Biking in Peru

LeeL · Dec 19, 2017

This time with pics uploaded one by one

LeeL said:
Gonna try to fix the pics but here's more before I run out of steam

Just a half-day for us so we could play tourist a bit and rest a tad before doing the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu hike.

Descent from Misminay at 3885m to Tarabamba at 3000m. Unfortunately part of the trail has been taken out by a new road but there's lot of natural berms and playfulness in what is left. Also saw an old Incan agricultural laboratory at Moray and the salt ponds at Maras (3175m). The salt rises from ocean and through tectonic pressure is extruded through geological strata to this elevation and is incredibly concentrated and pure

The revenue from the salt pans gives a lot of money to the community and draws lots of tourism.

Then we went to the Mercado Urubamba. When we were little kids in Malaysia we would always follow Mum around for food shopping. She knew all the shopkeepers. The sights and sounds were always so interesting.

LeeL · Dec 26, 2017

Even more #blessed then one can imagine in real life. On a trip to hike the Inca Trail from Chachabamba via Winaywayna and Intipunku to Machu Picchu organized via Peru Outdoor Experiences Sidenote- Inca Trails specifically the Runaniang are steep! And maybe not llama-friendly. Got lucky and avoided crowds!

Much thanks to Willy Altamirano for showing us around and humouring my yoga poses. And yes there really is a #machupicchuyoga hashtag

Inca trail

A deserted Winay Wayna

Intipunku (the Sun Gate)

The alarmingly majestic Inca Bridge

Machu Picchu

The rather underrated town of Aguas Caliente

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LeeL · Dec 26, 2017

The Salkantay trek is usually done in 4 days if hiked. We opted to do it in one completing 44kms with "only" 800m of ascending but most of it in the death zone for us sea-level dwellers climbing from 3800m to 4650m. The reward is that from Abra Salkantay to Rio Santa Teresa is a 3800m descent. Rowdy, rocky, and should be sponsored by dentists as you will be picking up teeth from the "eyebrow of the jungle" if you crash. It's pretty epic and not for lycra crowd but well worth doing.

Uphill portion with horse support for the bikes. Our sea-level dweller lungs appreciated and took the help. I tipped the porters generously.

Took poser pictures as the light was disappearing and the clouds were coming in quick

Downhill portion is like 3 successive technical Garbonzo to valley bottom rides. Almost zero rest as there were always rocks and tech sections to navigate.

After the end of the alpine to subalpine segment we picked up a trail that's simply called Jungle Enduro. By the hallmark of the Salkantay descent its' smooth and fast and pure singletrack. Quite the icing on the cake to end that way.

We started at Mollepata and ended up at the Termales Banos in Sta Teresa. At both places there is a chance to contribute to the towns; Mollepata via the entry fee to the Salkantay park and Sta Teresa through the fee to use the hot springs. I really like the fact that the community owns and operates the hot springs in Sta Teresa - all the money goes to them for development and facilities. It truly makes a difference in both Mollepata and Sta Teresa. The streets are clean. The marketplaces are full and in good shape. There is work and commerce.

Some have asked how much something like costs. Ballpark is $ 1800 for 10 full days of riding including breakfast, lunch, all accoms, all in-country transport (transport, flight from Lima to Cusco) if a smaller or bigger group size and group plan. Call it 1600 if bigger group of 8 + people Budget about $20 pp/day for dinner. More if you drink. Less if you eat simpler. More if you eat gucci (Peruvian food is really good). This is really approximate. We also hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Also snagged 5* accoms at the base of Salkantay courtesy of Diego's contacts with Mountain Lodges of Peru. This is all extra but the comfort was worth it.

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puffmoike · Jan 1, 2018

Amazing. I'm going to Peru for two weeks in two weeks with my family. Didn't think I'd ride at all, but this post has changed that!

Most I could manage is a day or two of riding. Going to Lima for a week and Cusco for a week. Any recommendations for day trips?

I think I could handle most of the stuff in your photos (the DH jumps out of Lima are definitely too much) but who knows how much more intimidating it would look in real life. ;-)

I live in Australia and ride a Trek Fuel EX 9.8 mostly on single track trails, but do a bit more gnarly stuff on it with a full face helmet now and again. I have no idea about how consistently trail ratings are applied internationally but am comfortable on all the black runs I've come across here, but leave the dedicated DH double black stuff alone.

One Pivot · Jan 1, 2018

Man, I'm so jealous. My mom was born in Chiclayo and I have family in Lima, and still I haven't managed to go!

LeeL · Jan 2, 2018

puffmoike said:
Amazing. I'm going to Peru for two weeks in two weeks with my family. Didn't think I'd ride at all, but this post has changed that!

Most I could manage is a day or two of riding. Going to Lima for a week and Cusco for a week. Any recommendations for day trips?

