Off the Beaten Track, July 14-19

Quito-Sangolqui-Parque Nacional Cotopaxi-Lasso-Toacazo-Isinlivi-Yanaurcu Grande-Chugchilan-Lake Quilotoa-Zumbahua

Before the actual post, here are a few photos from our time in Mindo.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Mindo

Cloud Forest

July 14th

It´s hard to say goodbye to our wonderful hosts who have provided a second home for us here in Quito, and to all our new friends at Construbicis.  We can´t thank you all enough!! 

For some bike-building photos, see here.

We end up leaving Quito around one in the afternoon after spending an educational morning with Carlos learning about a few important bike maintenance techniques. Despite the large size of Quito, the ride out of the city isn´t too bad.  We take a bike path down to the old town and then a busy road which fortunately has a shoulder for much of the way.  After a big descent on the Pan-Am, we turn off onto the old highway, which takes us through a collection of small towns and has much less traffic. Since it´s already getting late, we decide to stop in the town of Sangolqui, where the friendly firefighters let us stay at their station.  It´s the nicest station I have ever seen, with a huge tower for practicing rescues from high buildings, a volleyball and basketball court, and a massive dorm room that no one is using, except for, now, us.  Best of all?  Bakery and fruit store right across the street.

July 15th

We sleep in a bit, tired from a week of bike building and learning that was more exhausting than we expected. Out of town, our road is paved then turns into smooth cobbles, then into uneven stone cobbles. Slowly we begin to bump our way up into the high mountains. The road is beautiful, bordered by green farmland, river gorges, and the occasional large waterfall. The bumpy ride is improved by our new shocks and wide tires, but it´s still exhausting. Soon, after a quick lunch in a tiny town, we leave the farm land and enter high altitude paramo (grassland). From here the skyline opens up and views are incredible. On the right, a jagged caldera, on the left, a colorful rocky peak poking into the clouds, and in front, the immense, snow-covered volcano, Cotopaxi.

Volcan Sincholahua, en route to Cotopaxi

When we´re tired of climbing on the rough road, we start looking for somewhere to camp.  With a bit of unexpected luck we find the perfect spot.  In a few minutes the tent is set up on soft green grass next to a series of three waterfalls and a pool with a small pebbly beach. We´re bordered by rocky cliffs that block the wind and provide a breathtaking view of Cotopaxi when we climb to the top of them.  What an amazing place we are in.

Cotopaxi was a bit shy. This picture was taken from an altitude of around 12,000 feet, which gives some scale to just how big the volcano is.

July 16th
We wake up to sunshine and clearing clouds after a night of rain. Our campsite is blissfully warm and sunny, but once we´re back up on the road we feel the full force of the chilling wind. Thankfully the climb is gradual, and after a night of rest, I´m better prepared to tackle the sandy road. It´s not long before we reach the park entrance, where two friendly rangers greet us, take down our names and wave us through. We continue into a grassy wasteland strewn with boulders from an eruption long ago.  On closer observation, the area is quite beautiful, bursting with wildflowers.  I spot red paintbrushes, yellow asters, purple-blue lupines, and fragile geraniums. Flying around us are some andean lapwings and carunculated caracaras, both new species for us! Unfortunately, the huge volcano at our side is mostly hidden by clouds; you would hardly know it was there.

The Cotopaxi Plateau. I was riding on a trail next to the road, Tam on the road.

We stop for lunch behind a huge boulder sheltered from the wind and enjoy the landscape for a bit longer before decending out of the park.  The road turns to pavement part way down, which makes for an excellent, smooth ride. Near the bottom of the descent we turn off onto a smaller road that runs parallel to the Pan-Am. Here there is no traffic, and we are shaded by glorious eucalyptus trees on both sides.  After a little while we start passing huge greenhouses that are filled to the brim with long-stemmed roses. Apparently Ecuador is famous for these roses, the majority of which, wierdly, are exported to Russia.

After doing some shopping in Lasso, a town near the Pan-Am, we cross the huge road and start climbing into the mountains on the other side. Up and up we go, until around 11,000 feet I´m tired of climbing and we decide to stop for the night. A friendly guy we talk to gives us permission to camp in the yard of a local recreation center.  It´s a nice place, with a volleyball court, soccer field, and pool! Soft flat grass to camp on tonight.

