Day 16-20 resting in Huanchaco. Filling the quota.

Day 16 Huanchaco

A long and relatively easy day. 112km with only 446m of climbing.

The day changed slowly as we were riding through coastal desert. It's very dry here, as the Pacific Ocean in this area has a cold current, so very little evaporation to form clouds, and the Andes mountains form a barrier against clouds to the east.

I rode with team UK (Tamsin and Adrian) for the first 40km until they didn't feel well enough to continue, and then rode in the truck. Stomach bugs are catching quite a few people out. Thankfully everyone has managed well. Not like when the body says..."you have 30 seconds until I dump, and that count started 20 seconds ago" so nobody has yet lost their dignity roadside. Will see if it stays that way!

So I continued riding to lunch solo.

Everyone was waiting for my arrival at lunch, as we had to ride together through the next town as it had a bad reputation when previous cyclists were robbed (not a previous year of the Andes trail riders). We also had a police escort.

Once through, we were all back at our own pace.

I fell off the back of the group as I still don't have the breath and endurance to keep their pace. A pity, on windy days like we've had I've noticed there can be up to a 10km/h difference in pace when the riders stay behind each other's slipstream and take turns at the front. We've been having constant headwinds for the last few days!

Perhaps half way to our hotel from lunch, the police wanted me to jump in the car to catch up to the group as it was dangerous by myself. More because trucks keep forcing me off the narrow road. In the group, traffic gives more space. The Peruvian drivers are less considerate than Ecuador a few of us have noticed. So I lost 10km catching up in the car.

Once arriving in Huanchaco, it was a nice place. It's a tourist destination on the beach, with a hippy feel to it. Surf lessons, cafes, the occasional person wearing a tea cosy on their head, hand crafts etc. A good place to rest for 2 days.

We received a great welcome. After lunch, we were joined by a local passionate cyclist named Luis. His wife met us at the hotel, and had made us 2 delicious cakes. We then enjoyed cocktails together later that night. Very potent going by the taste!

Huanchaco, 2 rest days

2 very chilled and relaxed days. I had the pleasure of realising that the day before I hadn't put sunscreen high enough up my arms, so when my jersey sleeves moved up when I stretched to the handlebars, I had a thin strip of skin on my upper arms that scored 2nd degree burns. Pretty blisters. Oops.

I caught a taxi into nearby Trujillo just to have a peek. It's one of the larger cities, so there was a shopping centre with cinemas and that sort of thing. I also saw a scooter rider being hit by a car. It was at slow speed. The ambulance arrived quickly and carted the rider away. Overall, didn't excite me all that much, and my curiosity was satisfied for now. I'm sure I missed some gems, but sitting at a beachside cafe in Huanchaco had much more appeal.

There were 2 places in Huanchaco that gave massages. They were very much in demand with 30 sore cyclists! I got one, and felt much improved afterwards. Massages are so much better when it's earned through hard exercise. The contrast of soreness to relaxation is so much more noticeable.

We were also joined by 3 dutchies and 1 Australian. They all are friendly and fit right in with us. This group is rather good. The organisers have commented that this year the group is larger, and compared to previous years very easy going and positive.

Day 17, Camp Chavimochic. Bushcamp, and that was not water on the road.

After a very enjoyable rest we faced a 115km day with 910m of climbing. 83% paved. Finally some offroad.

Getting out of town, everyone was showing a strong pace. After I warmed up I rode with the guys who are usually at the front (James, Johnathan and Lee) who were taking it easy. Riding behind someone is SO much easier being shielded from the wind, so I was enjoying the faster pace with much less effort.

On the outer edges of town, there were some darker patches on the road. Turns out it was oil. I thought it was water, and realised otherwise when my front wheel slid and I went down. Thankfully no cars or trucks were following close behind. After I'd gotten up and moved to the side of the road, I watched a truck try to use his brakes, his wheels locked and he continued sliding down the road. I felt ok and continued. No broken skin, just covered in oil when I rolled.

I continued and got perhaps 40km into the ride when I realised I had taken a pretty good knock when I fell. My right knee was stiffening up to the point I was getting the other leg to do most of the work, and both wrists were sore. When I stopped to have something small to eat, it hurt more to stand than ride. My day was done. I saw the inside of the police car again.

On the way to lunch in the car, I was sitting with 3 police. They were very curious about the ride, where I was from, and what life is like back home. My spanish could still use some work, and their english was nil, so I cheated and used my phone. I used google's translate page so we passed comments to each other that way all the way to lunch. A good trip.

At lunch, the antibacterial handwash worked extremely well getting the oil off my skin, then I rode in the truck to our camp site.

The barren beginning of the valley Cañón del Pato

Day 18 Canon del Pato. Saw very little of this day! Heave.

For whatever reason I was very rather queasy in the morning. Breakfast, I ate a little. With still feeling sore and favouring a leg, I opted for the truck. A pity, a full day of offroad. A place I'm much more comfortable to ride. This is also one of the so far rare moments where I have an advantage as I have dual suspension. Most have front suspension, or full rigid bikes and they get bounced for the entire day.

As the day progressed I felt sicker and sicker to the point I had to concentrate on not throwing up in the truck. So I tried to rest lying across the bench as the truck bounced along the road.

