Our why:

We had a plan: we were going to tackle the Peru Great Divide in Spring 2026, as part of a longer 3-4 month “sabbatical” from work. We love the idea of point-to-point long distance bikepacking trips that traverse a country, and the Peru Great Divide beckoned - with its dramatic alpine scenery, ruggedness, and remoteness. Neither of us had been to South America before, and this seemed like a magical — and challenging — place to start. 

When Erin got furloughed from her science education job in March, with dwindling optimism about returning to work anytime soon, our future plan of going to Peru was staring us in the face: should Erin look for a new job? Should we try our best to embrace the uncertainty, remain optimistic, and wait it out? Should we just do the Peru Great Divide now?? We decided on the latter. We would do the Peru Great Divide this year instead. We’d be leaving in four weeks.

For Erin, choosing to tackle the Peru Great Divide meant choosing certainty. It meant reclaiming agency at a time when so much feels out of your control. Between the time we decided to do the trip and the time we left, we also got told we would have to move out of our rental and we had a summer sub-letter bail. But amongst all of the feelings and the uncertainty of the future, we decided to reclaim the one certain thing we know: we love riding our bike together. Biking together, on our tandem, represents a constant in our life - something certain we can turn to amongst the noise of the world.

The route: 

The Peru Great Divide is a 1000 mile premier dirt touring route that follows mining roads through the Peruvian Andes, from Huaraz to Abancay. Known for its beauty and ruggedness, the route winds its way over 16,000 foot passes and small, remote villages. 

Our plan: 

The plan is to fly into Lima and catch an eight hour bus to Huaraz, where we will spend two nights before starting the route. In Huaraz, we will reassemble our bike, purchase food for the first 2-3 days of the route, and go for a short acclimatization hike. This trip is unique in that we really have no itinerary other than to make it to Huaraz and begin the official route, and hopefully make it to the end in Abancay. Bikepacking.com recommends about 30 days to complete the route, which would mean an average of about 34 miles per day. This timeline factors in potential challenges, like the sheer amount of climbing at elevation and potential for stomach sickness. We are not tied to finishing the route, although we sure would like to! In some ways, the spontaneity of the trip - doing it one year earlier than planned - takes some of the pressure off. We are in pursuit of the adventure. We plan to use multimedia sources to document our trip — both as a way to share it with others (we are the first female tandem duo to do this route, and the second ever tandem) and as a way to ground ourselves in the details of each day. It’s easy to get caught up in the next thing: the next water source, the next town, the next summit. Our hope is that documentation will help us stay present in the moment and illuminate the raw feelings of this sort of adventure - from the grinning cheek-to-cheek adrenaline rushes to the tears. 

We hope you’ll follow along for the highs and lows. You can also follow us on our instagram @queerintandem.