Bike Riding - Rail Riding & Roof Riding
A couple of spectacular and exhilarating experiences:
We were in Riobamba for a day and a half and our original plan was to paraglide but that wasn{t going to happen so we thought we might just rent some bikes and a map and bike around a bit. When we got there we realized it was quite a serious biking operation he told us they didn{t usually just rent bikes out but they could rent us a couple of bikes and give us a map for a bike ride to a nearby town. However he also mentioned we could also do the more challenging Mount Chimborazo. We eventually decided to get the most out of it and do the Chimborazo ride.
Wow, Right choice.
For those that don{t know (most of you I assume) Mount Chimborazo has the distinction of being the mountain farthest from the center of the earth. While Everst is the farthest point on earth above Sea Level at 8846 metres from Sea Level. Chimborazo is only 6310 m above sea level. However, and here comes a geography lesson for ya, the earth is not a perfect spere but bulges at the equator. In fact, the distance between the North and South poles is over 21,340 metres shorter than two opposing points on the equator. Got all that?
Anyway that doesn{t really have a lot to do with the biking trip. What they did is drove us up to the first refuge which is at 4800 metres, about the same as where I was when I summitted Meru. You could feel the lack of oxygen, but that wouldn{t last long as we got on our bikes and sped down the mountain. It was incredible: glorious, fun, exhilirating and very challenging. So on an incredibly clear day we flew down the winding gravel path of the mountain for awhile before hitting the highway. Our support vehicle was behind us but by the time we hit the highway I had stopped waiting for Emily and just flew. It was incredible, we were flying down the highway surrounded by beautiful countryside. I had a speedometer on my bike and I topped out at 57 km/hr at a few points. It was absolutely thrilling.
Unbeknownst to me we had to turn off the highway after awhile and do some more offroading to circle around and see the other side of the volcan. I had flown so far ahead of Emily that by the time support vehicle realized and had caught up with me I was about 5 or 6km ahead of her and the turnoff. However he picked me up and drove me back to the turn off.
From there it was challenging rocky terrain with some uphills and fine silt thrown in to make the riding more difficult. It was still an incredible experience, sometimes we were just flying and sometimes it was all about control in navigating rocks.
I{m not much of a mountain biker but I could start. For those who took 407 with me I did a monologue once about being a kid and the freedom of riding my bike just for the pure joy, well this came pretty damn close. The freedom of riding while being surrounded by amazing countryside, I think I saw every shade of green possible, dying greens that were almost brown to dark forest greens to bright sunlit green. By the end of the day we were exhausted but thoroughly satisfied and happy.
The Day after was another unique experience. We took "La Nariz del Diablo" train from Riobamba to Alausi. The nose of the devil is a popular ride and an "engineering feat" that takes you through the Andes and descends a sheer cliff and one point with "ingenious engineering" which involves switchbacks and actually going Caboose first at one point. Actually the Nose is cool but not the highlight. The highlight is actually roofriding. For a dollar you can rent a cushion and sit on the roof of the train. Needless to say that is really what everyone does and so you have this double line of Gringos sitting on the roof as the train traverses the Andes. It was awesome, an amazing way to see even more of the countryside and get some breathtaking views of the Andes as we tromped through on the train. Admittedly we didn{t prepare for it and as we left at 7am the first hour was actually quite cold and shaky, but once the sun was up we warmed up and it was a great way to really take in the mountains and the small towns we passed through.
We are now in Cuenca.
love to all,
C