A week at the Casa de Ciclistas de Tumbaco, near Quito

We arrived from Madrid on an evening flight after a rather stressful time checking in the bikes (avoid Iberia, if you can!). The 11 hour flight felt like no time at all and we were surprised how natural it felt to be on a new continent! We managed to find a taxi that would take us from Quito airport to Tumbaco, though we had to take the bikes out of their boxes in order to do so. 30 minutes later we were at Santiago´s house, which he opens to passing cycle tourists.

All reunited at Quito airport

 We have spent the past week here and it has been an excellent ´start´ to our trip. Meeting others doing similar trips has helped calm our nerves and given us some great ideas for our route. It has been great to feel part of the community of cyclists in South America—Santiago has been taking in cyclists for 23 years!

Cyclists come and go, and we all sign the book

Nathan and Jo about to head South to Cotopaxi. Nathan writes an excellent blog with stunning pictures and very useful route advice for fellow (mostly off-road) cycle tourists.

I even learnt how to prepare ceviche, Santiago´s style

Camarón, tomatoes, white onion, coriander, orange and lime juices form the base of it, along with popcorn, fried banana slices, salt, and a bit of ketchup 

And all mixed up, no fixed amounts of anything, just taste it as you go along...it sounded easy!

Some fellow cycle tourists leave pieces of art behind, in Santiago´s book

Martin, the latest cyclist to leave, had ridden up from Ushuaia

We have spent three days in Quito, a bus ride away, seeing the old town with its beautiful colonial plazas, going up the telesferico (cable car) to the volcano Pinchicha, and seeing the best of Ecuadorian heritage at the Casa de la Cultura museum.

Quito´s Old Town

Sundays are cycling day in the Old Town and La Mariscal

South to La Mariscal area

Nice views from Basílica del Voto Nacional

Up on the top of the TelefériQo, at 4100 m. The start of the hike up to Ruco Pinchincha

Hiking up steep hills at 4100 m isn´t easy

The views were well worth it though

It got very foggy and cold as we reached 4400 m

Narrow paths, bad visibility and a groggy feeling due to the altitude made us turn around. 

One last chance to enjoy Quito from high above

We´ve spent other days closer to ´home´, going on a short cycle ride, a hike up the mountain Ilaló, and just enjoying the tranquility of the casa and getting to know Santiago and his family.

Riding on the excellent ciclovía, a disused railway going to the Oriente from Cumbayá

Another day we hiked up the Cerro del Ilaló, at 3200 m. Enjoying the views of Tumbaco 

Some interesting flora was seen

Dense vegetation at 3000 m

At the top of the Ilaló, looking to the Occidente. Volcán Pichincha and Quito in the background

The easier way up to the Ilaló, taken by cyclists

Heading back to Tumbaco, nice views of the Tumbaco and Cumbayá area

We will finally leave on Monday after just over a week here. But it won´t be goodbye forever. We´ve decided that we can´t bear to miss going to Colombia, and we´ll have much better weather if we postpone our trip South by a month or two, so we´re heading North from Quito and into Colombia, where we´ll do a loop via Cali and then eventually come back to Quito before starting our intended route south.

Our house for a week. The Casa de Ciclistas´ buncker

Tumbaco´s streets with Santiago and David

Volando vamos

Well, it's 3am and we've just finished up all the final preparations for the trip. We leave the house tomorrow at 9am.

Our packing process started like this...

But it came out like this! (Not including the bike boxes)

All that was left to do was get my hair to a more suitable length for the trip (with the help of Alberto's mom!) ...

I think that turned out okay too!

Next update will be from Ecuador! 

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South America 2014: Final preparations underway!

After a relaxing couple of weeks spending the holiday with our families, the final preparations for our tour are underway.

We have a packing list with over 200 individual items on it in an excel spreadsheet! The number of items highlighted in red, signifying that we still need to obtain them, is dwindling every day. Both Santa Claus (in the US) and the three kings (in Spain) were kind enough to help us with some of the last minute items, thankfully. We're hoping to take care of the rest of the small items later today.

Packed up and  ready to go… testing out a new hi-viz at the same time.

We had a go at packing everything on the list, albeit not 100% as carefully as when we do it for the final time, and took our bikes out for a test spin. Even with the added weight of a few days of food from Alberto's parents' pantry, I still did not feel the bike was much heavier than it has been on previous, much shorter, tours. I haven't used front panniers before, though, so I imagine getting used to having weight at the front of the bike will take some time.

Alberto was carrying most of the extra stuff like the additional electronics and toiletries, but even so the bikes were pretty manageable - though it will probably take a bit of time to figure out a packing configuration that both gets the weight distribution right and is logical enough that we'll be able to find what we need quickly.

Making some on-the-road adjustments

With basically everything packed, we still had tons of empty space, which is probably not helpful to our packing process as it means we are finding it harder to be ruthless with what we take, even though we know the lighter our load the better off we'll be.

Although we had previously researched insurance options, we have started again in earnest to make sure we are finding the best possible deals. In this respect, it is a lot easier for me; as the US is my country of permanent residence now, there are actually very few companies that will ensure me for an yearlong cycle tour where I am not departing from the US. Alberto has more choice, but with it, more homework to do before he decides!

The insurance complications of long-term cycle tourists are so intricate that they merit their own dedicated post, and indeed a number of bloggers have given extremely helpful deails of their own experiences, including Travelling Two, tour.tk, and Shane Cycles.

Trying out the rig on some off-road sections

There are a couple other last minute things to sort, like making sure our banks know we'll be using our cards abroad, gathering together and photocopying our important documents, and cutting my hair short (!). But all in all, it's getting very very real!

