It was a nice change to ride the rail trail toward Quito, far away from smooth but very gently sloped.
At Pifo there was a pizza shop and this one was named the "family pizza," people must have big families here.
At lunch I made a dog friend who decided to come with me. We ate pizza.
We took turns leading the way and watched some of the Ecuadorian countryside cats sneak around.
He always looked out for me, staring down stranger dogs who look my way.
I, unfortunately did not share the same loyalty when a pack of dogs started barking at him and did nothing. The man who came out to see whats happening told me there is no exit from here scared away the dogs but our friendship had been broken and dog went its own way :(
Its always fun stopping for water. I drink what the locals drink, even if its from a stream. It feels a little more modern here with potable water and not a milion hoses hanging around like in Colombia.
Then I took the stairs.. err, the ladder.
And into the golden brown fields
There were narrow stretches
And the dog alarm was sounded at a nearby ranch. Sending cows into odd movements and horses looking with curiousity.
There was a neat climb up the valley and away from Quito
Then it got a little muddy and to make it worse, a pack of cows started running ahead of me and pooping all over the place.
Horses on the other hand were very cool and friendly.
top chef Ecuador: when all else fails, add yesterday's pizza to the mix
Morning rush hour took place around 7. Men, horses and dogs off to work. One ran alongside for a while and told me that he has no idea about the way I am going and happily remarked: "this is your horse?"
Yup, my push horse!
A few km of road and it was pasture hopping up towards 4100m.
Horses seem to have grown nice pelts to deal with the cold.
I have entered the eternal pastures of ecuador, where animals eat for months and years and houses are nowhere to be found.
Somehow a dog has decided to walk here...
who are you? where do you come from? what are your hopes and dreams?
I had planned a shortcut to a lake but just as I crested the top it began raining strong winds and maybe better for another time, plus I saw a road down in the valley.
And if you are wondering, what might trucks carry up the cobble stone roads.... its rocks!
veggie police, remember to eat your veggies!
In town was a burger night and a visit at the good view hostel.
with a view of cotopaxi
Instead of sticking to the trans ecuador mountain bike route, i could see another volcano and possibly do a trail shortcut.
I stopped to play with the dogs at a nice lodge. They seemed to have cabins with a buttler horse.
A woman asked if I was staying here, its apparently $10 for the cabin, i guess I am.
A big view, a waterfall, horse buttler and in-bed bird viewing? Crazy and they even had hot water.
the horse butler didnt like me and came outside to take a giant poop near the door
We made dinner with my white dog friend and waited for the meteor shower, no luck though. Apparently there was also camping further dow at the lake because at 11pm a couple ran up to the road saying "too cold, no stars"
dog friend drololed all over my pants, not nice!
The dog tried to follow but she was too fat and couldnt keep up.
Up the hill I rode with the colombian police, here on some excercise and in their free time biking to volcanoes.
They took turns riding my bike to the top and we had some coffee/hot chocolate.
We parted ways at the ranger station, apparently you need a permission from the ministry of environment in Quito and another one from ranch owners to hike here. If you ask me, that is a giant pile of....
It was great to see some wild animals and more brave birds
What I didnt see was water and spent the rest of the day going up toward a stream. It was sketchy brown water but it will have to do. I found a sheltered spot between patches of bushes at 4300m. Those must have been the brightest stars I have ever seen.
It has been a while since I had frost in the morning so I did not emerge from the tent until the sun was shining brightly over the Antisana volcano.
It was great riding down with tailwind and the best part was that if I can take a hiking trail, I can intersect my route further south.
For some parts it wasnt much of a trail but a geral route through the surprisingly easy highlands.
I reached a ranch where I was charged $5 to cross. Dogs were happy to play and I got good intel on the trail.
"Do you carry extra gasoline for emergency?" Asked the man. People here do not ask as often if its a motorcycle but just assume that it is. I make sure to leave a muddy footprint at puddles, especially if its somewhere a moto cant go.
not pretty but it beats bushwacking through the dense grass
birds always fly by to see who i am, what I am
My friend told me 4 hours to a lake but I made it there in 2. Not much from here to the pass so it was a good place to camp. The whole thing giving me a little bit of Alaska feel with the large open spaces and a view of a snow capped giant. I could still see where I woke up this morning but distance is not important. This could be a whole new sub-genre of bicycle touring - slow bikepacking.
when life gives you lemon mayo, you put it on top of the pasta!