July 17th

As we´re heading out in the morning, the family who lives on the property as caretakers bring us out a steaming bowl of soup.  We have barely spoken to them, and yet they thought to make us breakfast.  So generous! The soup, at first glance, looks good, filled with onions and potatoes, and it is good, filling our bellies with warmth. Unfortunately, at the bottom we discover huge pieces of chicken.  We determine that they´ve probably given us the choiciest bits because we can´t recognize what any of them are. A liver? A heart? We try to throw a few pieces to the dog when the family isn´t looking, and then give the rest back with the excuse that we´re not used to eating chicken in the morning. The small kids seem happy enough to eat what´s left. What a kind gesture!

Our first bit of riding is a paved climb, but soon we turn off onto a cobbled road for a scenic detour recommended by other cyclists.

Cobbles and Cotopaxi, route from Toacaso to Yanaurcu Grande

The cobbles are awful for riding, but happily, when our road begins to climb in earnest, it becomes paved. So begins an unbelievably spectacular ride, gentle switchbacks with little traffic, and amazing views of Cotopaxi across the valley as it finally starts to emerge from the clouds. 

At the top we find a tiny town where we buy some snacks. We notice that everyone here has toughened, reddened cheeks. I imagine that this is a result of cold wind chill and sunburn, the trials of living at such high elevation. Despite the tough environment, the ladies are incredibly fashionable. High heels are the norm. Pair this essential with tights, a fancy long pleated skirt, sweaters, carefully knitted shawls, and the characteristic felt hat, and you´re ready for life as an Andean lady. I don´t know how they manage to keep warm while looking so nice.

Fields and Cotopaxi

Ascending to 13,000 feet on ¡pavement!

The church in tiny Yanaurcu Grande

Out of town our road turns sandy and rocky, and the wind really picks up.  At one point it literally blows our bikes around. Most of the time I´m focused on the trials of the road, but when I do have occasion to look up, the scenery is fantastic. Surrounding us are green hillsides with long, fluffy white grasses blowing in waves with the wind, and huge jagged boulders.  Volcanic remnants perhaps?
Finally we reach the top of the pass and it is time to head down.  We stop multiple times as Danny helps me improve my mountain biking skills. I can ride all day and night on pavement, but I still need a lot of practice to feel confident on these rocky mountain roads. It´s worth the challenge for the amazing places we get to visit.
Once in the picturesque town of Isinlivi, we decide to splurge and pay to camp at a hostel.  We cook up a delicious dinner and enjoy talking to the lady who runs the place.  She gives us info for a shortcut we can take tomorrow!

More fields

July 18th
After a big oatmeal breakfast, we´re back on the road. Out of town we descend a ways down to a river valley, and then begin to slowly climb back up. We begin following the lady´s vague directions for the shortcut, and at first the road surface is good and climbs gradually up the cliff along the river.  When we reach a junction, we´re not sure where to go, but luckily a truck pulls up (the only car we have seen all day) and the friendly family inside gives us some road beta. We decide to head right and up to the main road.  Not quite as easy as it sounds.  The road turns extremely steep, with loose sections of rocks and sand.  We´re reduced to pushing our bikes in sections. Still, all things considered, when we reach the main road, we agree that the shortcut was faster, more scenic, and a better challenge than taking the main road out to Sigchos.

The back route to Chugchilan

More of the back route

Back on the main highway, we rejoice in easy grades and well packed dirt. Almost as good as pavement! Below are houses perched on cliffs, small green vertical farms, and the cliffs of the impressive river gorge.  I imagine that in the U.S. this would either be a National Park or these houses would be worth billions of dollars.

Hungry, we stop for lunch where some ladies are cooking things on the side of the road. Turns out they have fried potatos, eggs, huge avocados (for 30 cents), and mandarins. Paired with our bread and cheese, we couldn´t ask for a better lunch! 

Shortly after eating we´re back on our bikes and cruising into the town of Chugchilan. Here we discover that the rest of the road to Lake Quilotoa is paved! This will make our afternoon much easier! Even better, there are very few cars on the road, with the exception of a pack of driving school cars, mostly piloted by older men who I assume never had the chance to learn how to drive when they were younger. Many of them honk at us in greeting. Pretty much everyone we pass is friendly and waves in greeting.  At one point we encounter some kids who chase after us, asking us questions and helping us up the hill by pushing our bikes from behind as we ride. Nice to have a boost! Then they start asking us for money. This is a tough situation, and not the first or last time we will be stuck in it. Obviously we have more than these kids, but giving them a dollar isn´t going to fix anything; if anything it will only teach them to beg for money from other light-skinned people, and that certainly isn´t a formula for success in life. We want to help, though, so we give them a few bread rolls that we had in our bags for an afternoon snack. They eagerly snatch them, and we continue pedaling. We decide that from now on we´ll carry some cookies for this sort of situation.

