3 days in the dirt and time for a story.

Thursday 21^st August 2014. Huanchaco to Bush camp. 115 kms, 910 metres of climbing. 17 % dirt.

Today's the day I get back on the bike after 2 rest days in Huanchaco and a day off for being sick. I was really concerned that my stomach problem could return at any time and perhaps this is the reason why I had a terrible night's sleep. I think I was awake from about 2 am. At least I was in a hotel room and not in the tent.

On the rest day I finally sorted out all my gear and have 1 large day bag that carries all my worldly possessions and a bag for my tent and gear. Today we are going camping in the middle of nowhere.

 This is what faced up as soon as we left the Pan American Hwy and hit the dirt. This should be fun.

 I took this photo today whilst resting from the sun. I don't know about the bloke with the facial hair, but the children are gorgeous.

 This is one of the little villages we stopped at during the past 3 days of riding in the dirt.

The photo above is typical of the countryside we're riding in each day. We make our way along a single road that hangs precariously to the cliffs.

For breakfast I had a bowl of cereal and no bread and jam. I usually get by with a bowl of cereal back home before riding so it's reasonable to assume I can do it here. We packed the trucks with all the gear and rolled out of the beautiful seaside town and headed towards the 3^rd largest city in Peru, Trujillo. I did enjoy my time in this part of the world and got to talk to more of the cyclists on the Bike Dreams Tour.

The first part of the ride to lunch was over gentle undulating hills with a nice shoulder to ride on. Once again we had the police escorts all the way to lunch and they would not let the trucks overtake us and put us in danger. They all had to wait their turn to pass us. These officers were just amazing, they would stop on the side of the road and get out their cameras and take photos of us as if we were important to them. They cared for us on the road and showed us the utmost respect.

Lunch was at the 62 km mark on a basketball court. In these parts of the worlds it's a slab of concrete with no fencing around it. We put out the chairs, tables, food and make ourselves right at home. Lunch was 2 salad bread rolls and this time my stomach was turning through eating bread.

Back on the road after a good 30 minute break and the group was now heading to the 100 km mark which would be the turning off point for the first real section of dirt for the tour. The police blocked the road so we could cross over and hit the wilderness.

 A photo of the road we're riding on each day.

 The photo above shows the camping ground we stayed at last night. Absolute paradise.

Barry and I had to get our photo taken with her police before heading off for some more bone jarring riding. And I paid good money to be punished like this.

The dirt road was rocky, uneven, hard to pick a line and jolted every bone in my body. And this is supposed to having a good time. As we got deeper into the dirt section the mountains started to appear around us. The colours with the sun on the face of the mountains were just startling. Deep brown, deep red, grey, blacks, I could see colours that would keep a Geologist (Ashley Lester, my good friend from Wollongong) busy for hours. There is one thing I have to do for Ashley which I do on every trip is that is find a rock from the country I'm visiting. In this case he wants an 'Andesite Rock'. That will come later.

We continued on for about 15 kms till we could see one of the fire engines in the distance. A couple of riders were already at camp but I'm over rushing on this tour, it's a holiday and I want to do it at my pace. As soon as I got in I put up the tent had a wash down and put some warm clothes on. The wind was blowing through the valley and I'm sure it's going to be a cold night out in this place tonight. This will certainly tell me if I bought the right tent or not.

Buck and I went for a walk up one of the small hills overlooking the campsite and took some photos looking down into the valley kms away. It's times like these I wish I brought my good camera. I headed over to the eating area and had a bowl of soup and chatted with Barry and Kristin. I went back to the tent to lay down and do some reading. The reading wasn't a success because I woke myself up from my snoring. I must have dozed off. I heard the fire engine tooting it's horns telling us dinner is ready. Dinner was a nice dish of seafood, vegetables, pasta and a slab of cake for desert. It was perfect.

I feel much better today and am looking forward to a day of riding through a gorge which is suppose to be out of this world. Unfortunately due to living in the wilderness the WiFi is crap. We have another night of bush camping tomorrow and then it's back to luxury.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Friday 22^nd August 2014. Bush camp to Bush camp. 1045 metres climbing, 10% paved. 85 kms.

Another night in the tent and a very good sleep. I've worked out one of the Norwegian guys snores like a freight train, so tonight I've made sure he's a long way away from Tent Hilton. And the same old stuff with people getting out of bed 1 hour before breakfast. I don't care any more, I'm lying in bed till 6.30 am and not budging. It takes me about 20 minutes to pack up home and get dressed.

First thing this morning was to have our photos taken with our police security. They came into camp last night around 2 am and decided to shine their lights all around the campsite to make sure no one was around. Like as if someone is going to come out to this lunar landscape and rob us, I don't think so.

