Distance: 84.85 km
Ride time: 5:04:36
Average: 16.71 km/h
Max speed: 41.13 km/h
Total: 29004 km
It was a beautiful morning as I left La Joya and started cycling towards the coast of Peru – finally on the road again.
Once in a while I would be descending towards a river, making a green trail across the otherwise barren landscape.
The climb up the other side of those gorges were steep and brutal. More than once I was sure that the gears on my Bianchi had broken, only to realize that I was already in my first gear. I would be standing up on the bike, digging deep to keep up speed on the climbs, as my gears on the Bianchi are much much harder to push than on the mountain bike. Oh well, this is the kind of cycling that makes you strong.
While not climbing out of the gorges the landscape was flat, reminding me of the Australian outback. The temperature was also so warm today that the water in my bottles was getting uncomfortable to drink. Wow, that’s a long time since that happened the last time. At a very deserted stretch of road I saw a small restaurant and quickly went in to order a cold drink and some food.
I noticed that a waitress was listening as I talked to two locals about the trip (and the fact that I’m single). Before I left the restaurant, the nice waitress made sure to give me her her facebook, email and several phone numbers. Oh well, maybe it was a good idea to shave off that beard yesterday 🙂 I decided not to get married today though, but to continue to cycle…
My new friends, the kilometer stones. Only 900 left of them before Lima.
A few kilometers further down the road I was passing 29000 km. I should now be able to celebrate 30K a day north of Lima, not so far into the future.
Before I left Arequipa I wondered if it would still be able to wild camp now that I’m down from the Altiplano. Well, in this part of Peru it is certainly not a problem to find a camp spot. I was soon sound asleep, dreaming happy dreams about being back on the road.
Tomorrow I should reach the Pacific coast!
