After our PAC Tour mountain bike ride to the Rain Forest last year I knew people enjoyed visiting Peru. Since 90% of PAC Tour riders are mainly road cyclists we wanted a tour that offered interesting and challenging paved road riding. This tour is limited to 10-12 cyclists.
The Highest Paved Road in the World is almost 16,000 feet. The climb up Ticlio Pass in the Andes Mountains dwarfs any mountain pass in the United States. I had cycled this grade several times and was impressed with the road quality and scenery. The riding days could be completed in six hours. The uphill days would be 35-40 miles and the downhill days would be 80-85 miles. There are adequate hotels and restaurants each night. Our local support crew and guides will have a van/bus to carry our gearbags and provide snacks during the day. Our support vehicles will be carrying bottled oxygen in case anyone develops altitude sickness.
The tour will begin at the Pacific coastal city of Lima. Our arrival day in Lima will include a historical city tour and time to assemble our bikes. The next morning we begin climbing for two days over the summit at Ticlio Pass. The first night our hotel is at 10,000 feet. At this altitude the elevation makes the 7% grade feel much steeper. Stopping and drinking a bottle of water every 15-30 minutes is recommended.
From Ticlio Pass we proceed down the gradual eastern slope of the Andes Mountains for three more days into the jungle town of Satipo (sa-TEE-po). The elevation in Satipo is back down to 2,000 feet. We will have a recovery day from cycling and time to take a Rain Forest Tour on white water rafts and riverboats. The scenery will change from massive mountains and canyons to thick green jungle. The temperatures will range from chilly 40 degree mountaintops to a tropical 95 degree in the valleys. The return trip to Lima will take us four days. The climb back over Ticlio Pass again is less steep on the eastern side. We end the tour with a very fast fifty mile downhill back to Lima.
Everyone should be ready for six hours of energetic riding per day. Training in Colorado over 10,000 feet of elevation is a good idea to understand how your body will react. Anyone who has completed a multi day PAC Tour event is capable of riding this tour if they can handle the extreme elevation.
New: Daily Itinerary below (click here to go direct).
Including travel days from the United States and transition days in Lima, this will be a 14 day tour. We will fly to Lima on Saturday, October 23. We will arrive back in the United States on Friday, November 5.
PAC Tour has put together a package that includes hotels, most meals, snacks, guides, vehicles, airport shuttles, travel shirt and fun commemoratives. Most hotels will be single occupancy, but some nights could have two people and two beds per room. Restaurant breakfasts and dinners are included. Snacks will include bottled water, soda and packaged food. Dinners are a good time for everyone to get together and discuss adventure options available for the next day.
Airfares to Lima are not included. Roundtrip tickets usually cost $450 to $750. Many riders have frequent flier miles they prefer to use. There is a Lima Airport tax of $28 for return flights. Equipment storage at the airport is $3 per day per bag. Some lunches are on your own at roadside cafes. Travel Insurance is $94 from Travel Guard 800-549-9037. This is strongly recommended to provide coverage not included by your regular insurance.
Navigation is pretty easy since we follow one road most of the time. The route sheet lists many landmarks to gauge your progress. Our guides will help you order at restaurants and check into hotels. The local people are friendly and curious to see cyclists visit their remote towns.
The payment to PAC Tour is $1,695. A $300 deposit is needed by July 15th. The remaining $1,395 is due September 1st.
For the Assault Tour everyone will receive:
A road style bicycle with very low gears would be best. Because of the elevation you will feel a loss of power above 10,000 feet. A triple crank or 39 x 28 gearing will be needed. Tires should be 23 or 25mm. Road surfaces are good to excellent except for short sections of road construction. Good headlights and taillights are needed for riding through twenty long dark tunnels. Bike cases will be stored in Lima during the tour.
