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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico and Segment Cerro de Cojitambo

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
282 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 22
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 282 km round trip from Alausí - roughly 5 h 22 in the saddle. On the way it passes Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez, Segment Cerro de Cojitambo and back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 3,750 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 Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico

    High in the Andes of Chimborazo province, south of Alausí, a narrow path of fitted stone winds across the páramo, the cold grassland that covers the Ecuadorian highlands above about 3,500 metres. It is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road system, and this stretch belongs to the route that links the Inca site of Ingapirca with the highlands to the north. Before the Spanish arrived, the Inca built paved paths, stairways and waystations across this country, and parts of them are still in use, walked by herders and, in recent decades, by trekkers following the well-known route from Achupallas to Ingapirca.

    Read the complete Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico is where the day begins. Next is Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez.

  2. 2. Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez

    High in the southern Andes of Ecuador, in the province of Cañar, a stretch of Inca road runs between the small towns of El Tambo and Honorato Vásquez, part of the Qhapaq Ñan World Heritage Site. The name El Tambo itself comes from the Inca word for a waystation, where travellers could rest and find supplies. This route was part of the great road that ran north from Cusco to Quito, and in this area it passed close to Ingapirca, the largest Inca site in Ecuador.

    Read the complete Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez comes up about 91 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Cerro de Cojitambo.

  3. 3. Segment Cerro de Cojitambo

    Cojitambo is a rocky hill that rises abruptly above the valley of Azogues, in the province of Cañar, in the southern Andes of Ecuador. Its summit and slopes hold the remains of a Cañari and Inca settlement, with walls, terraces and stairways, and the Inca road ran past it, a segment of the Qhapaq Ñan listed by UNESCO. The Cañari were the people of this region before the Inca conquest, and they resisted fiercely, later siding with the Spanish against their Inca overlords. Today the hill is also a popular spot for rock climbing, with routes on its cliffs.

    Read the complete Segment Cerro de Cojitambo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 141 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Cerro de Cojitambo. Next is back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez.

  4. 4. back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez, late in the day. Next is Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico.

  5. 5. Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico to Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez

Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico → Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez to Segment Cerro de Cojitambo

Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez → Segment Cerro de Cojitambo is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment Cerro de Cojitambo to back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez

Segment Cerro de Cojitambo → back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez to Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico

back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez → Segment Palcañán Grande - Palcañán Chico is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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