| Distance | 55.00 kms | 34.18 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Climbed | 610 meters | 2,001 feet |
| Ride time (hours) | 4.60 | - |
| Avg speed | 12.1 kph | - |
| Avg climb | 4% | - |
| Max grade | 12% | - |
| Distance | 12,715.52 kms | 7,901.35 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Climbed | 150,409 meters | 493,468 feet |
| Ride time (hours) | 1,024.29 | - |
Wednesday, July 17th, 2013
The weather didn't change for the better overnight, we woke up to more cold rain and fog. There was leftover pasta but I couldn't face it for breakfast. We got on the road for a rough descent on rock and mud. It looks like no one ever drives up this side of the reserve as there was vegetation growing over sections of the path. At some spots there was too much mud to ride through so we had to get off and push.
Once we got down under 3,000 meters things got a bit warmer so we stopped for a tomato, cheese, and avocado sandwich. Some more climbing on mud then another big descent back down to the Panamericana. The temperature was back up to comfortable when we reached the highway where we saw a few brightly-colored cycle tourists off in the distance but they didn't see us so we didn't find out their story. From there we road into Tulcán for lunch and supplies. I spoke to a guy who studied English at the university and who wanted to practice.
It was mostly descent from Tulcán down to the Ecuadorian-Colombian border crossing. The line to get our passports stamped out of Ecuador was long and when I got to the window it turned out that the border guards at the Ecuador-Peru border hadn't entered my information into their system... Annoying because those guys were just sitting around doing nothing the whole time I was there. I had to go make three photocopies of my entrance stamp and the photo page of my passport then they stamped me out of the country. The entrance into Colombia was a lot easier: they just asked me where I was going, stamped my passport with 90 days, and said welcome to Colombia.
We were taking photos in front of the Welcome to Colombia sign when a cop came over and said we could be arrested for taking photos there. Turned out he was just messing with us, he took a picture of both of us then we were on our way climbing into Ipiales. More rain during the descent from Ipiales into Las Lajas. We stopped there for the night so we could check out the sanctuary in the morning, camping under the arches of a big building for pilgrims that they are renovating. A few people came by and asked what we were doing but everyone was okay with us camping there. Not really a good night's sleep though because people kept walking by.
