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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 and Segment Tambillo - Pincosh

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
217 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 43
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

From Yauya it runs 217 km to Yauya; allow about 5 h 43 of riding. It goes by way of Segment Cajay - Huaritambo, Segment Tambillo - Pincosh and back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051

    East of the Cordillera Blanca, in the region of Ancash known as the Conchucos, the Inca road system, the Qhapaq Ñan, crossed some of the most rugged terrain of its entire network. This segment, near the small town of Yauya, is part of the main road that ran north from Cusco to Quito through the high Andes, linking administrative centres such as Huánuco Pampa to the south. The Inca engineers laid stone paving, built steps on steep slopes, retaining walls and drainage channels, and stretches of the road can still be walked today, threading across high grasslands and past lakes at altitudes well over three and a half thousand metres. The whole network, which crosses six countries, became a World Heritage site in 2014.

    Read the complete Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 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 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Tambillo - Pincosh.

  3. 3. Segment Tambillo - Pincosh

    This is high, remote country. The Tambillo to Pincosh segment of the Qhapaq Ñan crosses the puna of the Ancash and Huánuco highlands, east of the Cordillera Blanca, at altitudes of around four thousand metres, part of the stretch of the Inca road that ran north from Cusco through the Andes towards Quito. The road here was the main artery of the empire, with tambos, way stations, every day's walk or so, where travellers, messengers and armies could rest and find supplies. Tambillo, the little tambo, suggests one of those stations. Today, the road survives as a stone-paved path with retaining walls and drainage channels, crossing open grassland, wetlands and passes, and it is one of the best-preserved sections of the network, listed by UNESCO along with the rest of the Qhapaq Ñan.

    Read the complete Segment Tambillo - Pincosh write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 105 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Tambillo - Pincosh. 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 Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051.

  5. 5. Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 to Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 → Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to Segment Tambillo - Pincosh

Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → Segment Tambillo - Pincosh is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment Tambillo - Pincosh to back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

Segment Tambillo - Pincosh → back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051

back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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