Spokes and Shoes

Intro I pulled away from Yuri’s restaurant at Laguna Sausacocha around 9:15 AM, feeling the first real spark of curiosity I’ve had in a week. The sun was out, the road was paved, and for the first time since my throat felt like it was scraped by gravel, my lungs Read more

Intro I finally pulled out of Cajabamba at 9:45 AM, my lungs still feeling like they were lined with wet wool after two days of hacking through a cold. The sun was surprisingly aggressive for a mid-April morning, baking the gravel of the 3N into a pale, dusty ribbon that Read more

Intro The decision to stay another night in Cajabamba didn’t come from a place of laziness, but a cold calculation of lung capacity. With a 1,000-meter climb sitting right outside the city limits, the partly cloudy sky didn’t look like an invitation so much as a warning that I wasn’t Read more

Intro I spent today anchored in Cajabamba, trading the rhythm of the pedals for the slow, heavy pulse of a head cold. The sky was a lukewarm mix of clouds and sun, but the road stayed out of reach while I tried to coax my body back into a functioning Read more

Intro The morning in Bella Vista didn’t start with a surge of energy, but with the realization that my body was finally catching up to the weeks of grit and high-altitude exposure. My throat felt like it had been scraped by the very gravel I’ve been riding, and the overcast Read more

Intro Day 252 started on a concrete floor in Morsilla Baja with a throat that felt like it had been scraped by the very gravel I’ve been riding for weeks. The heavy, overcast sky didn’t offer any sympathy, leaking a cold drizzle just as I began the push toward the Read more

Intro I’m writing this by classroom light on a concrete floor in Morsilla Baja, surrounded by empty desks and a chalkboard. The day began in the Cajamarca region under a heavy, overcast sky that didn’t promise much beyond a long, grey grind on gravel. It was a day of slow Read more

Intro The morning in Cajamarca broke with a deceptive sun, the kind that makes you think the miles will come easy. I finally turned the wheels south toward Huaraz on a road that transitioned from smooth pavement to a punishing, sandy incline as the day wore on. The Late Exit Read more

Intro The morning in Cajamarca broke with a rare, clear sun that promised a reprieve from the grey static of the previous week. I set out onto the mostly gravel route with a lighter bike, having stripped away the bulk of my gear to tackle the 1,244-meter climb toward the Read more

Intro I rolled back into Cajamarca this morning on a bus that felt like a refrigerator on wheels. The sky was a flat, partly cloudy grey, and the paved streets of the city felt loud and abrasive after almost a week in the silence of the Chachapoyas highlands. I’m back Read more