CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
1304 km from Abancay to Abancay, about 22 h 30 of riding. It goes by way of Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata, Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi and back through Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Apurímac is a Quechua word that means the speaker of the gods, or the great speaker, and it is the name of the river whose canyon you cross, deep and loud, on any road between Cusco and Abancay. The region around Abancay is one of the least visited in the southern Andes, and I find that its character is mostly vertical: valleys at 2,000 metres with sugar cane and avocados, then switchbacks climbing into puna grassland above 4,000 metres where the wind is cold and the llamas look at you without interest. The abra in the title, Spanish for a mountain pass, is one of those high crossings, and the Inca road, the Qhapaq Ñan, runs over or near it.
Read the complete Segment Abra Choqetakarpu-Toroyoq write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Abra Choqetakarpu-Toroyoq is where the day begins. Next is Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata.
This is a stretch of the Inca road, and it is made for feet. The Qhapaq Ñan was the great road system of the Inca empire, more than thirty thousand kilometres of stone causeways, steps, bridges and tunnels linking the Pacific coast to the high Andes and from Colombia down to Chile and Argentina. UNESCO listed the network across six countries in 2014. The segment between Mach'ay and Samarinapata runs through the mountains of the Cusco region, west of Machu Picchu, and its name tells the story. A mach'ay is a cave, and samarina is a place to rest, so the route marks shelters and stopping points for travellers and for the chasquis, the relay runners who carried messages and goods at great speed across the empire.
Read the complete Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata comes up about 264 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi.
Above Ollantaytambo, where the Sacred Valley of the Incas narrows, a side valley climbs north toward the high passes of the Urubamba range, following the Patacancha river. The segment between Patacancha and Huacahuasi is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road system, and it crosses some of the most beautiful country in the Cusco region: steep slopes covered with potato fields and terraces, small villages of stone and adobe houses, herds of llamas and alpacas grazing in high pastures, and snow-capped peaks above. The communities of this area, like Patacancha and Huacahuasi, are known for their weaving, with intricate designs and bright colours, and the women's traditional dress is among the most striking in the Andes.
Read the complete Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 654 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi. Next is back through Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata, late in the day. Next is Segment Abra Choqetakarpu-Toroyoq.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Abra Choqetakarpu-Toroyoq write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Segment Abra Choqetakarpu-Toroyoq. That is the ride.
Segment Abra Choqetakarpu-Toroyoq → Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata is 264 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata → Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi is 390 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi → back through Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata is 390 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Segment Inca Mach’ay-Samarinapata → Segment Abra Choqetakarpu-Toroyoq is 264 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.