It was a slow but steady push to the pass. Dead dog pass, as there was a dead dog there. Why was he wandering so far away from the ranches? The view of Cotopaxi opened up and the downhill began nicely but turned into a rocky walk-a-bike. Following was singletrack in dense unrideable grass. Eventually I had to change my definition of rideable and with few pedaling and constant adjusting of where the pedals were I could ride past most of it.
i immidiately regretted trying to ride this part, almost ended in a front flip - would have been good for the camera though...
Finally I connected with an old road and rode down to the bottom of the valley. There was just one thing... why not ride into town for a burger? Some 800m vertical down down and if I stash my gear here riding back would be easy.
I took few notes where I hid my stuff and went on. The thing about burgers is that you have to earn them. Sometimes looking at the gps track, looking up and wondering who else rides the trans Ecuador singletrack route? At one point I had to throw my bike in the bushes and go under a fence. How could a single person do this going the opposite direction? The fences grew taller, the mud ran deeper and the rocks were bigger but every now and then you get a little bit of nice pasture or a road.
I bet that burger wouldnt have tasted as good if I had just ridden down in an hour.
this time i was prepared, I avoided all the unnecessary plastic bags by just giving them my pot to put the burger in!
The climb was mostly on a cobble road but I really felt sorry for those logging truck drivers, driving this on an overloaded truck is scary. I lost all but one of my tomatoes and two onions from the bumps.
Once past that, it was great pasture pushing with big views. I'd get lost in the wind and a Tallest man on earth album on the speaker until a cow snaps you back into reality.
The last bit was made tougher with the constant wind but there was a sweet spot near a stream with decent view and even firewood if the wind would die down enough.
Still windy in the morning and I ran into Sebastian who has been biking from Argentina. We exchanged route intel and agreed to keep in touch since he will be back in chile in few weeks. Super rad to meet other cyclists on the way, i kind of regret not inviting him to ride up with me he didnt seem in a rush. Big difference in the weight of the bikes, I suggested he go around the cobblestone route.
Wind continued to blow and I climbed nearly flat terrain in granny gear. I spotted a shelter and figured that would be a good spot to stop for lunch. Wind kept howling like it was nobodys business and maybe this would be a good spot to spend the day.
The climb over the top was nice and the downhill amazing despitee the rocky road. While there were sogns of people, I did not see anybody.
I was in a wild place, the land where the donkeys run wild.
I met people near the last houses, before a thriving community, now only inhabited by one person. They were super happy to see the fat bike and told me that I cant make it to the other side. After some chatting and when they realized that I was a little crazy they said it is okay.
An old jeep track eventually faded into the grasslands and I was chasing cows, horses and deer up the big open valleys. This would not fall exactly under "rideable" definition but it was either ride it or push my bike for the rest of the day.
Past some streams and a couple of gates I saw a jeep driving beside the road. The road had become a mudpit, hardly driveable but after the spongy grasslands it was perfect for me. They took turns taking photos with my bike and invited me to camp with them as it was late. They look after the property on the weekend and asked me that if I see any not to tell them they are here. Apparently poaching is a problem here and they showed me some photos of masked, full camo people dragging wounded deer tied with a rope to a horse.
After few hours of climbing, a jeep track cut straight up a hillside and it led to a lake. After the monumental effort it took to make it up, it felt like a waste to go back so I decided to stay.
Quiet was the life at this lake, nearby a snowcapped giant and a promise of a view of Cotopaxi. I got to goof around all day and try to make friends with the wild horses and work on my down jacket tan line.
sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do... there was nothing else but dried cow poop to weigh my camera down
The white man Cotopaxi showed up briefly in the morning but I had to go. I was completely out of food and that would make for a fun ride down.
The descend was absolutely amazing through bare hillsides and pine tree plantations.
At Mulalo I asked to use the wifi at an internet cafe and had a look at my bank account. I had gottent a little too excited and spent all my money on a new camera, leaving me with $2 and $30 in my bank account. There is a bulgarian saying:
"Do you know that guy who bought a ferrari? He died!"
"Wow, from what a crash?"
"No, from hunger!"
Nothing wrong with being a little hungry for doing the things you love, I loaded up with $2 worth of bread and headed off.
Just before a major downpour I made it to the house of a friend who had invited me to rest a few days. Still a long way to Peru but I am really liking Ecuador and the mountain bike route.
hey, look - another mountain
and just as I type this, somebody had sent me some money... funny how things just work out! Thank you Bram from Netherlands and Scott!!!