4. Slippery When Wet
Day 125
I didn’t need an alarm or wake up call today. I woke up to an incredible noise. My first thought, obviously, was that I had one drink too many last night and it all exploded in my head. After careful analysis I have realized that the noise is a church bell which was right outside of my window. That was relief.
It is nice morning with some sunshine but fairly chilly as I am almost at 3,000m again. No problem, I have stuff to put on. It was easy to get out of the town through morning “rush hours”. Right after the town I started to climb. The road is pretty decent and some nice views but I am all bundled up and plugged to my bike so I don’t bother stopping. Very soon I am in the clouds again. I roll over the pass at 3,800m and started a gradual descend. I stayed above 3,000m the whole day, though. The paved road gets me to a big town and then back so I’ve decided to take a shortcut. What can possibly go wrong, right? How many times have I said that? Can’t even count. I take the exit and ride on a very bad dirt road with tons of traffic. Big trucks, small cars, horses, lamas, donkeys, ever possible “vehicle” is there. The road narrows and I am on a double track. I am riding on a dried mud. This place would be impassable for me with just little rain. I am riding now in the direction I came from. Hmmm, did I miss the turn? I turn around and sure enough, there is a little path I missed. Well, the path leads to the bridge or rather what used to be a bridge before it got washed away. OK, this is not gonna work so I backtrack all the way to the main road.
I checked my GPS and found another route only few km down the main road. Easy to spot and off I go, ripping it on the gravel road. But there are too many small roads from there and I miss the turn again. But I find that out way into a gravel, white knuckle descent. I am not turning here. I continue through the fields and farms. There are many dogs chasing me but when I stop, they stop as well. Chickens … I am weaving through the fields and people there are looking at me and probably saying “… another gringo is lost …”. And they would be right. I can see the main road in the distance and disregard my GPS which is lost as well. I go by my gut instinct which never failed me so far. Looking south at the clouds and I start to worry. Looks very dark despite not being even noon. But I have only 1.5 hrs to go and it should be on the paved road. Pretty soon I am on it and life is good. Not sure if this “shortcut” was faster but it was more fun.
I get into a small town of Cajabamba. It is Sunday and it is busy. People, cars and animals everywhere. It is the market day. And at one point, I am right in the middle of it. People sell their stuff right on the street and even though it is the main street I rather turn around and try to find another route. Meantime I am trying not run over their chickens or geese.
By the time I get out of the town it started to rain. Not much in the beginning but it is annoying and cold. The road has all but disappeared. It is basically mosaic of potholes tied together with little broken pavements. Lots of sand and silt washed on the road from the hills and fields from previous rains. It is a mountain road fit for a horse. Barely. I have only about 40km left. I should be through that before all gets wet and muddy. That was the plan. It didn’t work out. It is pissing rain, it is very cold and I am in the clouds on the side of mountains somewhere in Peru. Small washes on the road are becoming bigger and soaked with water. They are slicker then ice. I am crawling in 1st gear through mud. I am not having fun. What drives me bananas is that every 50m there is a speed bump. Not a nice one but the square one, you need to come almost to a stop to get over it. There is always a speed bump in sight. You can’t go faster then 20 km/h anyway! They should fix the road before they build those bumps. Then there are bridges. Dozens of them. They are all cover by steel plates which would be fine in dry conditions. It is extremely slippery now on them, no matter what tires you have on. I am practically walking my bike. It is very slow going. I’ve done 30 kms in two hrs … There is a break in the clouds and I can see the lake which is my destination. The last 5 km is on better pavement, thank goodness. I am wet, cold and hungry. And not in he best mood either. I find the hotel and text my friends who suppose to be somewhere around. In a few minutes, Kathleen and Jesse are coming from the hotel across the street. I check in in the same hotel. Small room, but I don’t need much. There is no heat in the room, it will be a cold night.