Spokes and Shoes

Intro The morning began with a 05:45 wake-up call that felt more like an eviction notice, the landlord’s knock echoing through the cold room as a blunt reminder that my time on the coast was up. By 08:17, I was finally rolling out into a clear, 8.7°C morning, the paved Read more

Intro I am writing this in a quiet room in Tilali, tucked away where the mobile signal doesn’t reach. The day began in Huancané at a biting 2.5°C under a sky so clear it felt fragile, transitioning from frozen pavement to the sandy fringes of Lake Titicaca. It was a Read more

Intro I rolled out of Tilali with the scent of peeled mandarinas still on my fingers and a sharp 8.2°C chill biting at my ears. The morning was clear and focused, a final farewell to the Peruvian side of the lake before the pavement ended and the real work began. Read more

Intro Day 345 began with the transition from the silence of the islands back to the rhythmic grind of the mainland. I rolled out into an overcast morning where the thermometer sat at a biting 7.7°C, feeling the weight of the Altiplano air as I prepared to trade boat decks Read more

Intro Day 344 on the road and my bike finally saw some action after the boat ride to Amantani. The morning was a slow-motion affair at Amadeus and Joanna’s homestay, dominated by a single pancake and a deep dive into Bolivian route planning. By the time I geared up at Read more

Intro Day 343 began with the heavy, nutty scent of black quinoa pancakes and a sky that couldn’t decide between a drizzle and a glare. Moving from Luquina to Amantani Island required a logistical dance of boats and pedals, starting under a 14.4°C dampness that followed me across the Capachica Read more

Intro Day 342 and my legs finally have a reprieve from the pedals, though the thin air at 3,800 meters ensures nothing is truly easy. I woke up in Luquina to a crisp 10.4°C and a sky so clear it looked like polished glass, preparing for a boat transit across Read more

Intro Day 341 feels strange without a chain to lube or a tire to check. I’m in Luquina on the Titicaca Peninsula, where the morning began at a crisp 10.9°C and the ‘road’ was a sheet of glass-clear water rather than the usual Andean gravel. After the high-altitude grind of Read more

Intro The morning in Chucuito was a slow, overcast crawl, with the thermometer holding at 14.5°C and a light wind tugging at the hotel curtains. After the long haul from Arequipa and the rest in Puno, my legs felt heavy, and the paved road ahead seemed both a relief and Read more

Intro The morning in Puno broke under a sky so clear it looked like blue enamel, with the temperature hovering just high enough to make the rooftop terrace at Inka Rest Hostel bearable. I spent the early hours staring at the paved streets below, knowing today wasn’t about mileage but Read more