"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

Sunday December 10, 2000: 3100 Meter Vertical Climb - (Frank from) the foothills of the Peruvian Andes (12km post) to 73km post), 63km

Today I rode for almost eight hours all uphill - and I still did not hit the pass. I started at 5:20am and climbed from about 700 meters above sea level to about 3800 meters and set camp in light drizzle beside the highway overlooking a valley below.

In the morning as the sun rose and I continued towards the top, the tempuratures got very high. It was hot enough even for the local Quechua people that I passed before entering the pueblo of Villatamvo. I decided to set a series of increasingly easier goals as the day progressed. I decided to rest after the first 8km and eat something, then after 7.5km, then 7km, then 6.5km, etc.

I rarely got over 8 kph except for two spots where I had a total of maybe one minute of easy pedalling at maximum speeds of 22kph which is not that fast. It is funny that when I was fortunate enough to get a less steep section, I would feel blessed at hitting 10kph and the pedalling would feel easy. Strange but true.

My hard work was rewarded and blessed with beautiful mountain views. At 34 km post I thought that I was nearing the top because I saw so many mountain peaks below me (and the ever-meandering and switchback highway). But I was not correct. In fact when I reached the little town of Villatamvo at 52km post, they told me that I had to climb another 37 km. OH MY GOODNESS! I realized that I would not hit the pass of 4200km today. So, I took a long rest at the restaurant. The people in the town were very helpful, encouraging and curious.

After my rest, the temperatures plummeted as I again climbed. It began to drizzle which got my fingers pretty chilly. I found myself feeling irritable at times. I guess the eight hours of hard physical work was getting to me. By the way the eight hours is of cycling time, not including any of the rest time. The actual start and finish time spanned about 12 hours.

I found an acceptable camping spot on a flat section with cliffs rising both above and below me. My fingers were frozen but I had a great little area. I was only hidden from traffic coming from the west, but I did not worry about it. I figured that at nightfall it would be difficult to see my tent from any side of the highway. Also, the traffic was so low (only one car every 20 minutes) that I was not worried about being robbed during the night. If 1/1000 people were robbers it would take a long time before enough vehicles would pass me to even out the odds.

I slept quickly and early after eating some bread and cheese sandwiches.

-Often hard work is rewarded in different ways than actually expected
-Frank Pollari Dec 10, 2000: Market day, the search for Frank, and home-hunting in Puquio. -- Puquio, Perú (Tad)