We all rolled out of camp around 8.15 am to hit the dirt for the next 85 kms. Like usual there are those who roar up the road wanting that illusive win, HA, I've already got mine over with and can now relax. Barry and I rode together and this was his first real go at riding on dirt for many years. As I was going down one hill the vibration had caused the bottle holders at the back of my seat to come lose and crash to the road. I only lost 1 screw so when I get into camp I'll have to go and see Lupcho the bike mechanic to help me out.

Lunch was at the 52 km mark in a beautiful location down on the side of the river. This whole section today follows the river for 85 kms. Through tunnels, over many old bridges and along bump, corrugated, sandy, and rocky roads. As we crested one hill our police were firing their guns into an open field doing some practice. We just casually rode past and gave a wave.

I got to take some amazing photos of the mountains that surrounded us the entire day, the tunnels, and just spectacular scenery. The day did heat up after lunch to over 35 degrees C. I didn't feel that bad as I'd been drinking heaps throughout the day not wanting to suffer what I did last week.

We did stop for a nice cold drink before lunch and before the end of the day.

Once in camp we set up tent and then got our clothes and headed down to the river to wash our dirty, dusty bodies and try and clean our cycling gear. Seriously we were disgustingly dirty. The clothes were washed, but didn't look any cleaner than before. Who cares. Our campsite is in a dust bowl.

The rest of the afternoon was spent down near the river relaxing and taking in the view. Just behind where we're camping is a huge mountain that has a road that clings to the side of it. We were told it's a 20 km climb and thankfully we're not going that way tomorrow.

Once again dinner was excellent and now it's time to retire to the tent, do some reading and going to sleep around 8 pm. Tomorrow we have an even harder day with more metres to climb, but no camping, hotel for tomorrow night.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Saturday 23^rd August 2014. Bush camp to Caraz. 66 kms. Paved 35%, 1600 metres of climbing. Summit 2147 metres.

Another night in a dust bowl with the wind blowing dirt everywhere. There's not a place on my body or tent that hasn't seen dust over the past 3 days. I woke around 6 am feeling pretty good and starting packing up at 6.30 am. See it only takes me about 15 minutes to get ready so why should I get up any earlier.

I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and it's hard to digest. A banana and a cup of coffee and we were ready to hit the gravel road for the next 25 kms. Barry and I rode together all day and he's improving each day in coping with the rough terrain we're riding in. You are jolted and belted around all day on the bike with very little respite other than the side of the mountains from the sun. We had a lot of climbing to do today and like every other day on tour, it's tough.\

The first part of the day was pleasant with a gradual climb around spectacular cliffs, amazing gorges, colours in the cliffs changing as the sun got higher and higher in the sky. The only part of the day which we had to pay particular attention too, was the tunnels we had to pass through. In total we had about 30 tunnels from start to finish. We only had one issue in the tunnels when this idiot decided to roar up from behind in the pitch black and go past us. Myself, Barry and Jeanette had to take evasive action and move off the road and lean up against the tunnel wall. This was downright stupidity. If he had stopped at the end of the tunnel he would have been dealt some good old Aussie treatment for doing a dickhead.

After 2 hours of riding we stopped at a bus shelter in a very small village. Barry called over 3 of the kids, who came over and took a seat with us. I got a great photo of the kids with Barry. Barry gave each child one of his food bars, but had to help them unwrap it. These children had the most beautiful smile, and considering the house they live in, it explains a lot about what we really need in life to be truly happy.

We pressed onto the 28 km for dinner, arriving at 10.30 am. I was so glad to get off the dirt and off my ass as well. Lunch was the usual deal, sitting in the shade, watching Peruvian life waddle bye. As we were eating lunch I could see this huge mountain behind us, and yep, we had to climb it straight away. This climb went for about 25 kms with no rest. In and out of darkened tunnels, burning sun, wind, deep drop off on the side of the road which would result in instant death if you got it wrong. But we were having the time of our lives.

Not a good photo, but it's typical of our daily drink stops meeting beautiful people. How lucky are we.

As the day went on the 3 of us were getting tired. We stopped at this house and Barry spoke to this old women who had a fridge full of cold drinks. We were in heaven now. We got some drinks, sat outside under the shelter and relaxed. The temperature was now close to 40 degrees C and we just wanted to get the ride over and done with. I should say that I was extremely impressed with Jeanette's effort today. She stayed with us from lunch to the end of the day and I was driving up the hill and not taking it easy at all.

With about 5 kms to go the road finally flattened out and the end was now in sight. We entered the town of Caraz, and then had to navigate a political rally in the centre of town. We just pushed our bikes along the footpath and the people just let us through. One guy offered Barry a beer as we were going by.

The hotel we're staying at is called Hostel Perla de Los Andes. It's not a bad place, no dirt, no dust, no wind, has a hot shower, and a bed. Barry now taking a nap and soon we're heading off to the internet shop to try and make contact to the outside world.

Tomorrow we head to the city of Huaraz, and another rest day. I can't wait.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.