Ahoy mateys!

It´s been quite a week in Cusco.  I´ve managed to already meet a buncha people due to some major coincidences.  There is an organization called the South American Explorers Club that has a base in Cusco that I just joined http://saexplorers.org/club/home . Aside from having useful information about traveling ´round SAmerica, they also host social events, one being a trivia nite at an English-pub themed bar. I got there early and was joined by a couple of members. After some quick small talk, we realized we were all from Ohio (Canton and Lancaster).  A third person sat down and I had to inform her, "you are only allowed to sit here if you are from Ohio." Sure enough, she was from Portsmouth, Ohio... a table full of Buckeyes. Of course, that doesn´t surprise me.  Everyone wants to leave Ohio.

On Saturday, I jumped back on the bike and wanted to go farther than 9km out of the city. Though I had little sleep from the night before, I felt really good and went past the four ruins without any real hassle or breaks. Actually, after the four ruins, the road flattened out for another 10km and took a dip for the next 5km. As I approached the town I stopped to check out where I was.  I was only 5km from the next town called Pisac, but it was going to be something like a 500-1000 foot drop.

last town before the drop to Pisac

Looking up at the sky, I sensed rain likely to fall, so I made a decision to just turn back and head home. Within five minutes of that decision, it did start to rain.  I kept going until the next town and waited underneath an awning at a gas station to see if I could just wait it out. After 15 minutes, it seemed to lighten up, so I continued up the hill.

the climb was not as bad as this sign makes it out to be 

looking back to what I had already climbed (from where the above sign is)

As I climbed up the mountain, of course, the rain got more intense.  I knew at this point there would be no more shelters until the 10km of flat roads, so I just had to keep peddling on. Then I reached the crest and my luck changed for the better. I saw someone with a mountain bike (a Kona!) and full biker gear - helmet and body armor. It turns out, he´s from north Jersey and has lived here for the past two years with his wife. He just got off a bus (with his bike stached on the roof) and took a few seconds to get ready for the trails.

I turned to him with excitement and told him that is exactly what I was in the country for. He quickly invited me to join him. After giving me a quick overview of what to expect (two different paths- one extreme and fit for full-suspension bikes, the other for other types of bikes), I told him to prepare to leave me in the dust (mud) and that I will just find my way back to Cusco. He was nice enough to wait for me at a few trail breaks and at some point just showed me which path to take while he went down the more extreme trail into the city.

Before we separated, he invited me to join him and his wife to an Easter and birthday party in a nearby town. Going back to my Peace Corps days, I learned never to refuse an Easter party, especially when Catholics are involved. I came armed with a bottle of red wine and was met with cases of beer, more wine and a couple  bottles of Pisco. It was a family affair (the birthday for one of the parent´s children), but there were quite a number of ex-patriots, many from the US.