June 2, 2025
Day 20: Herding llamas
2800 ft of gain
Camping at 14,800 ft
4 hrs of riding time
It was the first day in a long time (maybe the whole trip?) that we woke up to the sound of our alarm at 7am. We have been waking up naturally around 5:30 or 6am. But today, in our king bed with curtains drawn, we were fast asleep until 7am. We haven’t been sleeping super well the previous week—perhaps due to sleeping at altitude? We have frequently been sleeping above 13,500 ft which may have contributed. (Tonight we are back at 14,800 ft…)
We lounged in bed for an hour, catching up on our phones and soaking in luxury! Then we headed down to the hotel breakfast for eggs, bread and jam! Eggs feel like such a treat! They are something we can’t really make ourselves and a great source of yummy protein. We went back upstairs to make ourselves coffee and enjoyed coffee and pastry in bed! We are trying to soak in all the comfort while we can. It’s hard to leave sometimes, even when you know it’s what you (mostly) want. Like most mornings, after breakfast was done, it was go-time. We started to pack up, took one last hot shower and went to go pick up our laundry that was supposed to be done at 10am. Peru time seems a little different and it wasn’t ready until 10:45, but we took the time to do some last minute errands, like buy more water and some superglue to try to repair a piece of our tent pole that had broken.
When we got back to the hotel, it was time to face our mechanical issue that we had been unable to solve yesterday: the loose timing chain. After some research, we learned we needed to adjust something called the eccentric, but we still needed some clarity on how to do it. We waited for our bike manufacturer—Co-motion—to open at 8am PT. We called and talked to Dwan who talked us through how to adjust the eccentric to adjust the tension on the timing chain. When we hung up the phone, we were still hesitant as to whether we could do it or not, especially with our small multi tool. However, we did it!!!! We are proud of ourselves for the ways in which we have been able to problem solve (or mostly solve) our mechanical issues so far. It’s also great to have a bike manufacturer who is responsive and available and so willing to help! Thank you Co-Motion!
After that, we were ready to pack up and load up the bike. We have 3 days worth of food so we are definitely loaded up and heavy! It was sad to say goodbye to all the pastries, but we are pleased to have fun snacks around again! We also re-stocked up on fuel and are trying to bring meals that feel more exciting and nutritious than ramen. We have some quinoa and sauces and pasta and red sauce on the menu for this week.
After a final lunch topped off with fruit (and peanut butter), we headed out! The streets of town were busy but felt less scary. We are getting more comfortable with how things operate around here. Eventually, the street quieted and we began a lovely low-grade ascent. It hardly felt like we were biking uphill but the next thing we knew, we were already a couple thousand feet up! It’s amazing what a good grade and good gravel can do! The difference between town and out-of-town is so stark. Town is so loud—dogs are always barking, cars are always honking and music is always playing. There were even fireworks yesterday! Out-of-town is quiet. You can hear the birds, the river and the occasional car honk as they come and go in the distance. Both are beautiful in their own way—towns feel vibrant and full of life. Out-of-town feels beautiful too. We have returned to snowy mountains, safari-like viewing of animals and wide open spaces with beautiful skies. Today’s safari took us to a hard of llamas. Instead of running out of the road when we approached them, the llamas started running down the road for a while. It felt like we were herding them. We just kept biking behind the llamas. We were worried they would get too far from home! Luckily a car came the other way and diverted their path.
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The ride was otherwise uneventful, besides picking up some water at a local tienda. Megan has gotten good at conversing with the locals because they ask mostly the same questions—where are you going? Where are you from? They all smile with kindness and offer us their wishes of safe travels before we bike off.
We biked a couple more miles after the tienda and set up camp in an abandoned(?) bus stop out of the wind. It’s nice to have a place to sit and cook! We are excited because Erin downloaded some Netflix shows and movies to her phone so we now have more nighttime entertainment! It gets cold and dark here pretty fast so tent entertainment is a must to keep morale high!
Today's ride: 23 miles (37 km)
Total: 554 miles (892 km)
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