Distance: 52.84 km
Ride time: 3:53:07
Average: 13.60 km/h
Altitude: 2014 m
Total: 25638 km
There was excitement in the air as we left Vinchina behind and aimed for the mountains. The first part of the day was spent cycling through the beautiful Quebrada de Troya. The road twisted upwards through the oddly shaped mountains along a river.
I’m sure a geologist could have said many interesting things about the shapes of the mountains. I just enjoyed the amazing views and took a few photos.
Apart from one mining site and a few cars that passed along the way, we were pretty much left to ourselves.
In Jaque, a rough settlement at 1800 m, we stopped for an hour to cook our dinner. This would also be our last chance to get water before reaching 3600 m. On my bike I now have food for almost 20 days plus 10 liters of water. My bike has never been this heavy before!
As we left Jaque to continue the climbing I noticed a cracking sound from my back wheel. I guess I have reached the limit of how much weight I can put there. I hope it holds up for this next part of the trip.
We continued cycling until the sun was setting behind the mountains. We then pulled over to the side of the road and put up our tents.
It feels good to finally be on the move towards the high mountains. Petter and I have been thinking about and planning this part of the trip for a while – now feels good to actually be doing it!
Tomorrow the real climbing will start.
