I began today normally, had breakfast and was looking forward to the ride. It began with a 1200m / 38km climb straight up from the 2900 we’d slept at in Andahuaylas to a pass at 4100m. Then a downhill, then another climb and another downhill to our camp in the eucalyptus forest at nearly 3600m. Should have been a tough day but a goodie. Should have been.
Not long after starting, I felt sick and the more I rode, the worse it got. I’d have to stop and put my head on the handlebars until the nausea passed. Then I’d keep riding. By now I was the last person. There are half a dozen people usually slower than me, but they’d all baulked at the climb and jumped in the truck to lunch at the top. I wanted to do this ride, so persevered. I think it’s good training for life not to jump in the life raft at the first sign of trouble. I don’t expect my business or my marriage to be hassle-free, but I’m not going to bail out.
At 26km, the second truck, which had stocked up on food for tonight, passed me. That was my chance to bail, but I stuck at it as I had to now. I was so late into lunch that they came back to see if I was okay, which was nice. I didn’t eat lunch, just continued. The downhill was fine as I didn’t have to pedal, but as soon as the second climb came, my nausea returned. I got through it and the last 15km, although unpaved, had spectacular views and was downhill. I didn’t take many photos as although the mountains were stunning for us being here, it was hazy and it meant that only the first range showed up – poorly – in a photo and the five behind it disappearing into the distance weren’t on the photo. I took this photo to show how the whole area is cropped.
I saw something different today. A horse with curly hair. As I passed, I wondered why the horse looked different. Curliness is a relatively common genetic mutation and we’ve captured it with certain varieties of domestic pets, I’ve just never seen a curly horse. How's this cute piglet?
Campsite tonight is lovely. It’s a small grassy clearing amongst small gum trees on all sides. The Aussie contingent of Bike Dreams feels right at home.
What a cold evening! As soon as the sun went down, the temperature plummeted. Still feeling unwell, I spent the time until dinner laying in my tent, wondering if I would have dinner. The fire engine’s siren indicated dinner time and I decided to give it a go. I’m glad I did. Although I only had a small portion, Kirstin’s mushroom risotto with tender beef and stir-fried vegetables was delicious. Bush camps are usually AFDs for me and even with the red wine on the tables for Wilbert, the owner’s birthday, I was happy not to drink. I was on dinner dishes roster and it was so cold that I think we set a new record time and then dived into our tents. I had a warm night and a good sleep.
foto: janin
Malcolm
(to be continued)