June 30st 2024 – Cuenca, Ecuador

The hotel in Baños de Agua Santa turned out to be a real gem. We ended up staying for 5 nights. The staff consisted of a woman and a man. Alena worked from 7 in the morning until 7 at night. Marco covered the reminder of the 24 hours. Both were very knowledgeable about the area.

One day Alena and Katrine ganged up on me and sent me to get a haircut at “Rey’s”. He should be the best men’s hairdresser in town. It would be my first haircut in 2 years.
Rey worked on me for about an hour including a shave. He did a good job and charged me $8. I can live with that. Katrine was ecstatic about the result. I had the same kind of undercut when we met almost 30 years ago. Since the haircut I’ve often caught her giving me the “How are you doing” look.

Marco was into trail running and fitness, so he could advise us which gym to choose and trails to run.
The gym he sent us to was one of the best I’ve ever visited and the trails some of the most extreme. One day we did a 7k run he had suggested. Several sections were so steep or technical that we had to walk them. Katrine still managed to sprain an ankle. The most brutal part was a 1.3 km stair climb along a ridge to a statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the town. It was a beautiful trail and a good workout.

After the run we treated ourselves with a visit to a hot spring 1k from the hotel. It was located in the hills above the town. Despite being a Sunday the palace was very quiet. We had to share the 7 pools, ranging from steaming hot to ice cold, with maybe 15 other people. We soaked until our skin disintegrated. It was wonderful.

One afternoon Fin showed up. He had been trying to catch up with us since Medellin in Colombia but Cupid kept tripping him up in the form of a certain Venezuelan woman. That is his story to tell.
Kat and I showed him around town and invited him out for a belated birthday dinner.

It was not easy to leave Baños but, as so often before, we were eventually driven out of town by our spirit of adventure. I had spent some time looking at maps during our stay. Several wriggly lines had caught my attention. It was time to focus on the riding. Fin liked my plan and decided to tag along.
When we left, the hotel closed down. There were no other guests. It was the same with all the hotels in town. The area and to some degree the whole country was suffering. A cocktail of Covid, political unrest and bad weather had brought the Ecuadorian tourist industry to its knees. I hope they get back on their feet soon.

The riding was great as we traveled west into the mountains. The road workers had done a great job clearing the roads since the floods a week earlier.

Chimborazo was the main target for the day. It’s the highest peak in Ecuador and that is not its only claim to fame. With an elevation of 6,263 m (20,548 ft) it is the highest mountain in the Andes north of Peru and higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas. There are summits on earth that are higher above sea level, but because of the oblate spheroid shape of the planet the summit of Chimborazo is the point that has the utmost distance from the center of the Earth and is closest to the sun.
The Volcano was an impressive sight as we approached.

The plan had been to ride the 8 km gravel road from the entrance of the park to the Carrel Refuge at 4850 meters. It is the highest point in Ecuador you can reach with a vehicle. It was rather disappointing when the park officer at the entrance told us that motorcycles are not allowed on that road. We shuffled over to the cafeteria and found comfort in a donut and a warm cup of coffee. It had still been a spectacular ride on the highest paved road in the country and we were at higher altitude than both Pikes Peak and Mt. Evans when we got turned around, so we soon got over the disappointment.

A couple of hour’s riding later we rolled into Guaranda. We had booked rooms at a hotel but when we arrived the place seemed deserted . All gates were locked, windows were missing and no people in sight. After a bit of snooping around we found some to let us in. The place turned out to be a family business and a work in progress. 10 years ago they had built a pool and now they were in the process of building a hotel around that pool. A lot of it looked like shit but the rooms were ok and the family super friendly. With the bikes tucked away behind a locked gate we set out to have a look at the town and hunt down dinner.
Guaranda seemed to be a nice town and after a lot of walking involving many stairs we reached a restaurant with a view and really good food.
When we returned to the hotel they had prepared the Jacuzzi for us. Not a bad way to end a great day.

We awoke to the sound of splashing and loud happy voices. A school class had shown up to receive swimming lessons. It completely transformed the atmosphere and made me recognize the potential of the place. It was a nice start to the day.

It was another great day in the saddle. An hour into the day Fin peeled off to explore a gravel shortcut. Kat and I stayed on the wriggly line drawn on the Garmin. It was a wonderful ride with breathtaking views and several gravel sections. The route dropped us to 300 meters above sea level before we climbed back up into the clouds. Fin’s shortcut had spit him out ahead of Kat and me and we joined up for the last bit of the day’s ride.

The rain accompanied us as we rolled into Riobamba. Fin had found us an Airbnb. It was a nice place. From the rooftop terrace we had a good view of Chimborazo. We had clearly been riding in loops.
The rain ceased shortly after we got off the bikes. It tempted us to go for a walk in the neighborhood. We chanced upon a speaker addressing a crowd in a square. When he was done there was applause followed by screaming, shouting and running police officers as a small fight broke out. We took it as a cue and strolled off to find dinner.

Dawn came fingering through the curtains with the promise of a glorious day.
It was time to revisit the Amazon or more specifically “The Oriente” – a region of eastern Ecuador, comprising the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes and the lowland areas of rainforest in the Amazon basin.
There was still plenty of evidence of the recent floods as we left Riobamba behind heading for Sangay National Park.

The scenery changed completely as we reached the eastern slopes of the mountains. Within a few kilometers the terrain changed from alpine to lush jungle. The great riding and stunning views continued.

We had booked a small house in a village on the edge of the Amazon. We arrived early.
Fin and I used the opportunity to get some work done on the bikes. He needed to do some “pulls” with MechanicO to collect data for his tune guru in North Carolina in an attempt to create new map options (low octane and better fuel economy).
I needed to fix the rear blinkers on Kat’s bike. Riding behind her for a couple of days, Fin had noticed that they weren’t working. As soon as I gained access to the wiring the issue became clear. The previous owner had used shitty crimp connectors when he replaced the OEM blinkers (I had expected better from you Mark 😉). 2 of them had failed. I replaced them with nice solder seal connectors that Paul threw in my toolkit a year ago. Gracias amigo!
With the bikes sorted and the sun below the horizon we went out in search of dinner. The village didn’t offer much to choose between, but we managed to dig up some surprisingly tasty chicken at the village square where a volleyball match had drawn the crowds.

After a relaxed morning around the house it was time to get back to the fresh mountain air. The weather was perfect and the roads pretty much empty. The road conditions changed all the time. It kept us on our toes and the ride interesting. We had a blast.

At one point we passed the mouth of what appeared to be an abandoned road tunnel. We stopped to have a closer look. We walked in a way. It dropped quite a bit and we could see no traces of light ahead. There was no way around it. We had to ride it. Water was dripping from the ceiling and covering the road. It was very exciting. Eventually we rounded a corner and the tunnel spit us out further down the mountain on the same road we had come from.

Back in the light of day Fin decided to branch off and follow a route he had been recommended by a guy in Quito. When Katrine and I arrived in Cuenca 3 hours later, Fin was there to greet us. He had rolled up just 10 minutes earlier. After 4 amazing days in a row where it had been all about the riding, it was time for a change of pace and focus.
We had booked a 3 bedroom apartment in a house at the end of a quiet street outside the city center. It will be our home for the next week or so. We have a list of things we need to do and Cuenca should be the prettiest and most interesting city in the country.