My top five magic moments on a bike in 2013

2013 has been a great year for me and cycling. I audaxed less, but deepened my involvement in the audax community. I couldn't travel abroad, but cycled in the UK more than ever before. I did less intentional 'training' than I had hoped, but found myself stronger than I ever have been. As has become my tradition, here are the most magical moments I've spent on a bike in 2013.

#1. Winding my way through the mountains on the west coast of Harris: Our tour of the Outer Hebrides in April was basically magical every moment. Harris' west coast was so beautiful, we rode it twice (in order to circumnavigate that island).

#2. Pedalling against the patriarchy on the hottest day of the year: As part of Rapha's Women's 100, some friends and I planned a Feminist 100km ride in East Anglia. I had so much fun cycling with only women, and being solely responsible for navigating was a great challenge that increased my confidence.

#3. Volunteering at the Loughton control of LEL: Ok, so I wasn't technically on a bike when we helped out at the start and end of LEL, but we did use our bikes to get there. Audax is a truly inspiring community, and LEL epitomises everything that is great about it. It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of it.

#4. Rolling into Oxford after completing the Poor Student Perm: I haven't audaxed much this year, and in fact approached the last month of the Audax season without a single completed ride. It felt good to complete an audax, but even better to finish feeling like I had ridden just at the limit of my ability, but not outside of it.

#5. Rolling along the A93 through Cairngorms National Park: On our second tour in Scotland this year, we crossed the Cairngorms one on of the best stretches of road we've ever been on -- the A93, a day and a half of pure cycling bliss. We enjoyed gorgeous weather, quiet roads, and the company of our good friend Mateo. 

2013 was our last year of cycling in the UK for quite some time. Although I am so excited for our next adventure, I'll really cherish these moments, and many others, of our time there.

My 2013 in pictures

As it has been the tradition for the past couple of years, here are some of my favourite pictures in 2013. 

January. Snowstorm in Epping Forest. This could well be a regular day in most of Scandinavia right now. But on a very cold and snowy Saturday morning, Dan and I set off to ride the fresh snow of the Epping Forest, still within the M25 of London. Even though we did not have any winter tyres, the snow was soft enough to allow some pleasant miles. 

February. Lucy (in pink at the front) leads a team of machacas including two serious ironmen triathletes down to Brighton. It was a typically English February morning, temperatures not much above 0 degrees celsius, damp roads and leafless trees. I rode this following a tough 200 km audax the day before, and could barely keep up with the guys (and girl!)

March. Pico Gallinero in the Spanish Pyrinees. Spain has some really good mountains, and lots of snow in the winter, despite what lots of people in the UK might think. It does get cold up there at 2600 m! I managed to pack a weekend full of off-piste skiing following a snowstorm the day before. 

April. The road to Tregaron on the Yr Elenith audax. This has to be one of the finest rides one can do in the UK. A 300 km audax, held in April, and superbly oganised by John Hamilton. It traverses Shropshire and goes into Mid Wales and back. The weather was typically Welsh (i.e. wet, windy, and cold) but I had a blast and wish I could return to these roads every now and then. Hugh, on the picture, kept me company most of the way.

April (II). Setting up camp in sunny  Hushinish. One of our most favourite cycling trips, if not the most, was to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. We had sun 80% of the time. This picture was taken in the idyllic Hushinish beach, where we camped with a view of South Harris

May. Somewhere in Wales, with already 300 km under our legs, on the Bryan Chapman. This was my second ever 600 km ride, and the highlight of my audax season. The aim was to cross Wales South to North and back down within 40 hours and 8000 m of climbing in between. We had great weather, not a single drop of rain, and lots of sun on the second day. The company couldn´t have been better: Javier, a super-fit Spaniard also living in London, led the group on numerous occasions and put up with me for 38 hours.

June. Wearing a headnet on the A838 near Tongue. Scotland is known for its stunning landscapes, fjords and friendly people. But also for its midges. On a warm and calm summer day in Scotland, you get lots of flying tiny biting insects called midges. They can easily ruin your evening, as was the case. We ate on the go (literally!) and with headnets on. So yes, the photo was not taken on a Cambodian floating market, despite all looks!

July. The start of the London-Edinburgh-London. Having decided against riding this 1400 km audax, we did not hesitate to volunteer and give something back to the community that had worked hard for us in may of our audaxes. We registered riders from all over the globe, made baguettes and teas, cleaned, fixed bikes, and ultimately had a great time and met lots of interesting people. If you don´t ride next time, make sure you volunteer!

August. 5:30 am. The start of the Old 240 (miles) audax. A very wet, cold and windy hilly 400 km ride through the Yorkshire Dales. It took us almost 25 hours of real tough riding, where I very nearly bailed out had it been a bit easier to get back to the start. I completed my second ever super randonneur series, this time with lots of climbing points

September. Riding along the Schuylkill river in Philadelphia. Not all has to be long distances, rocky trails or touring. On a visit to Lucy´s family in Philly, we took on the trails alongside the river and simply had a good time.

October. 8 pm at sunset. A short overnight solo trip to Dunwich, on the Suffolk coast. Other than a very stiff headwind on the following day, and some heavy rain overnight, it was great

November. After the gales and rain, the sun finally shone. As a good-bye England weekend trip, Lucy and I visited the Peak District National Park, where we endured some heavy rain but still had a great time. In the off-season is a great destination to go cycle-camping from London

December. A crisp start to our climb to Puerto de la Fuenfría in Madrid. Back to my beloved Sierra de Madrid. Even though it was sunny and mildly warm initially, we encountered so much snow on the way up that we had to abandon our plans to climb to the Bola del Mundo at 2200 m. It will have to wait to warmer times, or spiky tyres.