|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
WEEK 24 : 12th Apr - 18th Apr 2002 |
||||
| Trip Distance (km) | Quote of the Week | Country | ||
| 22,804 |
"That was ******* embarassing! " - Martin after falling off for the 4th time before getting up the first hill.
"It feels like we are on top of the world. " - Martin, when we stopped to admire the scenery acrss a 10km stretch of flat valley at about 4300m in the Andes. "She must have given me the wrong number " - Boxy, after trying to phone a local girl he met the night before. |
Peru Lima - Huancayo - Huancavelica - Castrovirreyna - Pisco  Map |
||
Memorable Moment After meeting a local rider at a KTM shop in Lima we decided to join a group of local riders who meet and ride out into the Peruvian desert and mountains every Saturday. With Boxy reluctantly handing back Jamie's bike, Jamie and Martin set off to meet the crew. As the group gathered, the number of lighter and more powerful bikes caused a moment of uncertainty as to the nature of the ride ahead. But the question 'Have you done any hill climbing before?' seemed of marginal importance. By the time we made it to the first hill, Martin had made close contact with the dirt twice. The local guys took off up a hill which appeared to be on a 60 degree slope and at least 150m to the top. Seeing our hesitation we were directed to a not so steep side where we took off. Jamie, 2/3 of the way to the top, Martin about 20m behind. It even looked tough to go back down, Martin minus one gear lever which broke off. After being told this was amongst the easiest, we said bye to the locals and with bruised confidence decided more practice was called for. 2 hours and numerous successes later, with no watching locals the initial hill was taken...well at least by one of the Goneriden crew (jetlag is a killer)
|
Pictures of the Week |
Competition Who could make it through South America the fastest. We are likely to run out winners as our competitor is Jean from Montreal, Canada, who is walking around the world, check out his trip at www.wwwalk.org. We hope to see him in Oz in about 8 years. Good luck Jean. |
||
 |
 |
 |
||
Highlight A day of extremes: starting at 8am at 4000m, riding along a mountain valley track with jungle like surrounds, racing along winding limestone roads, unloading at the hotel and then 3 hours riding around in the Paracas Reserve(dunes and hills on a coastal peninsula with sheer cliffs dropping to the sea). Unreal day. |
Risk Activity Apparently Martin was at risk of falling off while following Jamie as he was a little slow after weeks off the bike, however Jamie decided to speed things up a bit in the dunes and nearly lead both of them over a cliff. Risk Factor 9/10 |
|||
Lowlight After over 6 hours of winding up and down mountain roads, passed snowy mountain peaks, over 4800m passes, and mostly in sunshine, we encountered imclement weather only 10kms before our destination with the hail adding an extra sting. |
Road Tally Several pairs of underwear nearly became an addition to the tally this week after numerous near misses with the buses and taxis in Lima, Only one road rule here, use your horn as much as possible. |
|||
 |
 |
|||
