a self-supported bicycle tour through South America

10th - 14th August 07 Total: 611miles/978km

Tumbes > Acapulco (25miles/40km) > Talara (78miles/125km) > Sullana (56miles/90km) > Piura (24miles/38km)

Our alarm usually gets set for 0540hrs, but increasingly we are finding it more difficult to get out of bed. As the days go by, and we clock up more and more kilometres, our muscles are getting more and more tired. Hence our reluctance to get out of bed in the mornings.
Simon is in charge of all the gadgets, including the alarm clock, or the Timepiece (a very daggy looking, but nonetheless useful, watch that hangs off a carabineer and is usually attached to Simon’s belt cleat ala “German tourist wearing socks with his sandals style”. When the timepiece goes off in the morning, I lay very still pretending that I am asleep in the vain hope that Simon will fall back to sleep himself and allow us a little more of a lie in. Sometimes this works, but it also means fighting with mid morning traffic. Catch twenty-two. I don’t think, however, that I have ever required so much sleep or wanted so much sleep in my life! Who wants shift work coupled with constant jet lag and sleep aids when you can have 7 hours cycling a day to make you sleep?
After we drag ourselves out of bed, Simon starts on the porridge and I pack away all the sleeping gear. We eat, then get packed..this whole process usually takes us a good 2 hours. We are, needless to say, aiming to get this time down.
After our stint at Oro Verde, we started off to a rather damp morning with overcast skies and a fine, soaking drizzle. Not much motivation to get the get the legs moving let me tell you. The first part of the day is always so hard to get going. The muscle just above your knee is the first to ache (I think it is the lactic acid getting moving) and it takes a good 7 km before you get into your groove. It is at the 4 km mark though that you have to take your jacket off, and then the 6 km mark for a drink….as I said a very slow start for non-morning people.
We hit the coast for the first time at a place called Zorritos, another dodgy shanty town. We had hoped to make Mancora on this day, but got hungry at about 1130 and as Simon had been dreaming of a fabulous restaurant with and English speaker and a good steak, the Universe worked its magic … and VOILA! Playa Florida appeared. One never knows what you are going to get when you pull onto a dirt track but the palm trees looked promising. We had lunch – prawns – and decided to give ourselves a rest afternoon and then stay the night. All based on the best prawns we have ever tasted, with servings to rival any American chain restaurant.
The setting was idyllic, beach bungalows, white sand, cold beers, and even local ladies selling handmade bling. Simon added to his South American bling collection by buying a new set of beads for his neck. I rather fancied the fresh water pearls but thought they might attract too much attention from passing thieves. I am waiting for the markets in Cusco.
We had an afternoon siesta, got up and ate some more prawns washed down with a Magnum. This day was heaven. We have now been spoiled rotten. Yvette, the Peruvian lady who ran Playa Florida, had lived in Colorado and spoke great English. She was incredibly helpful with our onward journey the next day, and even arranged for her brother (who was on his way to visit her from Chiclayo) to stop on the road when he saw us to deliver some water and the yummiest Melting Moment type biscuits ever – energy!
After our unscheduled stop, we had a big day ahead of us. The headwind was quite strong, and the sun hot. The major obstacle for the day was the mountain we tackled before we reached El Alto. We have realised though that these coastal mountains always have a more immediate downhill (unlike the Andes) so we were rather chipper about climbing it. Simon, my little mountain goat, is a genius at these hills. He loves them and steams ahead of me…carrying twice as much kit, very impressive. I sometimes suspect though that he likes to be first so he gets a longer break waiting for me at the top!
As the sun started to get lower and we realised that we still had another 20 km to travel before Talara, we decided to camp on the side of the road. The conditions were close to perfect with flat terrain, and low lying shrubs to cover us from the road and traffic. We set up camp, cooked dinner and were in bed asleep by 2000hrs all after cycling 110 km! This truly is living.
With another century to cover the following day, we pushed off relatively early (bearing in mind the morning Timepiece ritual … don’t tell Simon about this one) and had a very slow start due to a very strong headwind. This lasted for most of the morning, and as we knew there were very few stops for water along the way, the day of cycling ahead just seemed like such a daunting and unwanted prospect. Our Road Angel was on our side though as the wind changed direction in the early afternoon and we pretty much coasted, wind assisted, into Sullana for the night. The prawns in Sullana are nothing to write home about….as I said spoiled for life now.
The following day, with only 39 km to cover (in preparation for two days of 100km each or more to cross the Sechura Desert) we find ourselves in Piura. It has been a treat having such a short day of cycling. The afternoon spent cleaning the bikes and doing some food shopping, with the locals from the restaurant wondering over to give Simon advice on thieves and travelling with a woman. All in Spanish mind you!
Not looking forward to the next two days, but the road will at least be flat. Headwinds can be crippling though. A day off perhaps for Chiclayo as we need to get some money changed. [Jen]