6. High Altitude Record
Day 113
Today is a very short day, only about 130 km. BUT, I will be riding at very high altitude. Going west to town of Salinas.
I checked the weather and again, everything is suppose to be totally dry. We will see about that. I wake up in the morning to the sound of rain hitting the roof. Not again! I go out on the balcony and sure enough, it all socked in. Not even a break anywhere. I have nothing to pack so I just hang around quietly wishing the rain goes away. Well, as always, nobody listens to me. I head across the main plaza to a nice coffee shop for breakfast. I tried to eat slowly to waste some time. It is not working. One of the plan today to ride high above the city to a skywalk lookout. Very impressive. But I don’t see 200m in front of me, so no point doing there.
I finally had enough and decided it is time to bite the bullet. I collect my bike, load my gear and suit up for rain. I ride up the valley hoping the rain will stop. It does but only briefly. I get of the main road and head for the hills. This time for the highest mountain in Ecuador, Chimborazo. Not to the top but around it. The road is climbing steadily and gets worse and worse. I want to stand up in the pegs on my bike to better see the road ahead but then I expose more of my body to the rain … Pick your poison. It is getting colder. The visibility is crap, at the times it is less then 50m. I don’t think I will see any mountains today. Then the trees disappear at 3,900m. The “alpine” region starts very high in Ecuador. And I was thinking it will be hot on the Equator. Silly me. I keep climbing, there almost no traffic. I am on the road on the side of the volcano. I hit 4,000m and still heading up. There is nothing but few shrubs at this altitude. The road turns into a pothole slalom. Extremely dangerous manly because the drivers in the opposite direction drive anywhere they can to avoid the potholes. Even on your side. And there are big trucks coming out of nowhere emerging from the fog only few meters in front of you. There were few “oh, crap” moments there. The temp is in the single digits now and I still keep climbing. It is drizzling now and I expect to start snowing any minute. Then road starts to go down. The highest point. My GPS reads 4,417m and 7˚C. My new altitude record. I catch a few breaks in the clouds and see a herd of lamas. Those are pretty hardy animals. Living at these altitudes….
I get to an intersection and I have 2 choices, left on the pavement or straight on the dirt road. Which one you think I took? Straight, of course. It is still raining and I am getting cold. I am only 35 km from my destination so no point to gear up into my heated jacket. It would only get wet. For a brief moment I catch a glimpse of Chimborazo. Just a small part but at least I can say I saw it. I ride on the road and I am still way above 4,000m. There is NOBODY around me and I don’t even see anything when the clouds lift for a moment. The rain gets stronger more I descend. It is getting miserable. But kinda cool at the same time. The GPS is ticking down very slowly. I am being super cautious I don’t want to dump my bike. At this altitude, it would be next to impossible to get it back up. After another one long hour I finally get to my destination. It probably looks very nice, when is not raining. I get to the main square only to realize that there are no name on the streets. It takes me awhile to find my place. The houses are on the side of the hill here and the streets almost vertical. They can be glad that it doesn’t snow here. Nobody would get anywhere.
Anyway, I have my room and finally can take off all my wet gear. I even managed to wash my bike while my room was being prepped. There is no heating in my room so they give my a small portable heater. The owner lady is very sweet and takes me to the main room and tries to light the fire in the fire place. It takes awhile and it is not enough. By this time, I am really cold that I can even type on my laptop. I need something warm and pronto. I head uptown and I am up very quickly out of breath. I am at 3,500m! That’s why. And I am old. I find a place, order a pizza and beer and big cup of hot chocolate. After awhile I start to warm up. It is late so I head back after the dinner. Straight to bad with half of my cloths still on. It will be a tough night.