The route you ride has an enormous impact on the enjoyment of a cycle tour. And there’s always a compromise involved. Do we skip this to see that? Take the more beautiful but also more difficult route? Ride in the mountains or along the coast?
After our time in Huaraz we had another decision to make. Do we stay in the mountains or head back down to the coast? The mountains and the coast in Peru couldn’t be more different. The mountains are peaceful, remote, and slow and the coast is bustling, busy, and quick. In the end we chose the coastal route to visit some of the archaeological sites that we’d heard so much about.
Just outside Huaraz we ran into two friends from Trujillo who were riding with three other cyclists they met. With them we rode as a party of seven for a couple hours, making a large pack that no dog would dare chase. They turned off shortly after for the mountain route and we almost changed our minds right then and there to join them.
