Nobody paid much attention to this ridge until the snow started thinning a few years back and the stripes underneath showed up. Vinicunca, the so-called Rainbow Mountain, sits in the Vilcanota range south-east of Cusco, and the colours are plain geology: layers of sediment stained by different minerals, tilted and then exposed, rust-red where iron has oxidised, mustard and cream where other salts and sandstones sit. The summit viewpoint is a little over 5,000 metres, which puts it in the same air as the highest passes in the Alps with another kilometre on top.
The ride there is the best part, honestly, and it is a slow one. You leave Cusco on the valley road toward Sicuani, pass through the small Quechua towns along the Vilcanota river, with Checacupe and Qquea among the names on the signs, and then turn up into the hills on a road that gets narrower, rougher and colder with every climb. Expect fields of potatoes and quinoa, stone walls, llamas and alpacas on the verges, women in layered skirts and bowler hats flagging down the occasional minibus. Surface changes without warning, so keep your speed honest, and give the weather its due: afternoons bring hail and cloud, mornings are clear and bitterly cold.
Be clear about what the gate means. The last stretch to the viewpoint is a walking trail, and a steep one at this height, with horses for hire in the high villages if your lungs say no. The bike stays parked, so go early, because the crowds that arrive by tour bus from Cusco in the small hours are real and the light is flat by midday. Spend a couple of nights in Cusco first to acclimatise, drink coca tea if it appeals, and do not be proud about slowing down.
For fuel, do not count on the villages up here. Bring a warm layer and rain gear whatever the sky looks like at breakfast. The reward is a ridge that looks painted, a view across a valley of glaciated peaks, and the particular silence of thin air.