Distance: 80.62 km
Ride time: 8:00:13
Average: 10.08 km/h
Altitude: 4224 m
Total: 28739 km
I’m on my way to Arequipa, and from the weather forecast I have seen that the daily temperatures down there at 2300 m reach 20 degrees! For now however, I’m certainly still at the altiplano. The temperature in the night had been well below -10, and my water bottles were frozen solid in the morning.
The cycling day started with a solid climb to the village of Santa Lucia where I could buy a cup of coffee to warm up. The road then continued to climb up to Lagunillas at 4000 m. I parked my bike at the lake and made myself a tuna sandwich.
Next to my lunch spot the police were lunching a boat into the lake. They were searching for survivors after another boat had capsized during the night. With these night temperatures it unfortunately seemed unlikely they would have survived.
From the lake the road kept climbing, and this was where the going got tough. I was not only climbing to well above 4000 m, once again feeling the lack of oxygen, I was also fighting a strong head wind. I sincerely hope this will be my last fight with the head wind coming from the Andes – oh boy I feel I have been fighting this fight forever by now.
As I reached the top of the pass the road flattened out and it started to snow! A truck driver asked if I wanted a ride to Arequipa, but I tried to smile and say I was doing fine. The friendly truck driver then gave me a chocolate bar and I continued on. If I had known that the head wind would reach storm levels soon thereafter I might have reconsidered the offer from the truck driver. At this point I had tears running down my cheeks, but I think they came from the head wind rather from frustration.
The reward from all the hard work came a little later as I was passing a sign saying Crucero Alto 4528 meters. This is the highest road I have ever cycled. Ending the day with a record was a much needed mood booster.
