Cotopaxi is the volcano every Ecuadorian child can draw: a near-perfect cone of 5,897 metres, capped with glacier, rising out of high grassland an hour or so south of Quito. It is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, and it last erupted in 2015, sending ash over the surrounding villages and closing the national park for months. The park has since reopened, though access can be restricted whenever the mountain gets restless, so ask locally before you commit to the day.
Machachi is where you fill the tank and eat.
The riding is part of the pleasure. From the Panamericana, a paved road leads up into the park through plantations of pine and then onto the páramo, a cold, windswept tableland of tussock grass, lupins and low scrub, where wild horses graze and Andean foxes and, if you are lucky, a condor cross the sky. The surface is paved at first and turns to cobbles or gravel nearer the lake of Limpiopungo, a shallow lagoon at about 3,800 metres, ringed with reeds and birds. A rough road continues up toward the car park at roughly 4,600 metres, below the refuge, if conditions allow.
Altitude is the thing to respect. Engines lose power in thin air and so do riders, and a headache, nausea or breathlessness is common if you rush up from Quito, which already sits at 2,800 metres. Stay hydrated, move slowly and turn back if you feel unwell. Weather is moody: the summit often hides in cloud, with the clearest hours in the early morning, and rain, hail and cold can arrive any time. The dry months, roughly June to September, give the best chance of a view of the cone, and it is worth asking about entry rules at the gate.