The last part of the climb is the toughest. Workers have avalanche-proofed the hills on either side of the road by covering them with cement, creating a gray tunnel with nothing else to look at but the similarly gray sky above.  The wind starts blowing in our faces, and the air turns frigid. The road is steep and seemingly never-ending.  Around every turn I keep hoping for it to level off, but we keep climbing. Finally, what a joy it is to reach the top and put on our warm layers! From here it is a short descent into a small valley by the lake. Excited to see this world-famous destination, we ride our bikes up to the viewing platform. Spectacular! Such a reward for all our hard work today. A glistening blue-green lake far below, bordered by steep cliffs. There are no roads, just small trails and tiny villages. In every direction stretch more mountains, the sun highlighting some, clouds floating among others. It´s wild.

Lago de Quilotoa

A pensive dog

We ask some American tourists if they would mind taking a picture of us with our bikes.  They seem a bit embarrassed to admit that they came from Quito today via bus.
Back in the town of Quilotoa, a little collection of houses near the rim, we find a place to stay for $10. It´s freezing up here with the wind, so it´s worth it to pay for a bed inside tonight and a hot shower. The family who owns the place lets us use the kitchen to cook dinner, and afterwards the place warms up with a big fire in the wood stove and some flying, passionate, indigenous music.  Danny joins in with his ukulele. The littlest kids of the family stumble around trying to dance and are completely adorable.

July 19th

Jose: an artist, musician, and father in Quilotoa

My sore legs make me reluctant to get going in the morning. We sleep in a bit then have breakfast and spend some time with Jose, the owner of the hostel, helping him learn English.  He says that whenever English-speaking travelers come through he tries to learn a little, and he already has a notebook filled with some common phrases.  We help him with hostel-specific things, like how to say ¨$8 per person,¨ ¨we have rooms with private bathrooms,¨ ¨we have showers with hot water,¨ etc. Jose is also an artist, so we help him with some painting-specific vocabulary and he shows us around his artist workshop, a beautiful place filled with brilliant paintings of the local landscapes and indeigenous people. He tells us that his dream is to be able to exhibit some of his work internationally. I don´t know anything about art exhibitions, but if anyone reading this is interested in exhibiting or selling some spectacular Ecuadorian art abroad, let us know!

Inspired, I head up to the lake to do my own painting, and we do some people-watching.  This place is swarming with tourists taking selfies.
After lunch, we head out.  A short ride brings us to the town of Zumbahua where we find internet and groceries. The wonderful Father at the local church opens up the school dorm next to the church for us to spend the night.  We have bathrooms, beds, and wonderful thick blankets. Such kind people.

From here we´ll be heading south on some more back roads towards the volcano of Chimborazo and then Riobamba.  There is limited internet access in these areas but we´ll do our best to write another update soon.




