This is the last entry for the Ride Across South America (RASAM) in Oct/Nov 2004, covering three days of touristing in Peru after the ride. On the right you’ll see a list of the days of the RASAM bike tour from Sao Paulo to Lima ranked by ***’s. ***=interesting day, **=ok day, *= dull day.

On this, our last riding day of RASAM2004, we got off to a slow start. Lisa left the campsite by Cero Azul, marched across the beach minefield of giant crabs and went swimming. As Steve, Eduardo and I took down the tents and put things away, she went over to the stone house where Eduardo

The highlight of today was riding through the agricultural workers strike in Pisco. The workers blocked the Pan American Highway – the police said it would be closed for maybe 3 days. Burning tires, rowdy people, rocks on the road. Day by day now, as we approach Lima, there is more traffic, villages and people.

New Team! Lisa, the wife, showed up. Here we all are at our hotel at the start of the day. It has been great riding with Dalton and Steve, but much of the day today I rode with Lisa, and Eduardo. They and Steve took turns riding and driving. Lisa rode on and off maybe

I went from rock-solid sound asleep to as awake as I have ever been in .08 seconds this morning. Something was climbing on me, on my bed. Of course I didn’t move. It took me another 1.18 seconds to determine that they were light footprints of a four-legged thing. Another 1.4 seconds later, when it

For some reason I thought Peru was a relatively small place, about the size of, say, New Jersey. It’s probably some ethnocentrism combined with Mercator projection distortions. NJ is 8,700 sq miles. Peru is 1.28 million sq miles – you could fit almost 50 New Jerseys in here. A lot of riding! Back to the

The break day yesterday was refreshing and we were thinking big mileage today. Eduardo, Steve and I loaded the bikes up at the hotel in Arequipa, drove back to the Pan American Highway, and set off. We took a picture of Mt Misti, the Arequipa volcano, on the way out. We were back in desert

Steve’s comments at the bottom of this update! (Riders note: Arequipa is not exactly “en route”. See end of update for details.) This was a day of dramatic scenery, challenging riding and then the first big city we have been in since Curitiba. Riding out of Moquegua you cross the river that is the only

We are getting the hang of the coastal desert, high plains desert with canyons intermixed thing. We could have shaved a couple hundred miles off our trip by staying on the Pan American Highway instead of going down to the beach desert road when we can. But we prefer the beach road and on some

As I write this on a Tuesday morning, I hear a typewriter clacking away in the government office across the way from the VIP Hotel here in Ilo where we spent the night. In Tacna last night, the internet was kept locked up what was a phone booth. Here it is in a glass cubicle

Last night we camped out along the Pacific on an isolated beach by Cuya. For a change of pace, today’s update starts with textures from that beach. Sand, sticks, live and dead bush, and foam. We rode down a 4,100 ft, 20 mile downhill along a canyon to get to Cuya, and we lazily rode

(Note: there is no update for 11/19. We stayed in Iquique for two nights.) Iquique is wedged between the coastal mountain range and Pacific. It is the same topography as the rest of the coast riding up from Tocopilla, except that maybe it is a little wider, has a little better beaches, and a little

Bye Dalton! We woke up in our campsite between the stone golf course and the ocean and packed up slowly. Dalton came back for RASAM2004 part II to made it across the continent. That accomplished, it was time for him to head home to other responsibilities. Here is the Dalton-Bob going away photo, and the

Camping out on the Tocopilla Golf Course. (dedicated to Guy Snyder) Everyday Dalton, Eduardo and I take pictures. I download them to the computer, pick the best and build an update around them. Usually I select 15 to 20 pictures. Today there were 44. Where to cut out from such an interesting day. Let’s see

Our stay in San Pedro de Atacama was too short. It is a very unique town – for adventure travel, for culture, for nature and scenic beauty, and for good party. More details on the place at the end of yesterday’s update – but we highly recommend it and want to come back. It was

We survived last night. Everything froze solid (that’s Eduardo holding up our frozen water). Dalton and Eduardo bailed on their tents and fled to the shelter and heater of the Fiat sometime during the night. We picked up our windblown campsite just as the sun came out. It seems like the world immediately warms up

(Riders note: details on the road conditions at the end of this update.) Our riding mileage is well below my usual averages, but the conditions here are much more extreme than anywhere I?ve ridden on the 3-1/2 continents to date. Besides the altitude, we have incredible climbs and descents each day, aggressive winds and sometimes

Riders Note: It really is about 78 miles from Purmamarca to Susques. We rode the first 18 miles of it yesterday – a tremendous climb from 7,400 ft to 13,300 ft.) We woke up at the comfortable Hotel El Manatial del Silencio in Purmamarca and had a quick breakfast. Just outside waited our newly cleaned

(Riders note: The distance above is our riding distance for the day. The actual distance from Jujuy to Purmamarca is about 3 miles less. We started 15 miles north of Jujuy and ended 18 miles past Purmamarca, trying to gain some distance on rough riding days ahead.) Dalton wanted to stay at Thermes del Reyes

