below zero, but we just kept pedalling, finally making it to a hotel on the plaza in the freezing cold darkness.

We decided we might as well push as hard as we could the next morning, and try to make it to Huancayo, over 260 km away, in two days. And so - we did. It started out poorly though, with us biking almost 15 km, back and forth over the 'cerro' (hill), searching for the way out of the confusing city. People would point us one direction and so we'd go, and then on the other side of the hill, they'd point us back the other way, on the same road we just came on. That wasn't fun at all. However, an hour and a half later when we finally got back to the highway, we did have fun being on nice pavement again, with a bit of downhill, and having set an ambitious goal. The scenery wasn't nearly as spectacular as we had seen before, but the pampas and rolling plains were a nice change. We spotted llamas grazing in the wild, vicunas hopping along, and a giant maca root statue in a town plaza. All in all, not too bad.

We ended up getting to Huancayo on the same day as the girls, just a couple of hours later, which we all thought was kind of funny. And so, we we spent our time in Huancayo doing what we do on all great rest days - sitting around and doing as little as possible, intersperced with a lot of eating. The days off also helped Sarah's knee considerably, so after taking two days off the only downside we could think of was that the laundromat we visited lost Jeff's jersey, leaving him with only one shirt to wear while biking for the next few weeks. Jeff would like to point out that this is a very big deal - not showering for a week or two isn't too bad, but when you have to wear the same shirt during that same stretch, it becomes a much bigger deal. Also, not too great for the guy sharing a tent with him.

Our first day out of Huancayo we went up a bit, and then down a lot, with the only real noteworthy item being that we made it to Izcuchaca, which was where we were aiming to get to that day. (Lately that has been a bit of a rarity for us). The next day we almost did the same, but Laura got her first flat tire of the trip, just a few kilometres before our goal. We thought it would be an easy fix (after all, by this point Jeff and I are very, very experienced at fixing flat tires), but we learned that her rims are frustratingly big, and the valve stem just wouldn't stick out enough for our pump to work. So, found a campsite a few hundred metres down the road and made a plan for the next day. Jeff and Sarah set out on their bikes like usual, while Laura and I started walking for the nearest village. It turned out to be 20 km away. It was a long walk, but a nice change of pace for both of us, and a good chance to enjoy the scenery without needing to worry about flying off the edge of a cliff. We reached Anco, and within minutes had somebody fill up the tire with their pump. (Pretty much everybody in Peru is very very nice. If you've heard otherwise, you've heard wrong.) It was already pretty late in the day, so we called it a night, and planned to reach Ayacucho in 2 days.

Again, with the lack of mechanical problems, we followed through and made it to Ayacucho after winding through some varied scenery. One minute we would be in a fertile valley, and after crossing a small pass we would be riding through red rock canyon walls with cacti surrounding us. Up and down we would go, finally reaching Ayacucho after one more long climb into the city.

We had our pizza night, restocked our food supplies, and now we're excited about getting back onto some gravel. It's been a good rest day, and we'll see what happens from here.