Route Notes:
- Leaving Quito: We connected to the Pan-Am and turned right onto the old highway after bridge #8 (the bridges are clearly labeled). From here, ask for the old highway, a roughly paved road to Sangolqui. Not sure if this is the best route out of the city, but it wasn´t bad.
- Sangolqui to Cotopaxi National Park: follow the well-signed Calle Juan de Salinas southeast out of the city to a rolling climb on cobbles. After about 15 or 20 km, the road turns to dirt at the paramo.  Windy with loose rocks and sand in places, but always rideable and beautiful.
- Cotopaxi National Park to Lasso: We took the road on the west side of the volcano.  At first it is dirt, then it turns to washboarded gravel.  Partway down, the descent becomes paved.  Near the bottom you will pass a large mine. Take a left on the road here. This is beautiful dirt, running parallel to the Pan-Am for a few kms before turning to pavement and bringing you to a bridge to Lasso.
The other option for Cotopaxi is to do the Vuelta de Cotopaxi mountain bike route around the east side. Other bikepacking blogs have info on that; check theridesouth or whileoutriding. We heard upon arriving that it was a swamp and decided against it.
- Pan-Am to Toacazo: paved ascent, not too much traffic.
- Toacazo to Isinlivi: Look for a blue sign for Insinlivi along the main road.  The road starts as cobbles for a short, mostly flat section, then there is a paved switchbacking climb. After the town of Yanaurcu Grande, the road turns to dirt\gravel\sand. An incredible ride.
- Isinlivi to main road connecting Sigchos and Chugchilan: theridesouth has info on a direct route from Isinlivi to Quilotoa, but with phrases in the narrative like ¨the suffering is not yet over,¨ that route seemed a bit too masochistic for us. We still managed to find a decent shortcut to avoid going around to Sigchos. Follow the main road on a smooth dirt/gravel descent to the big river. About 100m after crossing, take a left. It´s a small road on Open Maps. Look for yellow splotches of paint on the rocks near the junction. There´s a smooth dirt climb up to another junction where there are two options (actually three, but one is a short path to some houses): 1) Staying left/straight, we learned, takes you down a road to the river, and then up a trail to the main road. Apparently you may need to push your bike in sections. Could be fun. Or 2) Veer right. (this is what we did). This is an extremely steep climb up to the main road, with loose sections. We pushed our bikes for parts.
- Main road to Chugchilan: well packed dirt with nice grades and little traffic, excellent riding.
- Chugchilan to Lake Quilotoa and then to Zumbahua: All nicely paved, not much traffic. Steep leading up to the lake. Entrance is $2 per person, and if you want to meet Jose and his family, his place is the handicrafts store on the left just after entering the little town.

How To Turn A Road Bike Into A Mountain Bike, July 7-13

With the highest peaks and passes of the Andes looming ahead, Tam and I have been talking about making our bikes more mountain-friendly. They are road bikes by nature, and though this reality has not dissuaded us from riding remote dirt roads and tracks, it certainly has made it more difficult, tiring, and unsafe, what with our high-pressure tires and impotent road brakes. South of here, we want to be in the mountains far from traffic and, most of the time, pavement. So, with a lot of thought as to what might be our best option, we decided to transfer all of our components over to mountain frames. See the full reasoning and explanation for this at the end of the post.

The day after returning from the Galapagos, we set up our bikes and, instead of riding out of Quito, set out to find a well-stocked bike shop with a good mechanic. In our past experience in Latin America, this hasn't been so simple, but we figured that a good place to start looking would be a place called Construbicis. The owner, Carlos Tacuri, designs his own proprietary brand of frames and also used to run a casa de ciclista, so we knew he would know a lot about bikes as well as the specific needs and parts for touring bicycles, something knowledgeable mechanics often have little experience with. (A casa de ciclista, literally translated as "home of the cyclist," is exactly what it sounds like: a home for cyclists who are on the road. These casas can be found in almost every major city in Latin America.)

A Tacuri frame

It turns out that we headed to exactly the right place. Carlos listened to our thoughts and ideas, contributed some of his own, drew up a price quote, and then offered to let us use his shop and, when needed, his labor, free of charge. We couldn't have asked for a better deal, not to mention an invaluable learning opportunity!

It would take a few days for the necessary bike parts to arrive, so we decided to spend some time in Mindo, a little town just west of Quito that's known for its high density of bird species. Pope Francis happened to be visiting that day, so while hordes of people flocked to the city, we took a bus to the country. We had had our Pope experience the day before when we rode down a closed street and saw a line of people miles long, huddled under hours of driving rain, not even to see the Pope but for the chance to camp overnight close to where he would be speaking the next day. Along the line were countless vendors selling Pope shirts, Pope figurines, Pope flags, and anything else you could possibly want that's Pope-related.

Closed to cars, open to bikes!

Mindo has tons of tourism infrastructure: ziplining, Wi-Fi, tours, signs in English, but when we got there, we dropped our stuff at a hostel and simply went out for a walk. There is a little-trafficked road leading to some waterfalls just southeast of the town, and we spent our afternoon walking along and enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of the cloud forest. The dense surroundings made birding rather difficult, especially coming from the Galapagos where birds casually walk up to you, but we managed to see seventeen new species! The next morning we took another walk and saw a few more, but the highlight was after, when we visited a "bird garden." We expected tranquility and peace, but this garden was full of activity. Really it was utter madness. Countless hummingbirds were zooming around faster than we could follow, and many more tanagers, bananaquits, and thrushes were feasting on overripe bananas set out on nearby tree limbs. We ended up counting almost fifteen species present, about half of which were new to us, all chirping and flying around in pandemonium.

