Day 6
On to the finish in Pucallpa
Distance: 175 Km 109 miles
Climbing: 750 meters 2,500 feet
Road Surface: Mostly unpaved; an 18 K paved section at the start, and a 30K section at the end
Another very tough ride. tried to get out early, but didn't leave until 6:30. In the light rain. The gravel road was very hard riding, especially when wet. We would try to find strips at the extreme left and right side of the roads that were less bumpy. This also meant crossing from side to side quite often in the quest for smoother riding. Grass was always greener - sometimes we'd cross over only to find worse conditions. We were guessing that we added a significant distance to the day with all the back-and-forth.
The trucks and buses were quite accommodating. I had become quite comfortable with the Peruvian drivers; they were courteous, predictable, and usually supporting - they would give us room even as we rode on the wrong sides of the road, and quite often would shout encouragement. In fact, many of the people on the route would yell to us, calling us gringos (n a friendly way) often with vamanos, allez, or andale. Or just "hola".
At the first rest stop, we were calculating that the day's trip would be tight, due to road conditions. There were no extended climbs, just a lot of up/down. I wanted to finish before dark, so I took off on a mission, hammering away on both the uphills and flying madly on the downhills. I figured if I wasn't going to make it, I'd go down in a big way rather than sagging in. So, I fly to the next rest stop, and wait for the support bus for food and water. And wait some more. I buy a coke from a roadside stand, and wait. Buy another coke and wait. Finally, after 45 minutes of wondering what was happening, Lisa, John, and Kirsten came by, and said the bus stopped 1K back, at the wrong place! Pissed me off. I bought a couple bottles of water (not about to reverse course), and took off again pounding away, with extra "anger" energy.
Came into lunch, quite a sight with all the encrusted dirt covering me:
Took off again, packing a little extra since we figured that there would be no support at the next rest stop. I should also mention that my rear derailleur was locked up all day. I could change gears if I stopped and pushed on it with my foot, but basically I went the day using only the front chainrings for shifting. Fortunately the climbs were generally not steep, but I sure missed the ability to find the correct gear, both going up and down.
This whole day was very rough on the body; not just from riding, but my whole upper body was getting beat up from the constant pounding on the rocks. Towards the end of the unpaved section, I had to stop every few Km just to stretch my back and rest my arms/hands/shoulders. My butt was not a happy camper either at this point. I was thrilled to finally hit the last stretch of pavement, and ride into Pucallpa. I was first to arrive at about 5:00. Again some didn't come in until after dark, so I'm glad I pushed it. Fortunately I didn't crash or bonk.
I had to spray myself with a hose before I could go in and take a shower, since I was so grime-coated. Had the bike washed off also for the trip home. Wow - finished. It's going to be tough to surpass this ride - an amazing adventure. The word is that this trip has never been done on a bicycle before; we were the first. Cool.