Day 927
Lots of fog but no landslip
Well, the new year dawned and for us that meant one thing, back on the bikes and up, up, up! When we arrived in Alausi I had almost been looking forward to the climb out and the next few days riding. From stalking Arnaud on Strava, who we had met in Pasto, I know the next few days would be hard. He climbed over 10,000 feet in one day! We would be splitting it into two days riding, our ages and heavier set-up meant there was no way we would be able to match him. Amazingly we flew up the first few miles of climbing and soon Alausi was just a tiny spot way below us. We had finally found our climbing legs. Another rider we had met back in Costa Rica, Matt P, had commented on his blog, that the upcoming views were the best of his trip (Alaska to Ushuaia) so far. We could only concur. As we rode around the mountain we were blown away by the beauty of the valley and mountains, this was something else! Yes, we had to descend way down to the river and climb all the way back up, but in this setting it was worth it. We knew there was more to come. All along the next section, restaurant after restaurant had built big viewing platforms to enable customers to gaze upon the valley and the railway line’s most famous section, The Devil’s Nose. Alas it wasn’t to be. We could see the clouds building and as we climbed they grew thicker. I believe I have never experienced as complete a white out. At one point I rode ahead of Tom for about 5 seconds. Neither of us could see the other, despite our lights and bright clothing. It was scary riding, and as we passed mirador after mirador we just carried on by.
We’ve not had much luck with the weather and views recently. Cotopaxi, then Chimborazo, both were invisible due to the clouds, and believe me, they’re big. Due to the earth bulging in shape at the Equator, Chimborazo is technically higher than Everest! Now the Devil’s Nose was lost in the fog. Obviously what happened next was predictable, no not an accident, but the rain. Fierce and freezing just as we went down hill. Fortunately, it eased after a few hours and we decided to stick to our original plan and wild camp. We knew we had an awesome view below us, we just couldn’t see it. Our evening meal cooked and eaten, by 6pm we were tucked up in our tent, 7pm it was lights out. We may have found our climbing legs but after only a few hours sleep last night we were shattered!
The following day we were heading to a hotel in the small town of El Tambo. Another cycling buddy, Suzie Mc had waxed lyrically about the hot showers and we couldn’t wait. The ride there wasn’t much fun, climbing in fog and freezing rain is just miserable. Descending no better. Our waterproofs simply gave up. We were wet, filthy, cold and miserable. Thankfully Suzie was spot on, though despite having the heater in the room on for hours every item of clothing we put on this morning was still wet and cold.
Finally, we awoke to sunshine. Today’s ride was short, under 7 miles, though with over 1,100 feet of climbing it was mainly uphill. We were off to Ingapirca. We visited the ruins straight away to hopefully beat the rain, then we checked in to our hotel just as the fog descended and the rain came down. We bunkered down, ate a few meals, read a bit then bed with hot water bottles provided by our host, Elsa.
Morning dawned bright but chilly. We popped on extra layers and hit the road. Tom had come up with a route, however when looking at online maps the road appeared to be blocked by a landslide, and if we managed to get past that the road then seemed to end in the middle of nowhere. Tom, however, was confident we could make it, and so it off we went. I had messaged @bikepootling, aka Simon and Lizzie, who we had met in Medellin, they confirmed they had ridden that way and got out, so we felt pretty confident we’d be OK. We just weren’t certain when the landslip happened. Fortunately, it had been cleared and repaired, the route was actually on a disused railway line and it was just fantastic, dirt, and not a cobble in sight. We then joined a small back road, a friendly guy confirmed it went to Cuenca and off downhill we went. Lots of potholes but again no cobbles, plenty of mad growling dogs though. Why do they hate us cyclists so?
The sun got hotter and hotter, the rain and fog stayed mainly in the hills and we got the sun cream out. After 40 miles we reached Cuenca. We pulled up outside our apartment and straight away we got chatting to two Canadian cyclists, Richard T and his partner. The heavens opened so they made a quick exit and we settled into our apartment for the next two days. Life is certainly good at the moment!