We don't have any pictures from Mindo, but we do have one of this delicious pizza we made the day after.

Finding ourselves back in Quito, we set out the next morning for the bike shop. Carlos told us to disassemble everything, and we did what we could until he and one of the mechanics, Ivan, showed us things we didn't even know were there, let alone that you could remove! All of that, including cleaning, took about a whole day.

My former bike frame and fork

Putting things together over the next two days was even more fun. Under Carlos' expert tutelage, we assembled our wheels, bottom brackets, headsets, racks, handlebars, and brakes, and hooked everything together until, finally, we had what looked kind of like a bicycle! As of this writing, we still need to fine-tune a few things and fix a few more issues, but it's looking like we'll be riding mountain bikes out of Quito!

Tam's new bike

My new bike

We could not have done this without the team at Construbicis. Carlos is extremely knowledgeable about even the tiniest bike minutiae, and though he is insanely busy (two toddlers tend to have that effect), he will find the time to help you. What's more, he told us that what he's doing for us is not really out of the ordinary. His philosophy is to teach, and this infuses his shop's policy. When customers come to see him for little things like fixing a flat tire, for example, he refuses to allow them to leave the bike and pay a few bucks. Instead, he teaches them how to do it, sometimes for free. We saw this in action when a guy came into the shop asking about brake pads. Instead of doing it himself, something that would have taken just a few minutes, Carlos taught the customer how to change them, charging only $3 for the brake pads and nothing for his twenty minutes of time.

If you can't already tell, Carlos Tacuri is not your ordinary bike mechanic. We have been so fortunate to be able to learn from him, and you can too! His shop is at Mañosca and Dionisio Braes in Quito, about a kilometer west of Parque La Carolina. He's also on facebook.

The bike specifics are technical and not so accessible, so that's why they're down here instead of in the narrative above. Yet I feel they're relevant, especially for those of you who are gasping at how I could give up my top-of-the-line Surly for a cheap aluminum frame (Eagle brand, yeah!).

The two main things we felt we needed on an off-road bike were: 1) disc brakes, for better stopping power and to minimize rim wear in nasty conditions, and 2) wider tires, at least on the front wheel. Ideally we would get fat bikes, but that's not realistic here and now.

So far on our tour, I have been riding a 700c Surly Long Haul Trucker. My brakes have been virtually maintenance-free, and stopping power and rim wear wasn't too big of a deal until we started going off-road. Then, on huge descents and in the rain, the brakes did very little to stop me but a lot to erode my rims.

The fork and chainstays can accommodate a maximum tire width of 45mm (1.7"), not really wide enough for real off-road touring. Surly's 26" Disc Trucker has disc brakes and can accommodate wide tires, but I didn't buy that version; it would have been the wrong choice when anticipating a road tour and wanting to have interchangeable wheel components with Tam's bike. Although Tam's 700c Kona Sutra has disc brake mounts, the frame can only accommodate a tire width of 40mm (1.6"), which is what we have now. 

One solution we considered was to keep the current frame while 1) changing both of our forks to accommodate wider tires, and 2) procuring a disc brake conversion kit for my bike to have disc brakes on the back. This ultimately would have been much more expensive, with imports taxed heavily in Ecuador, and it would have been a terribly imperfect fix with only one disc brake (on my bike) and one wide tire. Additionally, because our forks are really short as mountain forks go (390mm for me, 440mm for Tam), changing them would have really screwed up the frame geometry and riding posture (if our frames could even accommodate a suspension fork; finding a wide, rigid fork would have proved very difficult).

Thus, after spending a lot of time evaluating pros and cons of different options, we decided that the best solution in terms of cost, ease, and effectiveness was to find mountain frames that would accommodate our components. Fortunately we had Carlos to help us out, but we still hit some snags along the way. Many snags, in fact. If you're interested in all the minute details, read on!

1) Disassembly: A lot of parts had rusted on to our old bikes. Tam's bike especially proved very hard to disassemble. There was a lot of WD-40 and banging with mallets involved.