So unfortunately I didn't notice much of the environment. I did see the first of the dreaded narrow dark tunnels. Most riders have these little lights that are used for cars to see them, so can be a nervous experience going in only to find a truck coming the other way and very little room to get out of the way!

On arrival at the bushcamp, very uncomfortable. A couple of big chunders and I felt immediately better. Ok, they were full open mouth power chucks. There was no carrot. Go figure. There's always carrot in chunder right, even when no carrot has been eaten?

At camp, the scenery was striking. A narrow barren valley with a small river running through it. Most of us took our turns rolling in the river to get all the dust off. A little chilly perhaps for some, most of us found it refreshing. Sure beats the usual method at camp, washing with the water of a single water bottle.

A great dinner as always (I'd gotten some appetite back after the big purge) and a warm night with a gentle wind. The sky co-operated and even though our view was limited by the close mountains, plenty of stars to be seen.

Day 19 Caraz

More offroad today, all seen in the truck. Not feeling queasy, but wouldn't you know it, the chest infection is getting much worse and setting off the asthma. Lots of wet rattling coughs and short breathing. Very tasty. Plus still sore in the wrists. Knee feels happier thankfully.

This time it was Adrian Roff's (Australia) turn in the truck trying to sleep on the bench while being bounced by the rough road. He had his turn of power chucking.

Lee didn't have a light for his bike at all, so given I was off the bike, I leant him my portable sun. 900 lumens of goodness. James commented that it was so bright it caused everywhere else where the light didn't shine to seem very black, so he had to ride beside Lee.

The scenery just keeps getting more awesome. As we get closer to Caraz, we can see Cordillera Blanca (white range) which are snow capped mountains rising over 5000m in altitude.

At the lunch spot, we saw a Condor flying past very close to us. It did 2 passes. I was too sluggish to get the camera out, and apparently seeing Condors flying in this area are quite rare, even more so to see one within metres of us. A large majestic bird of prey. A great sight.

The hotel was comfortable, and found a great restaurant nearby. I went initially by myself, but was later joined by many others. Seems that when we go hunting, we often go to the same places even when there's plenty of good choices.

Beside our hotel was a church. Later that night there was singing by the choir, and I could clearly hear them through the open bathroom window. Their voices were truly beautiful. What a great way to drift off to sleep.

Day 20 Huaraz. Choke.

Once again seen in the truck, and we've climbed over the last few days from sea level to roughly 3000m (or roughly 10 000 feet).

I was finding it very tough to breathe on this day. In the morning helping carry luggage to the truck, after each bag I had to stop to catch my breath.

Today was only timed from start to lunch. So at lunch I was keeping the time as everyone arrived. Everyone was having a great day. The many comments of the scenery. Green valleys, snow capped mountains and a relatively easy ride with great weather. Photos show palm trees in the foreground and snow capped peaks in the background, yet not so far away. Wow. The pace was quick, and the times between riders was much closer. I was very proud and pleased to see team UK come in towards the front of the group. Normally Tamsin and Adrian have been a good way back, so they had a strong day and stormed in. Huge progress. I was a little selfish in how proud I was of them, as it means I can progress quickly as well, just like they have. Not taking away from being genuinely pleased for them.

Cordillera Blanca from the lunch spot

My photos are far from giving this place justice. I promise I'll take more so more to choose from!

I didn't notice or remember as much as I would have liked, I've fallen a little more inwardly focussed thanks to the lack of air.

Very soon after arrival at the hotel, Susana took me to the clinic to be checked out. The hotel recommended the clinic over the hospital as it's faster, better treatment, and roughly the same price.

After x rays, first the good news. Even though I've been battling this chest infection for almost a month, I didn't have pneumonia. I did have bronchitis (much inflammation in the lung's airways). Temperature and blood pressure was fine, just no breath and what I did have was very rattly. So antibiotics, cortisone injection, cortisone tablets, many doses of using the nebuliser I was feeling a little relieved and told to come back that night. Roughly $160, much cheaper than I expected.

I later found a great cafe/restaurant and enjoyed a banana smoothie, long black coffee and a small hamburger. A good number of us went back later that night. I wasn't hungry after eating earlier, so I enjoyed a hot chocolate with them while they enjoyed dinner. The filet mignon received praise from Malcolm who knows food well. Sadly even though he has run a cafe back in Perth Australia, he still has milk with his coffee. Sigh, not a purist. The shame! Tamsin was feeling more adventurous and ordered cuy (guinea pig). Apparently it tastes like chicken, but more flavour. Don't order one if you're hungry as there isn't much meat, and you really have to pick your way through it to get the little pieces of meat off the bones.

Cuy! Nice guinea pig....with potato!

Later that night on my revisit for more doses using the nebuliser, the doctor wanted me to stay in the clinic overnight. I had progressed, but not enough for his liking. I wasn't keen on it, I was feeling MUCH better. Far from 100%, but I was comfortably walking the 10 blocks or thereabouts to the clinic. So I said I'd be back in the morning.

I look forward to being 100%, as I've never felt totally well since arriving here. I've been perhaps a little over 1 hour slower than the fastest guys at the end of each day, based on riding time alone, I've been losing 2-3 hours each day having to stop to catch my breath. Take that delay out...