The Day of Reckoning

Today has been our most challenging day so far. It started with the wake up alarm at 5.00 am, followed by breakfast at 6.00, then packing the bags and preparing for a long day on the bikes.This time we headed north out of Cusco, in the direction of Ollantaytambo (the stepping off point for any trip to Machu Picchu).

After an preliminary visit to a alpaca textile factory we met up with the cycling support team. Although there are only 13 of us, there are almost as many support staff. As well as Jaeko, who is our main guide, we also have Diego and Jimmy as our two cycling guides. Then we have three drivers for the vehicles, a cook and assistant for the meals. There is also another guy who has been following us with a drone to make a movie, although we hated the drone and discussed various ways to knock it out of the sky. I think he got the message and there has been no sign of him today.

Straight after getting on the bikes we were out in the rural highlands, surrounded by towering, rugged and often snow capped peaks. The skies have continued to be clear and the weather mild. Today we had an early cool breeze to make the cycling conditions absolutely perfect. Now that we had gained some experience on these bikes, we felt ready to tackle some of the much more technical riding we had today.

After three days at this altitude we found ourselves still struggling for air as our ride took us up to near 3900 metres, but it is amazing how the human body adapts and our recovery periods are getting progressively shorter and shorter. There is absolutely no way that we could have even attempted this a couple of days earlier.

We stopped for a late lunch by the circular terraces at Moray. This place was built by the Incas to grow and experiment with different types of crops. It consists of an enormous natural depression in the ground which has been developed into a descending succession of circular terraces. Each progressively lower terrace has a warmer climate and can be used for a different crop. The construction is a staggering example of the technical brilliance of the Incas.

After lunch we had our first taste of exciting downhill riding as we descended 100's of metres down to the sacred valley. Our final stop was the breathtaking ancient salt mines of Marais.

We finally rolled into Ollantaytambo well after dark,exhausted but all very happy that we had experienced one of the best cycling days in our lives.Read more