2) Racks: Installing my Blackburn EX-1 rack was a whole tree worth of snags. It was not made for disc brakes, so I carefully bent it in a few places to widen it enough to clear the brakes. There were no long screws with the correct thread size and length for either side of the rack, so I creatively used spacers and cut screws to size. The left rack leg interfered with the quick release, so I ground it down. Finally, the frame didn't come with rack mounts, so we affixed the rack arms to the seat post quick release screw, which was too short with the arms attached, so we found a longer screw and an according nut.

Plenty of spacers

3) Derailers: Our front derailers are bottom-pull, but the frames were designed to accommodate top-pull derailers. We solved this problem by adding a hollow screw under the frame and running housing attached with zip-ties all the way to this screw. There is a small loop of housing protruding under the bottom bracket, but not far enough that there's a good chance of damage from large rocks.

4) Brakes: Our brake levers, with the weird exception of one of Tam's, are short-pull levers, meaning that they don't pull enough cable to operate disc brakes well. It's possible, but not optimal. We weren't able to find the right levers here in Quito, so we'll just make do for now with what we have.

5) Cables: The cables running under the top tube rubbed against Tam's frame bags, so we simply covered the open cables under the top tube with housing on both of our bikes. I was unable to feed the new brake cables through the brake levers, so I took off the levers, fed the cables through, then put the levers back on, replacing the handlebar tape and the housing inside in the process. 

6) Bags: My frame bag, designed specifically for my previous frame, didn't even come close to fitting the new frame. We took it to a sports uniform store, and the owner, a friend of Carlos, worked some magic. Now it fits!

Even with all of these challenges, between all that we have learned and the fact that it will come out costing close to nothing after the sale of our old frames, this switch has been overwhelmingly positive. It's also really nice to be riding bikes that we built, not only because it's handy when things break, but because it's just tremendously satisfying. We're not sure how these bikes are going to hold up, but we're excited to give them a try!

Beautiful Markets and Amazing People, June 25th-28th

Ibarra-Otavalo-Cayambe-Yaruqui-Chaquiñan Bike Path-Quito

Before the latest blog updates, a few things we've loved so far about Ecuador:
1) There are real crosswalks in the cities, complete with the beeping noise for blind people. This means that people actually have a chance of crossing the street safely.
2) There are school buses with a stop sign on the back. Whether people actually stop when kids are getting off, well that's another story.
3) They're making an effort towards good nutrition! Every piece of food in a package is labeled with the level of sugar, fats, and salt.
4) Grocery stores have things we like to eat, including cans of beans without ham or bacon!

June 25th
In the morning, we find that Cecilia has made us a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit juice, papaya, and a local classic: large corn kernels with bread and cheese. So delicious.  After hanging out and chatting for a little longer with this friendly family, we say our goodbyes.
Thanks again to Mario, Cecilia, Carol, Ivan, and Henry!

It was hardest to say goodbye to the adorable puppies! 

They're so cute! 

We ride on the Pan-Am to Otavalo. A big road like this is never our first choice, but with easy grades, smooth pavement, and a whipping tailwind, we're in Otavalo in no time.

Once in the city we find the Plaza de los Ponchos, the central square well known for its bustling market.  We leave our bikes at a nearby parking garage and set off for a shopping adventure.
The market is completely overwhelming. Stall after stall, bursting with colorful goods.  Basically anything you can imagine made from alpaca and sheep wool; socks, hats, sweaters, blankets, etc. We wander around for a while, wondering at how soft and beautiful everything is.  Eventually we are able to decide on a few purchases, presents for friends and family. We know we have to bargain because they're giving us the gringo prices, but it's almost impossible to argue with these adorable little old ladies!

That's a market

Ok- I purchased a completely unnecessary miniature llama made from alpaca wool. Her name is llamita, meaning "little llama."

Here she is, riding proudly on the handlebars

Shopping complete, we go out for some cheap chinese food: huge plates of noodles and veggies. Chinese restaurants (chifas) are surprisingly common in Ecuador, and there are always vegetarian options!

It's already getting late, so we decide to see if we can stay with the bomberos in town. Turns out that the fire station is very close to the Plaza de los Ponchos, and the firefighters are incredibly nice and welcoming.  We are given a whole tour of the station and access to the kitchen and laundry!
It suffices to say that the Otavalo bomberos are the best!

We spend the late afternoon exploring the main market, buying bags of fresh fruits and veggies, and trying some of the local street food: chocolate filled churros, choco-bananas, and some sort of corn creation, which is delicious.