(Riders Note: It’s only 58m, 93k from Salta to Jujuy. Because of the short distance, we rode past Jujuy and drove back to our hotel.) Dalton, Steve and I flew from Charlotte to Miami to LaPaz (Bolivia) to Santa Cruz to Cordoba (Argentina) to Salta in a mere 28 hours. One plane was 2 hours

The Briefing follows… first, with due respect to my “Republican” friends, I want to express my heartfelt apologies to all of you in the rest of the world. In the four short years of my bike tour of the world, America has gone from being the most admired and respected nation on the planet, even

Dalton and the Chain The day started amiably enough. We had only a 50 mile ride, albeit with some significant climbing, to make it to Sala and complete part I of RASAM 2004. By 9am we were at our starting point and took a pre ride picture of los tres amigos. The Dalton launched. He

We actually ended the day on Argentina Ruta 9 about 25 miles north of Metan – the closest landmark around. Among the best benefits of riding with support (Eduardo!) is that we can end when we can’t go any further. Eduardo can take us to shelter in the Fiat, and back to the same place

NOTE: Dalton’s Story at the end of today’s update!!!! Today, our third day heading WNW on Argentina Ruta 16, was a relatively rough day. Bad wind again in the morning, bad roads all day, perhaps the hottest day yet, Dalton cut his finger and I crashed. We tried but failed to make it to the

We cannot post these updates, but they seem to be our only connection with the outside world. No phones in our rooms the last three nights, much less hi-speed internet. We read the updates ourselves and imagine how others would receive them. The day started at the Park Hotel on the side of Ruta 16

(Note: Eduardo’s story at the bottom of today’s update!!) Dalton got us beers at the YBF gas station where we stopped last night 12k north or Resistencia, so I gave him a Gatorade this morning from the same gas station when we started. We spent last night in Corrientes, Argentina because there were no rooms

This was a huge riding day. We made up for our day off yesterday in Asuncion with 168 miles today in very big chunks of 32, 41, 42 and then 53 miles due to a lack of support and some incredible mosquitoes. If you add that up, we rode the last 95 miles getting off

We’re not likely to ever come back to Asuncion. It is inexpensive enough, and has some nice places, but in general it is the antithesis of Curitiba. Asuncion, the former “capital of South America” is backwards, run down and uninspiring. Here’s a little tour, first our hotel and the view of Asuncion, Paraguay from our

Two days ago, after checking out the hotel pool in Foz do Iguacu, Eduardo reported that there were lots of chickens around. Dalton was duly concerned and impressed, until he personally checked it out and discovered that there were no good looking females there either. This leads to the joke that ends this update. We

It might not seem that difficult, but riding 6 to 9 hours per day under searing, sunny heat (102f today) on mercilessly repetitive hills, hundreds of feet up and down (I have an altimeter on my bike) is really getting to us. We rode only 40 miles today. Mind you, it was a late start

We made it all the way to Paraguay today. Our guidebook says “Paraguay for the first time can be something of a shock, culturally, psychologically and physically.” It was for us. After riding across the majestic Ponte da Amizade frontier bridge and checking out Ciudad del Este, our little riding team high-tailed it back to

This was our third day on the BZ277 highway heading west through the Brazilian countryside. We were determined and did achieve our first 100 mile day (usually no big deal) in spite of the unspeakable hills. Another issue is laundry. They don’t seem to have any laundry-mats in Brazil. The hotels won’t wash clothes overnight.

Today was our first day of good weather but another day of nothing but very big hills through farmlands. Nothing here is flat or straight for more than a kilometer or so. We just rode up and down hills (very, very big hills) and took breaks. Watch. Here’s our morning break, after about 25 miles.

There’s an election going on down here too – a little different from Kerry vs. Bush. Politics in Brazil is based on loudspeakers, billboards and flags. Candidates are identified on the ballot by their name, a number (two digits in rural areas, 5 in urban), and a picture. The loudspeakers are most often on moving

Outdoor pictures have much better definition in sunlight. You won’t see much of that today, but today was a total sensory experience. Wet, cold, wind, loud trucks, bad visibility… We awoke at 6:30a again, to darkly overcast skies. Here’s the Hotel Villa Sole where we stayed in Registro and the view from outside our rooms.

For a good start, start early. Our wake up calls failed, but Dalton, Eduardo and I all made it to the hotel restaurant for breakfast at 6:30am, when it supposedly opened. Breakfast is free here the Regent Park, as it is at most hotels in Europe. Unfortunately the best stuff, the hot food, didn’t arrive

This is the start of the story of a bike ride across South America, from Sao Paulo Brazil to Lima, Peru. These trips always begin with a preparation day, and this Monday was a typical one. Dalton Cox and I landed at 8:55am in Sao Paulo, made it through immigration, got our luggage, made it

A year ago I got off the bike in Moscow. In a couple of days I get back on in Sao Paulo. I’m ready for for South America, my 4th of the 6 rideable continents. Thanks to Andrew, Ilan, Gavin, Brian and the team at Bicycle Sport in Charlotte for all the support. I’m trying