Here´s a few photos of my bike with the new HD Xtracycle.
Also check out the photo of the uppers on my Fox Vanilla Fork. Recently, we´ve blown two sets of uppers because of this. With 3,000 meter descents, you can toast a fork in a matter of hours if you aren´t constantly cleaning off the mud and dust.
We´re packed up and heading out mañana. On our way to Cusco and the sacred valley. Should be beautiful. Will post pictures soon.
Exactly three years have passed since we started our trip up in Alaska. Sometimes, while relaxing in camp we try to think about where we were on that day exactly a year ago, two years ago. Last Christmas at a rafting commune in Guatemala, New Years in a Garifuna Village along the coast of Honduras during a tropical storm, year before that in Moab, Utah enjoying the slickrock canyon country. This year we spent New Years on top of Cotopaxi Volcano at about 19,347 feet. Somehow, every day seems to bring us new adventures and challenges.
This cake was baked by JJ and Goat´s sister on our MSR Dragonfly Stove
We travelled from Prudhoe Bay, AK all the way through Canada and into the states in 3-4 months, but spent 6 in Mexico alone and maintained a similar pace through Central America. Our route through Canada and US was pretty straightforward, there were maps that easily communicated where the best routes would be. In Mexico, they became dangerously inaccurate; our hopes would rest on a desert oasis and we´d find ourselves splashing around in a mud puddle to cool off, trying to filter water through t-shirts before the water filter could possibly work. We became more accustomed to dealing with the unexpected aspects of travel and slowly but surely, bike touring ceased to be our adventure or vacation as much as it became our lifestyle.
Within this lifestyle, we came to accept that good beer no longer exists, there is only one type of cheese: queso fresco, and that sadly, tortillas become extinct in South America. Yet, culinary sacrifices are easy in light of being separated from friends and family for so long; we become uncles, relatives pass away, and our friends have adventures of their own. Sometimes it`s difficult to appreciate the experiences we find ourselves in – each waterfall starts to look the same, each conversation with the locals repeats itself, and the vistas from the high mountain passes feel uninspired. Yet curiosity keeps us pedalling south, and though we can´t always appreciate our experiences in the moment, time has a way of slowing down every once in a while, offering a glimpse of perspective into how extraordinary an adventure it has been.
We were recently sitting in a café in Huaraz with two other cycle tourists we met, one of the guys commented on why more of their friends haven´t joined them and why we don´t see more tourists en route, “What else could they possibly be doing? How could somebody not want to be a bike tourist. It is just such a sweet lifestyle.”
And I couldn´t agree more as I sat under a backdrop of the Cordilleras Blancas, some of the most impressive mountains in the world thinking about our recent experiences. A week before we were hanging out with bullfighters in a small country town, treated like rock stars, a day before that we were held at gunpoint by cocaine smugglers, and at the summit of the white mountains we were greeted be a fierce snowstorm. “Only while Riding the Spine” I thought to myself.
Now that we´re approaching the border of Bolivia, we are for the first time imagining that we will actually arrive in Tierra del Fuego. We have escaped the tropical latitudes near the equator and are starting to reach familiar climates; we are seeing less tropical fruits, and for the first time in ages seeing peaches and apples. We no longer encounter daily and nightly rain storms, but will be passing through some fo the driest areas on earth as we ride along the Atacama Desert and the Great Salt Flats which rumor has it, some of the windiest conditions yet. From there we will drop into Argentina during spring and work our way down the Continental Divide, hoping to arrive in Tierra del Fuego during summer (reversed in southern hemisphere) towards the end of this year. Because we are basically out of money we are going to have to sort of rush through this last stretch of our ride. Please spread the word about our trip as we come into the final stretch.
Freshly tuned up, my bike seemed to do fine through the river crossings that morning and even a section of mud that flooded down the mountain. “Heh. My bike feels great� I thought to myself as I shifted into a harder gear and sped over a few quick rolling hills.
Though as my chain began to skip, I was sure my two dollar “DINGL� brand derailleur was at fault. Even when finely tuned, it offered only 7 of the 8 gears, and now the teeth couldn´t catch any.
Every section graded more than 20 degrees forced me to step off, and first pretend that hammering on the derailleur with a rock would fix the problem, and then, push the bike to the next flat section. This miserable routine continued the next few hours until I arrived in Cochabamba, a city apparently celebrating Easter a week late (rain delayed the celebration, they explained).
A giant tree decorated with ornaments of fruit and cloth had fallen over in the central park and the townfolk were busy trying to right it, while two young girls elaborately costumed sat idly on horses, preparing to be paraded around. I found the others cowering under the presence of a giant mob (more than half the town) that had circled around them, as if the gringos were the second coming of Christ.
Goat looked over my bike, “Bad news. It´s not the derailleur. Your whole drive train is blown. The teeth are gone. We can try flipping each cog and filing the teeth, maybe get you a few extra days of riding, but… well…� and left me to consider our lack of options.
This was to be day one of a lengthy and serious bikepacking section on dirt roads, horse trails, and missing spots on the map. Not the place to be without a drivetrain.
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Riding the Spine has stashed their bikes in Huanúco and have taken a hellish 30 hours of busses to Arequipa where they are organizing a rafting trip down the Cotahuasi River with John Yost and his son JJ Yost who has been riding with us since Panama.Russell Kramer, who had joined us on bike through Central America is flying down to be the safety kayaker for this epic adventure.
The Cotahuasi was first run by a group of American and Peruvian Paddlers, including Gian Marco Vellutino and has since been run commercially by only one or two outfitters when they can find the clients. Unlike the Colca Canyon, the Cotahuasi´s remoteness makes it exceedingly difficult to organize logistics and so very few trips have made it down the canyon. In 2000, a private European group attempted to run the river, but ended in tragedy when a 19 year old woman was tossed out of the boat in a class V rapid and her body was never found.
