Easy street(s): JB returns from pallor & Machu Picchu

Given the semi-hibernative state I´d been in for the past several days, I wasn´t up to Matt´s grand plan to return to Cuzco from Machu Picchu. Truth be told, I was starting to feel better the night before, but maybe I just wanted to avoid the 5 AM start. Anyway, to play it safe, I went with the zero-exertion option: passage on the train back to Ollantaytambo, and then back to Cuzco via Chinchero, on a bus or taxi. This ended up being a nice loop to complete a pretty thorough exploration of the Sacred Valley, a veritable bonanza of high-mountain Latin American scenery. Glaciated peaks tip out above very Andean (read, terraced) altiplano ridges and spiky-shaped desert peaks, which in turn roll down into a patchwork green and brown river valley--an area which easily stands on equal footing with Machu Picchu as one of my favorite memories of Peru.



Our first encounter with the Sacred Valley was upon leaving Cuzco toward the ruins of Inca Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Moray, the sites of the various ruins featured in the photo collage. I was stunned by how lush and fertile this valley was, and it was evident to us that this area of Peru is doing much better economically than other rural agrarian areas in the country. Villages in the Sacred Valley had well maintained plazas, well-kept shops and restaurants, and offered countless outdoor oriented tourist activities.



As a cyclist, the area is a paradise-in-waiting. Amateur (and touristy) mountain bike tours have sprung up in every town, utilizing old Inca trails, livestock trails, or footpaths & primitive roads that simply link two villages together. It was impossible to not notice trails in every direction on every hillside and not want to be riding down them. The only question is, who knows where they go and how exciting they are? Similarly, while transiting the various roads in the area, it was also impossible to not consider the potential in the even less developed road bike scene. Roadies would appreciate much more than the perfect climate and masochistic altitude: the routes are also pretty much perfect for serious riders. The Pros: Respectable pavement, drivers who give wide berth to cargo bicycles on the road (and who don´t gab away on cell phones), truly epic euro-style switchback climbs into huge mountain vistas, extensive drawn out descents into bucolic valleys, all at 9k-11k altitude, and all well within riding distance of Cuzco within a day. As with the mountain biking, the only thing missing for the serious cyclist is knowing who to trust to show you around--in other words, guide & tour services for the serious cyclist, versus just-some-guy who will rent you a bike.



So, with all this on my mind, the afternoon I returned to Cuzco, I went to the bike shop of a guy I had stalked and chased down a few days earlier (yes, it was quite reminiscent of my mountain bike team recruiting days)--a former Peruvian national champion bike racer named Russo Covarrubias . He laid out some options, mostly back in the Sacred Valley, but described one ride from Cuzco that was both cheaper and would allow me to actually get some cycling exercise uphill as well as great singletrack riding down. We made arrangements for the next day. Sweet.



Matt, incredibly, was already at the hostel when I got back around 4 PM. Which made for quite a day for him, and a rather mellow, but productive one for me.