Mountain biking in Peru...

Whooboy! Took a break from the group, and I went on an all day bike trek today. It was...an experience. One I´m so glad I took, but it was...interesting. It was just myself, Olaf (a German in Peru studying Spanish) and out guide Gilbert, who was a total surfer dude! We started at about 3,500 meters, did some flat and climbing to about 3,700 meters (about 12,100 feet), then descended to 2,600 meters (8530 feet). The uphill parts would not have fazed me at home, but here at 12,000 feet with a headwind that you could lean into and not fall over...they killed me! :) It was tough going, especially since my 24 speed bike only had 4 gears! That and my helmet didn´t have a clip, so it had to be tied on!!! Sheesh. I wasn´t expecting top of the line equipment, but come on!

Fixing the bike...about 30 seconds after starting!

Me at the top. Can you see how fabulously my helmet fits!!! Sigh

Blogger isn´t letting me upload pics anymore...so check my Flickr

We did about 30 km, starting just after Chinchinero, biking to the Moras Moray, on to the salt mines and ending up in the valley at Urubamba. The first açhalf was mostly flat with some uphill. Man, those were far harder than I thought they should be. We had this incredible headwind that blew me backwards and sideways into a cactus at one point! But, the downhill was worth it! It was intense. 3,570 feet of descending. Some parts were great, smooth swooping turns. Others were tight, twisty, silty and rocky technical sections. I´m telling ya, that clinic really helped me! I rode stuff today that I would not have before. Getting much better at those tight switchbacks too.

So tonight, I´m tired, but happy. We´re off tomorrow to start our trek, so no updating for about 8 days. One of our group...my mom and mine´s roomate, might have strepthroat. Ick. Hope I don´t catch it. I feel ok, but I have had a sore throat for about 3-4 days...

Anyway, it was great. I have more pics on my flickr site than I can put here. The link is to the right... Hope you all are doing great! :) I´m having a fabulous time. The ladies in the group are wonderful, and I´m just...having a hopefully life-changing experience! :) :)