Make it at home!
-white pea-like things (chochos), which we learn later are lupine seeds
-lettuce, tomato and onion salad
-lime and tomato sauce
-salt and seasonings
-hot sauce
-toasted corn (kind of like corn nuts)
-plantain chips
Put all these in a bowl and you have a sour, sweet, salty, spicy, amazing snack!

Cevichocho! Yummy :-)

At night, outside the fire station is some sort of celebration for a festival that is going on, the Fiesta de San Pedro.  There is a circle of musicians playing stomping music, and another circle of people dancing around them.  People are in costumes, and I see someone go by with a bowl of candy.  It reminds me in a wierd way of Halloween. We enjoy watching for a bit, then put in earplugs and go to sleep.

Otavalo is an amazing city- here's some of the reasons we loved it
1) It's cool to be in the places we read about in the book The Queen of Water.  If you're traveling to Ecuador, definitely read this book.
2) An overabundance of restaurants and delicious food.
3) A backdrop of huge volcanos.
4) Colorful markets.
5) A fun mix of people: tourists and Ecuadorians, many in beautiful indigenous dress.

Mote (corn) drying on the sidewalk 

June 26th
After some oatmeal at the fire station, we roll out. Someone has incorporated a small lane for bikes along the cobbled streets that lead out of town, which we appreciate. Then it's back on the Pan-Am. Under different circumstances, we would have avoided this road, but since we have a timeline to get to Quito, we decided to take the fast and direct option.  Luckily, we have a good shoulder all day, and the traffic is not as bad as I would have expected for such a big road.
Heading out of town, we have a series of climbs, made bearable by the beautiful views of the towering Imbabura volcano and the lake at its base.

Imbabura 

Not too bad for the Pan-Am

At the top, we stop to appreciate a local specialty: hot chocolate made with milk, flaky biscotti things (biscochos), and cheese.  We are still unsure why cheese is always served with hot beverages here. Are you supposed to dip it in the hot chocolate? (Later update from an Ecuadorian: yes, you put it in the hot chocolate to balance the sweetness.)
As we descend into the next valley, a new volcano looms on the horizon: Cayambe, an impressively jagged and snowy peak.

Ready for the descent! 

 Just in time for lunch, we roll up to the destination I've been looking forward to: the equator! 

We've been counting down all morning to 0 degrees, 0 minutes, 0 seconds.

We find a beautiful monument which acts not only as a marker, but also as an enormous sun dial.  The southern hemisphere, as you might expect, looks and feels exactly like the north, but it's still a novelty to stand with one foot in each.

How cool is it that we biked here?!

After a leisurely lunch, we set back off down the road, and ride for a few hours straight.  The wind has been strong all day, but it really picks up in the afternoon.  As we ride through a dry and dusty valley, trucks passing and the swirling wind throw us off balance and make our eyes burn. It's not a great ride, but at least we have a new goal in sight.  Cotopaxi and Quito on the horizon!

Some desert scenery 

As the day comes to an end, we start looking for a place to camp, but the roadside is either industrial or filled with small houses packed close together.  When we finally come upon a few houses with fields, we are chased away by large packs of dogs.  Tired, we give up and pay for a cheap hotel.

June 27th
We're quick to pack up, and it's not too long on the Pan-Am before we turn off onto a bike path that we've heard about. Some cyclists told us that it would be easy to find, but we missed the turn.  Luckily, a nice lady on the side of the road told us how to pick it up in the town of Puembo, and we were off!

The first portal

The path is built over an old railway line, and often you can see the old rails poking up through the dirt.  Surface is variable, with some packed dirt, some sand and some gravel, but all ridable on our bikes.  

We're happy to see a bunch of mountain bikers out enjoying the day as well.  It looks like this is a popular place to ride on Saturdays.  The path is lined by lush greenery, and takes us through a beautiful canyon with a series of tunnels! 

Approaching the tunnels

Yikes- it's dark in here!

We're flying through the suburbs of Quito with no traffic, on a perfectly graded path; it's a good morning.

