Aside from a bike rental in Nicaragua, we have yet to do any serious mountain biking on this trip. We ride a lot at home, but it usually is just a leisurely pedal along the beach and through the neighborhood for 10 to 15 miles.
Here in Ecuador there are opportunities galore for mountain biking. I spotted a possible trip to bike down the Cotopaxi volcano. The tour takes you to the top and you just cruise down. That sounded great until I talked to a fellow traveler who hiked to the top and said it was cold miserable rain, and snow at the very top. After spending the last week in the rain this idea lost its appeal.
But, here in Banos there is a DIY trip for a nice ride down to the town of Puyo. Puyo is 60 KM (about 38 miles) away through the “Ruta de las Cascadas” or the “route of waterfalls”. Sometimes they are necessary, but in general I hate packaged tours. So to rent a bike for $5 and take off exploring a mountain road filled with waterfalls on our own sounded great to both of us.
Most rental bikes are horrible, but looking around this town most agencies had nice new equipment. The place on the corner even had brand new bikes with disc brakes for an extra $2 so I splurged.
Strapping on the bike helmets we headed on the main road out of town. As we approached the first decline, I tried to stay close to another couple riding figuring there was more safety from traffic in numbers. I looked back and Dawn kept falling behind. Finally I slowed up and asked if she was okay.
“Yeah.” Was the response.
“Are you riding the brakes?” I asked.
“Yes—I’m not going to go barreling down the hill!”
“Oh boy, we are never going to make it to Puyo” I thought. Not a big deal though, you pedal as far as you want along the road and grab any passing bus back to Banos.
The scenery along this road is just great. Waterfalls decorate the sweeping mountain landscape and empty into the Rio Pastaza on your right as you cruise along. The road is nice and wide and not to laden with traffic for the most part. There are several lookouts and we decided to take a cable car across the river to one of the falls along the way.
After about 3 hours of slowly pedaling along and soaking up the vistas Dawn asked me how far it was to Puyo. I handed her the map and she was shocked to see we had only covered 17 of the 60 KM. I didn’t understand the surprise… you can’t brake your way over 60K. Clamping down on the brakes when you start feeling a breeze is not going to cover that kind of distance in a day.
Maybe I was being too hard on Dawn. I grew up in a very hilly neighborhood and spent many a summer day on my bike speeding down enormous hills and sailing over poorly made ramps—only to crash-land in contortionist positions and remove many layers of skin from my limbs. Somehow I still have all my teeth. After those experiences, I take a simple downhill run for granted.
I’m not a great rider by any measure, but I do like not having to pedal and cruising downhill. This route offered plenty of that but Dawn wasn’t having it. Finally, when she realized how slow we were moving, I gently suggested she stop riding the brakes. “If you want to make it to Puyo, you need to increase your speed to ‘forward’” I said. Okay, so I was being an asshole.
By now, Dawn’s to-do list/task-master/goal-orientated/competitive side was starting to show and she was getting Puyo fever. The “This must be accomplished” vibe was coming off of her. I decided to play this up. I showed her some basic tips for a little more control on the downhill. They were thoroughly ignored while we were riding an off-road section.
But, when we hit the pavement again I realized I created a monster. I looked behind me and Dawn was flying! (more than “barreling”) We covered over 10K in the next half hour.
It all backfired though.
It was now almost 3pm and we had not eaten since our “free” bread and coffee breakfast at the hotel that morning. I’ve exercised long and hard before and bonked for not eating something. I suggested we grab some pizza when I saw it. “Nah, let’s just keep going” she said. Puyo fever was in full effect. I smiled to myself because I knew we were both going to hit the wall in the next hour.
Everyone is superman on the downhill, but we got a dose of kryptonite on the next uphill section. Uphill is always hard, but the thin mountain air will really make you crawl. I hit the next uphill section and Dawn disappeared on the curve behind me. After about 10 minutes I was really having a tough time and decided to drink some water and wait for Dawn to catch up. Finally she appeared around the curve—pushing her bike uphill while staring at her feet. A sign the day was over.
We pushed on a bit further to find an open spot for the bus to stop for us. Sure enough, we caught a bus within 5 minutes. The bikes went into storage below and we collapsed on board. Total distance for the day: 30K (about 20 miles). Not bad for the mountains when we normally ride in flat sea-level Florida.
I think we saw the best section along this road in the first 30K anyhow. It was by far the best biking I have ever done. Next time we attempt the “Tour-de-chic” we may even make it to the finish line.
mountain biking » Blog Archive » Biking Banos said:
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