Group pose at Casa de ciclistas as Pius and Stefan leave (View on flickr)

People often ask us "Has anyone ever done this before?" or "Are you setting a new Guinness Record?". The answer, of course, is an authoritative NO! We know this, of course, but stopping at the Casa de Ciclistas in Trujillo and looking through the logs makes us really feel humble. We were the 998th entry over 24 years. Plenty of people have been through here! There are slow people and fast, many rides as long as ours, but many much longer. Here are a few links and a few details about some of the folks who have signed their names in the logs at Trujillo.

Hans Stuecke

Hans has been bike touring for 46 years, and has visited at least 193 countries. He really HAS set a Guinness record. I don't think we're going to touch his record anytime soon!

Dominic Gill

Dominic started his ride about the same time as we did, and we actually met him for a few moments in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. But Dominic just finished riding a tandem (most of the time by himself, alone) with gear for himself and a guest, all the way from Alaska to Patagonia. His gear weight was incredible, but his idea was "Take a Seat". He invited anybody who wanted to to come along for a ride for as long as they wanted. He had incredible experiences.

Lucho with his son Lance - In training (View on flickr)

When we came down from the mountains of Peru to the coast we stayed at the fabled Casa de Ciclistas (House of Cyclists) in Trujillo, Peru. Lucho Ramirez started offering his simple house to passing touring cyclists clear back in 1984, and is on the edge of crossing the one thousand mark. One thousand groups of cyclists have signed his journal and stayed there over almost 25 years! One cyclist stayed a year! Many stay far longer than they expect to, often for a week or more. It's a delight to browse through the journals and see famous cyclists that we've either met or heard of who passed this way. Our friends Dick and Els, from Holland, signed the book about 5 years ago. Our friend Andrew signed it just a month or so ago. Our friends Pat and Cat also passed through about 3 years ago.

Many of you have asked us if we're setting some kind of a record or something, and the answer is no, we're really slow, and lots and lots of people have gone farther. Although not all the cyclists who have stopped at Lucho's house were doing rides as big as ours, many were doing rides much bigger. One fellow, Hans Stuecke, has been cycling for 46 years!

Anyway, Lucho provides a tremendously friendly place for cyclists stop, recharge, get their equipment worked on, and generally have a wonderful memory. We left our bikes safely there for our trip home, and came back to find them waiting for us.  read more here... lee mas aquí... »

Frank Lewis (View on flickr)

Dad - Abbott Fay at park near Grand Junction (View on flickr)

We just got back to Peru from a whirlwind trip back to the US. It was great, and exhausting. First, we had to take a 10-hour bus down to the coast from Cajamarca, then an 8-hour bus from Trujillo to the capital of Peru, Lima. Then we flew for ages to Boston, and we arrived in time for the main event that timed our trip: The 80th birthday celebration of Nancy's dad, Frank Lewis. We went to her brother Dan's cabin in New Hampshire and had a delightful celebration.

Then we flew to Denver and got to see Randy's kids, Elisheba and Mark, and drove to Grand Junction, Colorado to see Randy's parents. We got to walk with them and see their new home at the Atrium living center in Grand Junction - they have a beautiful cottage, complete with even more space than they had before, a garage, and a meal a day at the nice facility next door. Very good setup.

Then we drove back to Denver and had a get-together with friends which was an absolute delight. Several friends came to say hello, and even one set of bike tourists we'd never met, Nick and Dave, two impressive young men who are about to set off from Denver on their way to Panama. Thanks to all of you who came and who couldn't for your friendship!  read more here... lee mas aquí... »

Lucho with his son Lance - In training (View on flickr)

Lucho con Lance – en entrenamiento

Cuando bajamos de las montañas de Perú para la costa, nos quedamos en la legendaria Casa de Ciclistas en Trujillo, Perú. Lucho Ramirez empezó ofrecer su modesta casa para ciclistas viajeros ya en 1984, y él está a un paso de completar la marca de mil huéspedes. ¡Mil grupos de ciclistas firmaron su diario y se quedaron allá a lo largo de 25 años! ¡Un ciclista se quedó un año! Muchos se quedaron por bien más tiempo del que esperaban, frecuentemente por una semana o más. Es un encanto hojear las páginas del diario y ver ciclistas famosos que nosotros conocemos u oímos decir que pasaron por aquí. Nuestros amigos Dick y Els, de Holanda, firmaron el libro cerca de 5 años atrás. Nuestro amigo Andrew lo firmó hay solamente un mes y poco. Nuestros amigos Pat y Cat también pasaron por aquí cerca de 3 años atrás.

