30km Mountain Biking in the Andes

Jan 9th: We went on an 8 hour bus ride winding through the Andes from Cuenca (in the Southern Sierras) to Ambato (Central part of the country) and eventually Banos (right below volcano Tungurahua – over 5300m). We succumbed to a mild form of altitude sickness while on the bus from Cuenca to Alausi – while passing by 4000+m ascent/descent.

Jan 10th: today was a crazy day of mountain biking. We rented mountain bikes right from the hostel. It was a breathtaking experience because it was a descent down 30km of the Andes over nearly 1000meters. After the trip, the skin on my forearm was red/purple simmering from the sun’s ultraviolet damage – and two days later it still hurts two days later.
The route we took is the old road from Banos (elevation 1800m) to Puyo (900m) – 60km total. Thus there were lots of buses, trucks driving on the road as well – except the new road goes through at least five tunnels while the old road – also the road for bicycles and motorcycles only go through one tunnel. But it was quite scary with trucks and buses roaring down behind you and sometimes honking constantly to warn you of the potential consequences if your bike strayed into the middle of the road. Going through the tunnel on a bike was a more harrowing experience – the tunnel was narrow enough for only one vehicle and with no lights. It was horrifying riding in the middle of the tunnel – it was pitch dark and you can’t even see the ground – I was afraid that I was going to bumped into a rock and fall/injure seriously.

Even though elevation drop is quite dramatic, the actual road features quite a bit of up and down – much more uphill than what we were expecting, and hence the entire trip was more tiring. Some segments of the road is also unpaved with unbelievable amount of mud – almost impossible to ride especially uphill. We made frequent stops while going uphill, using sugarcane juice to relieve ourselves. But the downhill component was still a blast– we were zipping down the main-road with at least 30km/hr. We also walked our bikes through muddy paths. However the whole way we were treated with buena vistas of the Eastern slopes of the Andes...There were waterfalls/cascades everywhere!

One of the most interesting detour was at a little village named Rio Verde. While we wanted to refresh our sweaty faces with the cold water from the Green River, we were drafted by Ecuadorian MTV channel to be in their cell phone commercial. My travelmate Gary had to hold hands with a sexy Ecuadorian girl, or put her hand around her shoulder and walk her around in a very romantic manner.

The extra fascinating piece of scenery we saw was the ash plume from the volcanic activity of Volcano Tungurahua. Apparently this volcano is one of the most active in the world with constant daily activity.