Daytrips out of Lima? Definitely Pachacamac and Olleros. You can rent bigger bikes from Holy Trails MTB if you'd like. Just email diego@holytrails.pe to make sure he's got a bike set aside for you.

As far as Cusco there's a pile of daytrips out of there too. We mostly day-tripped out of Urubamba but that's just 30mins from Cusco. Will post those up.

LeeL · Jan 2, 2018

After Salkantay we chilled in Sta. Teresa and watched Peru beat New Zealand 2-0 to qualify for the Football World Cup for the first time in 36 years. The whole country partied hard! VAMOS PERU CARAJO!

The next day we drove back to Urubamba via Abra Malaga at over 4400m. It was socked in so we elected to not do the Inca Megavalanche course and instead headed back to the Sacred Valley and lower elevations to ride the Racchi trail. There are four Racchi combinations off the viewpoint on the Urubamba-Cusco road and we took Racchi Caleta all the way down to Diego's property at Huayllabamba for an enjoyable 800m descent - good for tired legs

puffmoike · Jan 2, 2018

LeeL said:
After Salkantay we chilled in Sta. Teresa and watched Peru beat New Zealand 2-0 to qualify for the Football World Cup for the first time in 36 years. The whole country partied hard! VAMOS PERU CARAJO!

The friends we are visiting were at that game. They are dual Peruvian-Australian citizens, and Australia and Peru are in the same group at the World Cup. But being Peruvian natives I have no doubt who they'll be supporting.

What standard do you need to be for these trails? Are there any that stood out as being particularly more or less technical/dangerous than the others? Are your photos generally representative of the terrain? (Are you the sort of rider who pulls out the camera for the gnarliest features, or is photography the last thing you're thinking about when the trail gets steep?)

I'm a 45yo man, and have ridden my 2017 Trek Fuel EX 9.8 for 2000km (1300m) of primarily single track in past 12 months, which is more mountain biking than I've ever done before. I've never ridden a bigger bike (although the Fuel is generally considered a 'big' 130mm bike). On popular trails in Victoria, Australia I tend to be top 5-20% on Strava, but that falls away to 30% on the most technical trails (and I don't ride the few local double black trails).

I'm relatively comfortable with most terrain, including rock gardens, switchbacks, etc but having mostly ridden road bikes jumping is still a mystery to me. I'm assuming that the rider in red jumping in the Lima DH photos was your guide. He's clearly much, much better than me. ;-) I'm keen to get better/more confident at jumping, but not when I'm a long way from hospitals, in a second world country, on the other side of the world!

I'm trying to balance the adrenaline rush we all love with personal safety, and with limited time to ride in Peru I can't particularly ease my way in. I don't want to injure myself/walk around every feature, but I don't want to 'waste' a day on a trail that's not challenging.

Thanks!

LeeL · Jan 2, 2018

puffmoike said:
The friends we are visiting were at that game. They are dual Peruvian-Australian citizens, and Australia and Peru are in the same group at the World Cup. But being Peruvian natives I have no doubt who they'll be supporting.

What standard do you need to be for these trails? Are there any that stood out as being particularly more or less technical/dangerous than the others? Are your photos generally representative of the terrain? (Are you the sort of rider who pulls out the camera for the gnarliest features, or is photography the last thing you're thinking about when the trail gets steep?)

I'm a 45yo man, and have ridden my 2017 Trek Fuel EX 9.8 for 2000km (1300m) of primarily single track in past 12 months, which is more mountain biking than I've ever done before. I've never ridden a bigger bike (although the Fuel is generally considered a 'big' 130mm bike). On popular trails in Victoria, Australia I tend to be top 5-20% on Strava, but that falls away to 30% on the most technical trails (and I don't ride the few local double black trails).

I'm relatively comfortable with most terrain, including rock gardens, switchbacks, etc but having mostly ridden road bikes jumping is still a mystery to me. I'm assuming that the rider in red jumping in the Lima DH photos was your guide. He's clearly much, much better than me. ;-) I'm keen to get better/more confident at jumping, but not when I'm a long way from hospitals, in a second world country, on the other side of the world!

I'm trying to balance the adrenaline rush we all love with personal safety, and with limited time to ride in Peru I can't particularly ease my way in. I don't want to injure myself/walk around every feature, but I don't want to 'waste' a day on a trail that's not challenging.

Thanks!

Puff

The trails are generally as depicted. There are easier. There are harder.

I was coming off a pretty bad high ankle sprain and was still injured going into the trip. Diego and the tail guide made sure to watch for me and to check stop me at more difficult parts. My wife was in top form and rode most everything but she's a former Whistler Bike Park patroller so had decent judgment so could chase down the leader. Ie they had a leader and a tail

The Fuel will be on the short side of travel if only because the descents can be long so they'll also recommend things like thicker tubeless tires, metallic discbrake pads etc. Its more your conditioning that may be a factor tbh.

