Intro I left Yanacancha this morning with a stomach full of nothing but four small, over-sweet bananas and a handful of dry biscuits. The sky was a heavy, unmoving grey, and the road immediately turned into a steep, loose gravel grind that forced me into my lowest gear before I’d Read more
Intro I’m writing this by the light of a single bulb in Yanacancha, my legs still humming from the 1,081-meter climb. The morning in Bambamarca was heavy and overcast, the kind of grey that makes the decision to take the unpaved 3NB route feel like a serious roll of the Read more
Intro I’m writing this from a hotel room in Bambamarca, my skin still humming from a 34-kilometer day that felt twice as long. The morning in Chota began with a heavy, overcast sky and the realization that the Andes don’t care about my planning, whether it’s for today’s 821-meter climb Read more
Intro I’m sitting on a balcony in Chota tonight, watching the light fade over the Plaza de Armas while my quadriceps twitch in a slow, rhythmic protest. Today was only 39 kilometers on paper, but with 1,290 meters of vertical gain, it felt like trying to scale a skyscraper made Read more
Intro Chancay Baños is a quiet pocket of heat and sulfur after yesterday’s 1,300-meter vertical grind. The sky was mostly clear today, and for once, the bike stayed locked in the hotel room while I navigated the gravel side-roads on foot and by moto-taxi. The air here feels heavy with Read more
Intro I’m writing this from a small balcony in Chancay Baños, my legs finally still after a day spent grinding up 1,300 meters of vertical gain. The ride out of Catache began under a patchwork sky, transitioning from the dry heat of the lowlands into a lush, green ascent. Most Read more
Intro The morning at Puente Cumbil began with a heavy, humid stillness under a partly cloudy sky that promised heat without the relief of a breeze. My legs were already tight before I even hit the first incline of a 1,100-meter climb, staring at a road surface that alternated between Read more
Intro I rolled out of Chongoyape at noon, the sun already a heavy weight on my shoulders and the pavement radiating a steady, dry heat. This was a short 24-kilometer positioning leg toward Puente Cumbil, a slow-motion push east on smooth asphalt that felt more like a visual transition than Read more
Intro I left Batán Grande under a sun that was already drilling into the pavement, my legs still feeling the weight of the last week’s desert miles. The air was a static 32 degrees Celsius by mid-morning, and the road surface quickly deteriorated from predictable pavement into a jarring collection Read more
Intro I woke up in Illimo feeling like my legs were made of lead, the result of a ten-hour sleep that still didn’t quite clear the fog in my head. The sun was already drilling into the pavement outside my waterless hotel room by the time I managed to pack, Read more