Cycling The Globe

Distance: 105.02 km
Ride time: 5:12:57
Average: 20.13 km/h
Max speed: 51.68 km/h
Total: 30092 km

I woke up to another morning with a thick coastal fog covering the desert landscapes north of Lima. The road was climbing towards the top of a big sand dune.

Even the melancholic fog could not keep my spirits down. Only a few kilometers further down the road my bicycle computer would tick over the 30.000 km mark. When you do a long trip those small and big milestones are important. This was a major one!

As I stopped to celebrate the moment I once again thought about the day in Malaysia when I reached the 10.000 km mark and the 20.000 day in New Zealand as well. Nice memories from two beautiful countries with great people.

As I descended towards the sea level the fog was shifting and the sun came out. Since I’m now cycling away from Lima the kilometer stones are now counting up. They will need to show some 1100 km before I reach the border with Ecuador.

The last hour of today’s ride I was speeding up as I tried to push the average speed above 20 km/h. It’s a long time since I last managed these kind of speeds. While fighting the head winds up at the Altiplano in Argentina and Bolivia I was dreaming about an easy 100 km day cruising along the coast. This was it…

I don’t have a very detailed map of this part of Peru – finding the way is easy, just straight ahead on the Panamericana Norte. My map shows some towns, but most of them are just a few houses along the highway. I was surprised as I rode into Huacho to find a major city with several big supermarkets, banks, and a central square.

Two and a half months ago I became uncle for the first time to a beautiful and very energetic young boy. These days it’s a tradition that once I reach a city I go to an internet café to see the latest photos. Some would say that all this social media makes us less social, but when you find yourself on the other side of the planet trying to follow what is happening back home, I really like facebook.