AUGUST 12 - QUITO TO PAPALLACTA

Up at 0530 and there is already lots of activity.  In the 20 minutes it takes to get ready and go downstairs the tour staff and half the riders are buzzing around.  First there is the riders meeting.  This photo shows the white board with the day's instructions on it.  You take a photo of it and copy it to a note pad to put on your bike.  It has a whole new set of shorthand and abbreviations.

After the meeting its breakfast time.  A bit of a zoo as the hotel can't handle this many people this early.












 Breakfast done and its off we go, in dribs and drabs when they are ready.  We are near the end of the group, and we hope to follow the experienced riders as we try to get out ot Quito.  Within minutes we see riders going in the wrong direction after a round about, but luckily we figure it out.  There were very subtle instructions on that white board. One scary highlight is 3.5 km downhill on a very narrow, rough cobblesone road. Luckily, Quito drivers are generally very skilled (crazy, but skilled) anf know how to miss cyclists while driving at breakneck speed.  I was gripping my handlebars way too tightly to risk a photo.



Once we are out of town we get a view of this volcano in the distance (don't know the name).

Countryside along the way.

If you look closely at the white board photo you will see today's run is 64 km (not far), but with 1858 meters of climbing (1.5 times Mt. Waqshington) and 1527 meters of downhill.  So, we have some serious hill climbing to do.  The hills aren't too steep, but are endless.  We stop for coffee, meeting a bunch of the other riders ahead of us.  So, we aren't in one big pack, but strung out along the highway.

Cute flower - looks like some sort of honeysuckle.

Then we get onto a gravel road, not due to necessity but planned as an alternate route.  A photo of a fancy looking èhaciendaè long the way.  The road gets worse as soon as we are by this place.

Not a bad road for gravel, we make slow headway and meet up with the "lunch truck."  It is getting colder with the elevation and mist, so a number of riders opt to get on the bus to finish their day, Laura included.  The altitude at 3700 meters got to her. Me, I'm silly enough to continue in the drizzle after I put on more clothing (but not long pants, which I forgot to pull from my pack.

A view of the gravel with the main highway below.  We could of stayed on the nice highway but no, we had to have a challenge!

A bear cub crosses in front of me to join its mother uphill.  I manage to get a photo. This is Mom, an Andean Spectacled Bear.  Apparently, its very rare that one sees them and I am quite lucky - I should have bought a lottery ticket.







I'm at the highest point of the climb here.  This is the highest me, my bike and my GPS have been without an airplane.   Your test today is to convert that to feet.

The rest of the day was spent going mostly downhill to Papallacta, in increasing rain and drizzle.  No more photos.

Camp is at a hot pool spa.  Set up our tents, a nice session in the hot pool, a beer, the tour crew cooks dinner (Rotini & salad), copy out tomorrow's directions and off to bed at 8 o'clock.

More tomorrow.