Having said that I found Diego to be really good at tailoring speed and trails to ability. At the start of the trip while I was still basically onelegged he really kept it dialled down so I could see his lines to keep up. Towards the end when I had healed up more he let it loose a bit. If you're honest with him as I was I'd imagine you'll have a pretty good time

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puffmoike · Jan 2, 2018

LeeL said:
Puff

The trails are generally as depicted. There are easier. There are harder.

Lee,

Thanks so much.

I won't be taking my bike - way too much hassle for at most 2 or 3 days riding, and as you point out it's not the right bike for the terrain (but now you've inspired me I'll probably take shorts, jerseys, base layers, shoes and SPDs, etc).

I'll contact Holy Trails and see what happens. There's another operator I've found that have Santa Cruz Nomads and YT Capras, so seems like there will be options.

Now I'll just have to get my head around riding in the rain (Melbourne is pretty dry, so I tend to be a fair weather rider. January in Peru is going to be wet.)

LeeL · Jan 2, 2018

puffmoike said:
Lee,

Thanks so much.

I won't be taking my bike - way too much hassle for at most 2 or 3 days riding, and as you point out it's not the right bike for the terrain (but now you've inspired me I'll probably take shorts, jerseys, base layers, shoes and SPDs, etc).

I'll contact Holy Trails and see what happens. There's another operator I've found that have Santa Cruz Nomads and YT Capras, so seems like there will be options.

Now I'll just have to get my head around riding in the rain (Melbourne is pretty dry, so I tend to be a fair weather rider. January in Peru is going to be wet.)

Hmmm. There are trails there on the quasidesert/dry side eg Lima/Olleros. I forgot to mention that a bunch of the Sacred Valley stuff we rode was right after it rained. They were perfect the day after

Neither Shar or I are super experienced at desert riding so the evening showers wetting down trails and keeping dust down was appreciated

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LeeL · Jan 2, 2018

I thought Peru had blown my mind with its massive vertical, immense diversity and grandeur of terrain and technicality of trails. Then we rode Huchuy Qosqo. "Little Cusco" is perched on a ledge above the Sacred Valley. The home of the "gentleman" Inca Wiraqucha (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huiracocha_Inca); it was hidden from the genocidal Spanish colonialists.

I mentioned before that the archaeological ruins are omnipresent. There's simply so many of them and the Inka were such outstanding stonemasons/architects that their trails, highways, and structures have withstood the test of centuries. Huchuy Qosqo was like riding through a museum. But a museum of stairs, intricate stonework and tech-gnar trails.

We rode from 4400m to 2800m via Lamay through history, culture and Inca highways.

At the Huchuy Qosqo site

Descending to valley floor

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LeeL · Jan 4, 2018

We finished riding with Holy Trails MTB Peru and Peru Outdoor Experiences by taking another 1650m truck assisted ride from alpine to Sacred Valley. True singletrack in paramo, high elevation forest and then brake-burning descent awaited us. Finished of course with Inca sites.

First had to deal with traffic jams

Synclines/anticlines in Peru

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LeeL · Apr 17, 2018

All the pic links are broken wtf?

Here's some shots from being published on Singletrack

https://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-trails/peru-mountain-biking-lima-part-1/

Fleas · Apr 18, 2018

Finally got to check this out. Awesome trip and great write-up! :thumbsup:

-F

LeeL · Apr 25, 2018

Part2 because its got the pictures

https://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-trails/peru-mountain-biking-sacred-valley-north-side-part-2/

caldog · May 31, 2018

I got back earliar this month from a mountain biking trip in Peru with KB Tours. Was fortunate to be able to ride many trails around Ollantaytambo/Cusco and also perfect timing to be able to participate in the 2018 Inca Avalanche race. Riding in Peru was absolutely amazing. As described in this thread, the riding is incredible with the sheer magnitude of the Andes mountains, variety of terrain and the ability to ride right through the history (ruins and terraces). To top it all off, got to race in the Inca Avalanche. I can't describe the energy at the start of the race... there is only one other mass start race I know of and that's the Megavalanche. I'm not a race and did it for fun and definitely an experience I'll never forget. Here are some videos I put together of my trip:

Racing to see Peru - starts with some cultural video and ends with riding

Carnage and Crashes Galore on the Inca Avalanche Trail

Calca Pass - started at 14,600 feet and escended approximately 4,600 feet

Anyone that can make it to Peru will not be disappointed by the riding!

Biking in Peru

LeeL

LeeL

LeeL

puffmoike

One Pivot

LeeL

LeeL

puffmoike

LeeL

puffmoike

LeeL

LeeL

LeeL

LeeL

Fleas

LeeL

caldog

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