At over twice the depth of Arizona’s Grand Canyon, the Cotahuasi is the deepest canyon in the world! Measuring 11,587 feet from river to rim, this scarcely-explored Peruvian wilderness remains one of the most pristine environments on Earth. The Cotahuasi River Canyon features a rare glimpse into the Incan world; a geologic, floral, and faunal paradise; and a river-runner’s dream! Draining the western slope of the Andes Mountains, the waterway courses 100 miles over a continuous series of Class IV and V drops, making it one of the most gripping stretches of commercially run whitewater anywhere. Visitors to the Cotahuasi encounter some the rarest and the most extraordinary Incan archeological sites… quaint Peruvian village replete with natural hot springs, spot enormous Andean Condors, and experience one of the most fantastic wilderness river expeditions on Earth!
-Global Descents
Check back in a week or so for photos, videos and stories from this exciting expedition.
If anybody has been following our SPOT Messenger tracking page, they would notice that we have been way out in the middle of nowhere.Â
Apparently, the only reason any of the roads we find exist are becuase of the tremendous mining operations they have going out here that are also polluting the area with cyanide and mercury. Â
We are faced with some serious climbs just about every day, usually 1-3000 meters at a time. One day we only made about 5k in progress, spending the entire day carrying our bikes across dangerous landslides.
My bottom bracket completely failed after 9,000 foot descent and had to be welded directly to the frame. Photos will be posted soon.
Yesterday, coming into Tayabamba we were stopped by two SUV´s, pointing a variety of huge guns at us. Apparently they are the campesino security force.  Will write up more about that when I have some time.
Other than that, we have all gotten tremendously sick, and have been calling our illness the swine flu because it has been so strong. Fortunately we were able to find some Cipro and the course of antibiotics has been pretty effective.
Yesterday we had a rest day in Tayabamba and watched a bullfight and then spent the night hanging out with the bullfighters.  Another great story I´ll be sure to post when I have some time.
Great photos and another video should be coming soon. WE´ve been slacking on posting stories because our Alphasmart Word Processor died and writing in ECAFEs is just too miserable. Fortunately a new Alphasmart is on its way and regular postings will return.
Photo Gallery of our travels through Northern Peru Posted. Click on photo above to visit our photo gallery.
Check out the latest video documenting our recent adventures.
              “How do you feel? Are you nervous?� asked a reporter at the starting line of the race.
               “Nervous? Nah. I would say it is more a feeling of resignation,� JJ replied as he looked at the road ahead.
               The thought of trekking, biking, and paddling across 318 kilometers of some of the most extreme countryside in the world leaves you overwhelmed. We had been exploring the country, self –supported on bikes for the last month and were well aware how difficult this was going to be. Â
               I looked around at the other teams; most were polished up in matching lycra outfits and looked like this was not their first race. They looked serious. Then I checked out our, rather eclectic team: we had affixed the American flag with duct tape to our jerseys, Sean´s Surly Big Dummy long bike looked far too substantial to be in a race, our clothes were all dirty and tattered from the months of bike touring. We did not look very serious or intimidating.
Only in Ecuador, I think to myself as the race director explains that we will be dealing with an active volcano during the competition. Tungurahua Volcano started spewing ash into the sky about a week ago, dumping it across the countryside and piling up in sections of our route.
We are less than 24 hours from the start of HuairaSinchi (Part of the AR World Series), which translates to “the wind´s strength� in Kichwa, but what really worries us about this race is not the wind or even the volcano, but the sustained high elevations throughout the majority of the race.
At the highest point of the 318 kilometer course unveiled last night, the route reaches 14,435 feet and drops to 108 feet in the last 100 kilometers, passing through a tremendous variety of ecosystems. A good 80 kilometers of the race doesn´t fall below 11,482 feet. They promised us that we will be cold and we will suffer. Continue reading
Riding the Spine connects two roads that deadend on opposite sides of a steep valley as they do their best to prepare for the challenging adventure race awaiting them on February 21st.
Click on a photo to check out the new gallery off our bike adventures in Ecuador so far.
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A quick photo of this morning´s campsite (just before the onslaught of schoolchildren). After waiting far too long in the city of Quito for some parts to arrive for the Chupacabra we were able to escape the clutches of city life, though, not without it´s adverse affects. All five of us (Simon joined us in Quito) got some fuerte cold, and though we should have taken it easy to recover, we couldn´t resist the opportunity to get back on the trail and have suffered our entire way to Tena. Now we´re trying to borrow a raft to check out some of the rivers nearby.
Pretty awesome having FIVE on the spine.
    With the help of a policeman at the tollbooth on the Panamericana, we were able to get on a bus headed to Rio Bamba within 10 minutes. Unfortunately, all the seats were occupied and I had to sit in the aisle suffering through the exhaustion that was catching up with me.  I hadn´t slept since I got up to climb Cotopaxi, and the night before that, I could count the hours of sleep I got with one hand.  In Rio Bamba we got some almuerzo, then resupplied our food at a small tienda (stoked to find some tiny Nutella Packets) and hopped on a bus potentially headed to Chimborazo.
      In our search to find the correct bus; the conversations we had at the terminal (including with the driver of the bus that we chose to take), left us unsure there was a bus headed to the mountain, but a short ways into our bus ride Goat pointed out the window and said, “I think we´re on the right one.�  Filling the window was the profile of a tremendous mountain (once thought to be the tallest in the world) and a wave of nervousness rushed through me. “This mountain looks a bit more serious than Cotopaxi,� I thought.
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