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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Segment Huaricashash - Isco and Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
611 km
Riding-time estimate
14 h 53
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

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: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

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Why this ride

A 611 km round trip from La Unión - roughly 14 h 53 in the saddle. The stops in between: Segment Cajay - Huaritambo, Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha and back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Segment Huaricashash - Isco

    La Union is a small market town in a high valley of the Huanuco Region, in the central Peruvian Andes, and the Huaricashash to Isco segment lies about eleven kilometres from it, in a landscape of steep terraced hillsides, eucalyptus groves and distant snow peaks. It is the same Inca road network as the neighbouring segments, but this stretch sits close to the greatest Inca site in the region.

    Read the complete Segment Huaricashash - Isco write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Segment Huaricashash - Isco is where the day begins. Next is Segment Cajay - Huaritambo.

  2. 2. Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

    Few riders ever get this far into the Conchucos, the deep valleys on the eastern side of Peru's Cordillera Blanca, and that is half the reason to come. The label refers to a stretch of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road network that ran for thousands of kilometres along the Andes, here crossing between the hamlet of Cajay and Huaritambo, whose name preserves the word tambo, the waystation where runners and travellers on imperial business could rest, eat and change loads. Parts of the paving, retaining walls and drainage channels still survive on slopes where it is hard to imagine anyone building anything at all.

    Read the complete Segment Cajay - Huaritambo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Segment Cajay - Huaritambo comes up about 188 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha.

  3. 3. Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha

    Few places in Peru feel as far from Lima as the eastern side of the Cordillera Blanca, in the Conchucos country of the Ancash region. The Inca road here was a mountain track, climbing from the valley of the Marañón up to the high grasslands, and the segment from Lomas de Huarin to Matacocha, part of the UNESCO Qhapaq Ñan listing of 2014, runs through a landscape of steep green slopes, terraced fields, small hamlets and a sky that feels very close. The towns are Pomabamba, a market town known for hot springs, and Yauya, a smaller place in a side valley, with farms and a busy Sunday market.

    Read the complete Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 311 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha. Next is back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo.

  4. 4. back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Cajay - Huaritambo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo, late in the day. Next is Segment Huaricashash - Isco.

  5. 5. Segment Huaricashash - Isco

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Huaricashash - Isco write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Segment Huaricashash - Isco. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Segment Huaricashash - Isco to Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

Segment Huaricashash - Isco → Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 188 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha

Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha is 123 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha to back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha → back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to Segment Huaricashash - Isco

back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → Segment Huaricashash - Isco is 188 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

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