Biking the Sacred Valley

Tell me, what’s an adventure trip without a few wounds? I’m glad that most of you have remained mostly unscathed, but for me, and maybe you too, it can be fun to live on the edge every once in a while. Sometimes that approach can sting a bit, but whom amongst us doesn’t feel a sense of accomplishment when we meekly, or proudly, display those hard-earned scars to our friends? This sounds like a story, so allow me to start at the beginning.

We did not remain in the fabled city of Cusco for long. Bright and early the next morning we were assembled to depart in our mini-van for the starting point of our day long mountain biking trip. It was a good thing that the pounding headache from last night had departed during our beauty sleep. Altitude sickness can have various levels of severity. Fortunately we escaped with only a brief headache from the low oxygen in this atmosphere. Maybe it was the Coca tea that helped? The pretty green leaves from the Coca plant can be chewed or brewed into tea, and it is offered in every hotel. It contains the tiniest traces of Cocaine, and several other beneficial ingredients.

Coco Tea anyone?

After 30 minutes or so we were in the beautiful countryside where the views were staggering in all directions. The guides were awesome, the bikes fantastic, and our enthusiasm was equal to the task. Our day was broken into four segments. Part one was a moderate severity (a few hours length) which ended with a waiting cooked lunch under a shaded open tent. Part two was brief, but there were a few tough climbs with the bike, and with the limited oxygen in the air, I opted for the bus ride to the next stop. Part three was called “technical”, which loosely translates into downhill, fast, boulders and rocks in the way, hairpin turns, and often a narrow path along a precipitous drop. Am I exaggerating? No. There were 5  of us that were crazy, I mean brave, enough to eagerly plunge ahead. Two guides made up the team, while the remainder of our group chose the van. Seats were dropped low, helmets cinched tight, gloves adjusted, and off we went. The descent was exhilarating, better than most of the deranged things you and I have done to date. WOOO HOOO was often heard in the ethers. By the time we had reached the destined salt pans, and our other friends, we had dust on our clothes, big smiles, one flat tire, and just a bit of blood. Personally, I fell when my tire got caught in a rut and I plunked over. Parts of my arm and leg look a bit nasty, firmly swollen, and just a bit odd in color. BUT, all is well because adrenaline takes care of pain, and the bloody wounds were only superficial. Our friend Kellie went over the cliff and gave Miguel, our guide, the biggest fright of his life. But that turned out okay too because a bush caught her and the bike without too much of a drop. She rode on with a smile and a nice collection of scratches. After visiting the salt pans (see pictures), our little “technical” troop had reduced its number to four, and we finished in style down Part four, which was equally difficult, even though some of us (me) chose to walk the bike at times.

Our biking path was very rural

That was an incredible day, and I am so excited to share with you the photos and a soon to be created mini-film. We finished our day in a new town, Ollantaytambo. It is the ancient crossroads of three sacred, deeply gorged valleys. For most, this small village is the starting point to access the train or trail to visit Machu Picchu. But don’t you think we’ve already done enough for today? Here is a short video created from our breeze through Cusco to give you a feel for our little travel group.