Spokes and Shoes

Intro Chala is currently a town holding its breath, and I am holding mine along with it. The Panamericana south of here is a graveyard of movement, buried under a thick skin of mud that has turned the desert’s main artery into a stagnant mess of trucks and waiting drivers. Read more

Intro I rolled out of Yauca this morning under a partly cloudy sky with the thermometer hovering at 16.8°C. The Panamericana was a smooth ribbon of asphalt, but the initial calm was a deceptive setup for the wind that waited just over the first ridge. The Garden and the Egg […]

Intro I’m writing this from a small room in Yauca, feeling like I’ve been through a rock tumbler. The day started in Puerto De Lomas with a deceptively clear sky and a temperature of 18.5°C, but the 45-kilometer ride that followed was a slow-motion fight against a relentless side-headwind. The […]

Intro I rolled out of Nazca this morning with a focused mindset and a bike that finally felt ready for the long stretch toward Arequipa. The sky was a clear, piercing blue at 16.6°C, but the orange wind warnings from SENAMHI were already humming in the back of my mind […]

Intro I’m sitting in Edgardo’s house tonight, listening to the hum of the desert wind outside. Today was supposed to be a day of movement, but a rare, stubborn drizzle in one of the driest places on Earth kept my tires off the asphalt. Instead of the Panamericana, I spent […]

Intro The morning in Nasca started under a matte grey sky at 21.2°C, a temperature that felt surprisingly heavy given the dry air. After the mechanical frustrations of yesterday, the plan wasn’t to cover massive distance, but to navigate a 21.5-kilometer loop through the local engineering history. The road surface […]

Intro I woke up in Nazca today with the sun already pushing through the curtains, a stark contrast to the grey ceilings of the last few days. I had every intention of rolling out, but the bike had other plans, forcing me off the asphalt and into the slow rhythm […]

Intro The sun was already hitting the curtains hard by 09:00, a massive change from the low, grey ceilings that followed me into Nasca. I had planned to be on the Panamericana by now, but the front tire was soft and my brain felt even softer, so I stayed put […]

Intro I rolled out of Palpa this morning under a flat, grey ceiling of clouds that kept the temperature at a manageable 19.2°C. The road surface was a reliable ribbon of asphalt, a stark contrast to the ancient dust I was about to encounter. My mood was steady, fueled by […]

Intro It’s nearly midnight in Palpa, and the bass from the plaza is still vibrating through the floorboards of my room. Today was a 67-kilometer push from La Venta Baja, starting under a grey, 17°C ceiling that quickly cracked open to reveal a scorching 26°C desert sun. The Panamericana was […]