Muchos de ustedes nos preguntaron si estábamos intentando quebrar alguno récord o cosa parecida, y la respuesta es no, vamos realmente bien despacio, y muchas y muchas personas fueron más lejos. Aunque ni todos los ciclistas que pararon en la casa de Lucho estuviesen haciendo viajes grandes como nuestra, muchos estaban haciendo muy mayores. Un compañero, Hans Stuecke, ¡ha pedaleado por 46 años!  read more here... lee mas aquí... »

Frank Lewis (View on flickr)

Dad - Abbott Fay at park near Grand Junction (View on flickr)

Papá – Abbot Fay, en un parque cerca de Grand Junction

Acabamos de llegar a Perú venidos de una estorbada viaje a Estados Unidos. Fue excelente y exhaustiva. Primero, tuvimos que enfrentar 10 horas de autobús para la cuesta de la Cajamarca, entonces más 8 horas de autobús de Trujillo a la capital de Perú, Lima. Entonces volamos por mucho tiempo hacia Boston, y llegamos a tiempo para el evento principal que apretaba nuestro viaje: el cumpleaños de 80 años del padre de Nancy, Frank Lewis. Fuimos para la cabaña del hermano de Nancy, Dan, en New Hampshire y vivimos una conmemoración deliciosa.

Entonces volamos hacia Denver para ver los hijos de Randy, Elisheba y Mark, y dirigimos hasta Grand Junction, Colorado, para ver los padres de Randy. Caminamos con ellos a vemos su nuevo lar en el retiro de edad Atrium, en Grand Junction – ellos tienen una linda cabaña, completa, incluso con más espacio del que tenían antes, garaje, y el confort de hacer las comidas en el propio retiro. Instalaciones muy buenas.

Entonces dirigimos de vuelta a Denver y tuvimos un encuentro con amigos que fue un encanto absoluto. Varios amigos vinieron a vernos, incluso un grupo de ciclistas viajeros que no conocíamos, Nick y Dave, dos impresionantes jóvenes que están para partir de Denver en el camino de Panamá. ¡Gracias a todos qué vinieron y también a los qué no pudieron venir por su amistad!  read more here... lee mas aquí... »

Loading the potato truck that will take us to Celendín (View on flickr)

OK, I must confess we took a ride in a truck full of freshly-picked potatoes. The 100-mile ride took 10 hours through some very high mountains of northern Peru and down though hot valleys and back up to the heavens.

We have decided (or is it that I have decided?) that occasionally it does make sense to take alternative transportation through some areas which seem too difficult for biking with our load. The route we have taken through northern Peru has taken us through very beautiful, amazing landscapes. And amazing elevation climbs, descents and ascents. In one area from Leymebamba to Celendin, after reading another cyclist's blog through this area, I was intimidated and decided I would rather take a bus then climb up to 3600 meters (12,000 feet), descend to 900 meters (3000 feet) and then climb back up to 3100 meters on a dirt road, along cliffs that drop thousands of feet with only a slice of road carved on the face of the mountain.  read more here... lee mas aquí... »

Donkeys everywhere (View on flickr)

Peru has some of the biggest mountains and deepest valleys we have encountered so far. We find it very interesting to ride the high mountains of Peru because the sierras are inhabited by indigenous people who live in the traditional ways they have maintained for centuries. Not much has changed in hundreds of years. In some areas we have been riding through there is no electricity, no running water, no paved road, lots of sheep, cows, chickens, donkeys which carry cargoes of milk, wood, heavy loads of vegetables like potatoes, corn and cabbage. The people themselves carry huge loads on their backs. The women wear the same traditional clothes they have for ages including special hats which identify the area they come from. Around Cajamarca the women wear short skirts with ballooning petticoats, tall, wide-brimmed hand-woven hats made of fine strands of straw. They all have wraps and ponchos to either keep warm or carry a load. They're even shorter than me. From the distance they sometimes remind me of the profile of Halloween witch The women in Northern Peru can be seen herding donkeys loaded with metal containers of milk, babies on their backs and walking along a high mountain road while spinning wool on a stick, preparing the wool for knitting or weaving. The women always have busy hands. Always. Where we are right now the women knit afghans of multiple colors, ponchos, and sweaters. If they don't have a baby on their backs they're carrying a load of firewood, twigs, or huge bunches of herbs and greens.  read more here... lee mas aquí... »

Loading the bikes into the boat for the crossing of the Rio Marañon (View on flickr)

Rice paddies in northern Peru (View on flickr)

From San Ignacio we descended rapidly into a completely different kind of country - rice paddies everywhere. Neither of us had ever seen the cultivation of rice before, so we were amazed to see the effort required to work with the plants at the various parts of their life cycle. It was beautiful, too, but like we had left the high mountains and landed in a south-east Asian area!

After about 50 kilometers of dirt (formerly paved, but long since decayed) we hit beautiful new pavement for the first time in days. And it was downhill, too. But we soon turned off for a shortcut that we read about in Peter Berechree's incredible blog of his Andes-by-bike adventure. We took a dirt-road turnoff to the town of Bellavista and found our way to the banks of the Rio Marañon, a major river headed to the Amazon. Hoping that we'd gotten to the right place, we waved and yelled to a fellow cleaning his boat on the other side, he eventually came for us. We loaded the bikes up a 2x4 ramp and crossed over in a jiffy, then road a few miles to catch the highway again. We got a pleasant little diversion from the highway and probably eliminated 50 kilometers from our route.  read more here... lee mas aquí... »