Carangajeira
05-03-2015, 06:21 PM
We have probably all done it - ridden in weather conditions we shouldn't have been out in (like torrential rain, or snow), or ridden on appalling road surfaces (like potholes, or ice!), but had to get home one way or another.
My worst ride was in Peru last year - between Pomocochas (in the Amazonas region) and Pacora (in Lambayeque province). Only around 220 miles, all on tarmac, and mainly along the wonderfully named Fernando Belaúnde Terry Highway, but it entailed crossing over the Andes and also a stretch of road notorious for landslides.
It all started well, the first 50 miles in good weather and some great hairpins to negotiate, with almost no other traffic on the road. In fact this was a recurring element of much of my touring in Peru - almost no traffic. One problem on these twisty mountain roads, though, is that if you do come up behind another vehicle, generally a bus or heavy truck, they are hard to overtake - the roads are narrow, with few genuine overtaking opportunities, and though they crawl up inclines, they floor it downhill and make overtaking tricky.
I followed a bus up the highest pass that day, at around 3400 metres (11000 feet), and eventually managed to get past him not far from the summit, which was shrouded in mist! As soon as I started the descent it started raining quite heavily, so I was riding in rain and mist, on a strange twisty road barely wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass, with knobby dirt tyres on my bike! The edge of the road alongside me (mountain side) was a deep rainwater gully about 2 feet wide and deep, and the other side was an unguarded drop of unknown height, but experience told me it could be 300-500 feet straight down!
These roads are full of hairpins, but not all are signposted, so any curve had to be approached with extreme caution as visibility was probably 50 yards - I was also very aware that the bus was probably by now bearing down on me, and he knew these roads so would not be as cautious as I was being! Stopping to wait out the weather was not really an option, a). there was nowhere to pull off, and b). I had no way of knowing whether this was set in for the day!
The descent, at least until the mist cleared and I could see where I was going, was probably only 10 miles, but took me well over half an hour - and as soon as I managed to pull over (for a pee break) in a clearing the bus thundered past me!
I caught up with him a little later once the sun came out again and I had dried off, and blasted past along the gentle curves of the Utcubamba River which the road then followed. But now I was faced with a new hazard - landslips! The rain had brought down earth and rocks all over the road in the valley (bearing in mind that this is the main road into the Amazon region so much travelled by buses and trucks) - some rocks were the size of small cars! Fortunately it was easier to pick a route through these hazards on two wheels rather than 4 (or more!), but other vehicles didn't observe the right of way so often you were met with one on your side of the road and had to give way. I was very relieved to finally get away from this area and hit flatter, drier countryside, and an uneventful run to my overnight destination.
Unfortunately I didn't stop to take pictures of this particular day - was too busy staying upright and alive - but this was the sort of countryside I was travelling through.
My worst ride was in Peru last year - between Pomocochas (in the Amazonas region) and Pacora (in Lambayeque province). Only around 220 miles, all on tarmac, and mainly along the wonderfully named Fernando Belaúnde Terry Highway, but it entailed crossing over the Andes and also a stretch of road notorious for landslides.
It all started well, the first 50 miles in good weather and some great hairpins to negotiate, with almost no other traffic on the road. In fact this was a recurring element of much of my touring in Peru - almost no traffic. One problem on these twisty mountain roads, though, is that if you do come up behind another vehicle, generally a bus or heavy truck, they are hard to overtake - the roads are narrow, with few genuine overtaking opportunities, and though they crawl up inclines, they floor it downhill and make overtaking tricky.
I followed a bus up the highest pass that day, at around 3400 metres (11000 feet), and eventually managed to get past him not far from the summit, which was shrouded in mist! As soon as I started the descent it started raining quite heavily, so I was riding in rain and mist, on a strange twisty road barely wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass, with knobby dirt tyres on my bike! The edge of the road alongside me (mountain side) was a deep rainwater gully about 2 feet wide and deep, and the other side was an unguarded drop of unknown height, but experience told me it could be 300-500 feet straight down!
These roads are full of hairpins, but not all are signposted, so any curve had to be approached with extreme caution as visibility was probably 50 yards - I was also very aware that the bus was probably by now bearing down on me, and he knew these roads so would not be as cautious as I was being! Stopping to wait out the weather was not really an option, a). there was nowhere to pull off, and b). I had no way of knowing whether this was set in for the day!
The descent, at least until the mist cleared and I could see where I was going, was probably only 10 miles, but took me well over half an hour - and as soon as I managed to pull over (for a pee break) in a clearing the bus thundered past me!
I caught up with him a little later once the sun came out again and I had dried off, and blasted past along the gentle curves of the Utcubamba River which the road then followed. But now I was faced with a new hazard - landslips! The rain had brought down earth and rocks all over the road in the valley (bearing in mind that this is the main road into the Amazon region so much travelled by buses and trucks) - some rocks were the size of small cars! Fortunately it was easier to pick a route through these hazards on two wheels rather than 4 (or more!), but other vehicles didn't observe the right of way so often you were met with one on your side of the road and had to give way. I was very relieved to finally get away from this area and hit flatter, drier countryside, and an uneventful run to my overnight destination.
Unfortunately I didn't stop to take pictures of this particular day - was too busy staying upright and alive - but this was the sort of countryside I was travelling through.