a self-supported bicycle tour through South America

4th - 7th August 07 Total: 487 miles / 779km

Quito > Tambopaxi (42miles/67km) > Ambato (90miles/144km) > Guayaquil (265miles/424km)

We set off from the Marriot a little nervous and apprehensive about the day ahead. I am prone to fall off my bike (due mostly to my lack of experience with clip pedals) and was more nervous about falling off in front of the Marriot than anything else really!

We had read the cycle out of Quito was pretty horrible. Mostly uphill and full of big trucks with lots of pollution. Reality set in. The pollution was suffocating, the traffic heavy, and the inlcine endless. I could feel the pollution in the back of my throat and then I developed a chesty cough. We hit a downhill stretch (joy) and the whole idea of cycling through South America seemed like a wonderful idea….until the next hill. The ascent contintued throughout the next few hours, and yes there were tears. Day one and already tears….from me that is. Simon was too busy telling me to cycle faster and to put my bike in a higher gear. I was not very happy, especially considering that it had been 7 and a half hours since breakfast. I am not good when I am hungry.

Lunchtime was spent outside the Military Academy. Cheese and tomato rolls. We thought the 12 volt sandwhich maker was a bit of a luxury and had decided against it. Seriously.

We were hoping to make Lasso the first night but as we were only doing about 7 miles an hour this looked very unlikely. So, we decided to take a detour to Cotapaxi National Park knowing that we would get a great campsite and would be relatively safe. The city seemed to go on forever and the towns joined in with eachother. Not good for camping. And as we were getting later in the day, a 20 km detour seemed very doable and rather appealing compared to the trucks and pollution of the Pan American Highway (Panam).

The warm fuzzy feeling we had about a lovely campsite in a National Park quickly faded when we discovered the condition of the road. The map showed it as a B road, but it transpired that this road was no more than a cobble stone track…all uphill at a 1 in 4 gradient! The hill was so steep, and the road so bumpy that we had to get off and walk our bikes. Not very easy when you are carrying 40 kilos of kit. Oddly enough a Mr Whippy van went up past us only to come back a while later laughing when we had only moved about 100 yards. Crazy Gringos!

We had run into a couple of cyclists coming down the hill who were a part of a tour group, who told us that the park entrance closed at 1730, and that we had about 2 hours worth of cycling to get to the gate. It was now about 1600, we had already done 55 km and it was getting late. We were concerned that we wouldn’t make the gate in time so decided to hitch a ride with a passing truck, and then for the last 50 minute stretch of road, an army vehicle offered us our last ride for the day. 2 hours to go. Yeah, if you are going downhill on an unloaded mountain bike! Tourists!

Once we reached the gate, having given the army guys some di nero for beers at the mess, we set off for the last 3 km of the day. A relatively flat track to the Tambopaxi campground took almost an hour. The conditions were rocky and sandy and very hard to cycle on. I was scared of falling off, and threw my toys out of the pram. It had been a long day and this was ridiculous. The road conditions were just unbearable, and the altitude kicked in. We would be out of breath in seconds. We thought this would be a breeze. But no.

Nevertheless, we pushed on to the campsite, which appeared deserted, and found a lovely Hacienda serving hot food and best of all…..hot showers! On leaving the Marriot that morning, I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t see a hot shower for at least a week. This made me very happy and warm. We couldn’t believe how the temperature had dropped and how the altitude was effecting us (couldn’t believe that I was already using Katherine’s beanie - hand knitted out of baby Alpaca).

The following day, we packed up having arranged a lift across the other side of the Park toward Lasso, taking in inspiring scenery. Here we picked up the Panam and made swift progress to the outskirts of Ambato for the night. The last hill of the day was a bitter taste of what was to come.

Monday was an early start (after a terrible nights’ sleep) with an aim for Riobamba that night just 60 km down the road (yeah right, whatever!) 25 km into the day and 4 hours later, we had done nothing but climb insanely steep mountains. The altitude was really taking its toll and we had an 11,500 ft anticipated total ascent to make that day, we started to question if we would make Riobamba at all.

Shortly after a lunch, we reached a major interchange and contemplated the crazy Ecuadorian buses near the petrol station. We stood and watched from the forecourt for an hour or so, and decided that we would be unable to run (literally) to catch the bus with bikes in tow (local style) whilst it was still moving! It was at the this point we met a lovely man and his brother on their way to Guayaquil who offered to drop us in Riobamba. A decision well made as we continued our ascent along the Panam. We could never have imagined cycling this, and were so greatful to our nameless friend.

On our way to Riobamba, our friend spoke of the beauty of the coast and the flatlands, which seemed so appealing. We promptly decided to change our route and head to Guayaquil with our friend and his brother, seeing it was so easy and they were so friendly (although, it did cross our minds that we would get pulled over by the rest of the family somewhere along the way and be stripped of all our kit!). Mum’s, don’t worry….

Our friend was incredibly generous (even buying us cokes) and true to his word. The scenery (all uphill - 12,000 ft!) was epic. How on earth people farm on a vertical mountain face we have no idea! The lower down we got, the warmer it became with the vegetation appearing more tropical. Bananas everywhere!

We were dropped off at a hotel in the city and decided to take a day out to replan our route south along the coast to build up our cylcing fitness without the affects of altitude sickness in preparation for Macchu Picchu and Bolivia.

Neither of us anticipated just how great the effect of altitude sickness would have on our ability to tackle the mountains and make the distance we need to make to get to Argentina in time.

Now, we are looking forward to more sunshine (haven’t had that much recently as we have been literally in the clouds) flat roads and starry nights.