At the end of the path, we run into some road bikers who helpfully explain the best route into the city. The route is well-marked with signs informing cars to watch for cyclists, and people who pass are all respectful.  The only drawback is that it's a very steep climb.  Slowly, we begin to pedal our way up.  About halfway we stop for a break and a lady who drives past stops to see if we need anything.  Meet Michelle O. Fried, a mother with a huge heart, and author of two amazing cookbooks on Ecuadorian food.  After talking for a few minutes, she invites us to her house for some cold water.  Upon arrival we are not only treated to water, but also some home-brewed lemongrass ginger beer, flaxseed sourdough pita bread, sourkraut, and oil and vinegar infused with exotic fruits. Wow. Everything is so good! Thank you, Michelle, for your kindness and delicious food.

Michelle in the kitchen

Are you hungry yet? 

If you'd like to check out Michelle's cookbooks or just drool over the pictures, as we did, check out www.abebooks.com.

In Quito, her books can be found at the Librería Española, at Mr. Books, or at the Supermaxi. Happy eating!

Stomachs happy, we finish our hill climb up to the city. Once on the main city arteries, there's a bit of tricky riding doging buses and the like, but it's not too long before we arrive at the house of our warmshowers host.
So begins a wonderful evening filled with baking fresh bread and cookies, cooking up some stir fry, and most importantly, sharing crazy cycling stories.  What a fantastic place we have to stay tonight!

Some of our own home-baked bread. Brain bread, Ecuadorian style.

June 28th

Hanging out with our friendly Warmshowers host, biking through the city, and then meeting Danny's parents this afternoon! 

Getting ready for a week-long adventure to the Galapagos! We promise stories of adventures and beautiful pictures upon our return to the mainland. 

Route/Area Notes:

- The Pan-Am is big until the junction just north of Cayambe, where it shrinks to two lanes.  The shoulder remains and a lot of the traffic goes the other way, so the riding was not bad.

- The Otavalo bomberos were super nice and accommodating, and only about two blocks from the big market at the Plaza de los Ponchos.

Read on for the best way to enter Quito on bicycle! (It's the only way I've done, so I really can't be sure, but it was pretty darn awesome.)

- The Chaquiñan bike path was a traffic-free way to reach Cumbaya (though there was a fair amount of bicycle traffic on the Saturday we were there). The route was somewhat hard to find; we actually missed it where it crossed the Pan-Am and sought out another way by asking around. Apparently the path crosses the big road just south of the roundabout junction of the Pan-Am and the connector to the airport, the "Y" shape just south of Yaruqui. We went all the way almost to the next big intersection, where we took a right on an unnamed street. It's the only long road to the right after the river and before the next big intersection. Follow that street northwest for a few kilometers until you see the old rail lines! The path was very doable with our 1.6" tires, but it might be iffy on skinny road slicks. For more info, see here.

Update: we drove by the path on our way to and from the airport, and yes, it does cross the Pan-Am just south of the intersection just south of Yaruqui. Look for a yellow "Golden Bear Lubricants" sign on the west side of the road next to a pedestrian bridge. From there, you should see a big reddish arch set back a little ways on the west side of the road. 

- From the end of the path in Cumbaya, some road cyclists directed us to Quito on a roundabout, hilly way that totally avoids the traffic. At no point did we feel we were approaching a huge city. "Ciclistas en la via" signs all over the place, and on the weekends, lots of people out and about. 

Directions:

1) Turn right on the road the bike path dumps you out on (towards the conspicuous bike shop). Stop at the bakery at the corner. Eat some fantastic bread.

2) Take a right onto the bike lane with yellow dividers. Follow the bike lane as it turns right again onto Via Lactea. Soon after, it turns into a painted lane rather than the dividers. Keep going. Go down and down and down some more, cross a bridge, then climb up and up and up to the town of Nayon. The road name changes to Manuela Saenz before Nayon. 

3) Arriving in Nayon, there's a sign pointing left to Quito. Follow it. The road will dead end. Go left, then take your first right. Follow that for a few blocks. At the 5th right, a bigger cross street, go left, and follow that wonderful quiet street all the way to the eastern edge of Quito! Soon after Nayon, you'll follow an overpass over a huge highway and have a chance to thank the cycling gods that you are on the back road!

- Riding in Quito: 

If you have a chance, the ciclopaseo is on Avenida Amazonas on Sundays, ending at 2. Riding through the Parque Bicentenario is an experience as well, as it's the old airport and you're literally riding anywhere you like on the runways.

I couldn't find any bike maps of the city, nor was there any useful info on Open Cycle Maps. Fortunately, however, I did find this barebones map. Hopefully you can see it. Email me for the full size photo.