to Latacunga: Avenue of the Volcanoes?

April 1, 2017

Today we are two years on the road. In one way it seems like we have been doing this forever and it is hard to remember "real" life before. On the other hand it seems like it was just yesterday when we rode out of Ossendrecht headed east. Time has flown.

Yesterday, just around the corner from the hotel, Patrick noticed his rear tire going soft and had to walk the last half block with a flat tire. We were too wiped out yesterday to fix it, so first thing this morning is to change Patrick's rear tube and find the cause of the flat. Another one of those pesky little metal wires from a disintegrated truck tire.

It is dreary and grey outside, but we carry our still wet gear downstairs, assemble the gear on our bikes and set off. Ambato is a very hilly city, we start with a steep downhill into a ravine that cuts through on the north side of the city, then a steep climb onto a plateau. Traffic is fairly heavy and cycling is no fun. Cycle touring is awesome when you're cruising along in nature with little traffic to worry about and pleasing views wherever you look. Reality though is that much riding occurs in ugly concrete jungles with rusting steel, unfinished and already deteriorating concrete structures and trash wherever you look. Add to that a dreary wet morning and busy traffic on the Pan American Highway and you wonder: "why are we doing this?".

After climbing back out of the ravine we have a gradual ascent almost all the way to Latacunga. Traffic improves and the road widens to a four lane highway with nice wide shoulders mostly, though the shoulder disappears occasionally . We have been communicating with Tony and Sarah, the British cyclists we first met in Dushanbe and saw several times more along the Pamir Highway. They are now headed south from Cartagena and our paths will cross today in Latacunga. We are two years on the road today, and they will be one year tomorrow. This calls for a celebration! This is why we do this!

We have booked a room at the Sendero de Volcano Hostel and meet them there.

The place has a pretty nice backpackers feel to it, even though it seems backpackers do not talk with each other anymore. Most people are much more interested in their personal electronic device and the internet than to actually talk to another person they have never met before and will never see again after tomorrow. We guess meeting Tony and Sarah again disproves this statement, we spent the afternoon having coffee and catching up on our adventures, and share some beers on the rooftop terrace in the evening.

We are lucky to see a little of Volcano Cotopaxi, the clouds part just a little in the afternoon and just before sunset to expose a little of its slopes.

The not so pretty side of bicycle touring: leaving Ambato in the rain.

Two years on the road! Our reflection in a building.

Rachel showing off her well-traveled outfit. The top she bought in 1992 in New Zealand on her first cycling tour and has been on every tour since. The skirt was worn on the 2006-07 Asian trip.

Widening the road. "I would not put the bed in that upstairs room corner. There is a good chance of getting run over by a truck while asleep in your own bed," Patrick says.

Lower slopes of Cotopaxi visible through the clouds.

Tony and Sarah Davies, one year on the road tomorrow. We met them at the Green House Hostel in Dushanbe.

Nice light over the foothills around Latacunga.

Some more views of Cotopaxi just before sunset.

Celebrating our reunion and sending greetings to Will, Super Cycling Man and Jo Skeats. It is cold here so close to the equator.

Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 29,815 km (18,515 miles)

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