| Day | Date | Town start |
Town End |
Miles | Hotel Elevation |
| 1 | Sat Oct 23 | Travel to Lima, Peru | night flight | ||
| 2 | Sun Oct 24 | Lima City Tour | assemble bikes | 2,000' | |
| 3 | Mon Oct 25 | Chosica | San Meteo | 35 miles | 10,000' |
| 4 | Tue Oct 26 | San Meteo | La Oroya | 50 miles | 12,000' |
| 5 | Wed Oct 27 | La Oroya | Tarma | 40 miles | 10,000' |
| 6 | Thur Oct 28 | Tarma | La Merced | 50 miles | 5,000' |
| 7 | Fri Oct 29 | La Merced | Satipo | 80 miles | 2,000' |
| 8 | Sat Oct 30 | Jungle Riverboat and Waterfall Tour | |||
| 9 | Sun Oct 31 | Satipo | La Merced | 80 miles | 5,000' |
| 10 | Mon Nov 1 | La Merced | Tarma | 50 miles | 10,000' |
| 11 | Tue Nov 2 | Tarma | La Roya | 40 miles | 12,000' |
| 12 | Wed Nov 3 | La Roya | Chosica | 85 miles | 2,000' |
| 13 | Thur Nov 4 | Pack bikes | Lima city tour | night flight home | |
| 14 | Fri Nov 5 | Arrive home | |||
See the detailed itinerary just below.
If you would like to stay in Peru and visit Machu Picchu, an extension tour is planned from November 4-10. See these tour details listed in the PAC Tour schedule.
Would you like to contribute to the Amazon School Building Fund or join the School Builders Tour November 9-17? Please see these details listed in the PAC Tour schedule.
Chosica is located on the outskirts of Lima at the base of the foothills. This is where we will begin our bike ride tomorrow. Once at our hotel we will check in and assemble our bicycles in the courtyard. There is a safe section of road to test ride the bikes near the hotel. There is a restaurant at the hotel for a group dinner in the evening. We will have a busy day again tomorrow so we want everyone to have the chance to get to bed early.
The air is dry here. Lima is a desert climate with less than 2 inches of rain per year. Be sure to stop and drink often. There are roadside venders selling bottled water, soda and snacks to the truck drivers every few miles. Be aware of the cement drainage ditches along the edge of the road. It is a little unnerving to ride slow uphill with a drop off a few feet away. Our early start will miss some of the traffic but we should be aware of slow trucks coming up from behind. Do not enter any tunnels if you can see traffic behind you. Make sure your red light is always on in the tunnels.
The elevation change is deceptive. As you climb to 5,000' then 8,0000' the scenery is similar. Steep walled rocky canyons tower thousands of feet above. The final miles into San Meteo begin to reveal views of the summit peaks ahead. You might notice the air getting thinner now at 10,000' high.
The tiny town of San Meteo is famous for their bottled spring water. A small cluster of buildings sit perched along the steady slant of the highway. Our hotel is simple but clean and looks like a 1960's school building. There are two modern restaurants next door for dinner. We will need the extra blankets on the bed tonight because the chilly mountain air will be near 40 degrees.
We will have extra support vehicles stationed along the way today. Each vehicle will have bottled oxygen if you feeling nauseated. The vehicles will be instructed to evacuate any rider to lower elevations that is showing signs of altitude sickness.
The weather at the top will be cool. There is a slight chance for rain but this is still an arid climate. You should always have a small seat bag to carry a raincoat and warmer clothes.
The 15 mile descent to La Oroya is steady but less steep than the climb. We will pass several mining towns. In La Oroya our hotel is downtown within walking distance of several restaurants.
There will be time to walk through the city or go for a tour of the Caves of Huagapo located 15 miles outside of town. The road to the caves is rocky and rough and suitable for a mountain bike. We can take a bus of van to see the rustic wet caves. It is possible to go deep into the caves for one kilometer. Bring a flashlight and nonslip shoes.
This should be another easy riding day with a lot of downhills. La Merced is a busy city of 12,000 people. There are many things to see downtown.
The rest of the route has good pavement and will be an easy ride to our evening destination of Satipo. This town is the end of the paved road. We are now deep into the jungle and at the edge of civilization as we know it. The native Ashaninka Indians come from the jungle to Satipo for supplies.
Although this town borders on basic services, people deal with the simple lifestyle. At a restaurant when the electricity fails in the middle of dinner the waiters bring a kerosene lantern for each table just as if they were serving another pot of coffee. Everyone goes about finishing their meal just as if nothing has happened. The city streets are only lit by motorbike headlights. When you return to the hotel the desk clerk hands you a lit candle so you can find your room. Satipo has a special charm all it own you canıt find in every city.
Depending on our mood and energy level an evening cookout is planned in the jungle. Local Indian foods will be prepared buy our guides. This will be a fun evening to share with the local people.
At about 6:00 PM you should return to the hotel to shower and get ready for the airport. At 7:30 PM we will take you back to the airport to retrieve your bike from storage and get you to the correct ticket gate. Checking in through security could take over an hour so be prepared for long lines. You will arrive back to the United States on Friday morning, November 5