CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
417 km from Lares to Lares, about 11 h 47 of riding. It goes by way of Segment Kintama-Tawis, Manú National Park and back through Segment Kintama-Tawis. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 3,900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
North-east of Cusco, the Andes begin their great fall towards the Amazon. Somewhere in the high grassland between Paucartambo and the edge of the cloud forest, the segment of Inca road between Paucarpata and Ichuka crosses the puna, a land of tussock grass, cold lakes and rocky ridges at well over 3,500 metres. It is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, and the rides that pass here link it with the Manú National Park, one of the most biodiverse protected areas on Earth, which stretches from these heights down into lowland rainforest.
Read the complete Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka is where the day begins. Next is Segment Kintama-Tawis.
The Inca built a road network that stretched some thirty thousand kilometres along the Andes, from southern Colombia to central Chile, and much of it still exists as stone paths, staircases and causeways through the mountains. The Qhapaq Ñan, as it is called, was listed by UNESCO in 2014 as a set of segments across six countries. The Kintama-Tawis segment lies in the mountains north of the Sacred Valley of Cusco, in the high country between the valley and the cloud forests that descend toward the Amazon and the Manú national park.
Read the complete Segment Kintama-Tawis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Kintama-Tawis comes up 58 km in. Next is Manú National Park.
Manú is arguably the richest place on the planet for living things, and it earns that status through a single, dizzying slope. The national park runs from the high grasslands of the Andes at over 4,000 metres down through cloud forest and into the lowland Amazon rainforest, at about 300 metres, in a few dozen kilometres, and each step of the way holds different life. More than a thousand species of birds have been recorded, along with jaguars, giant otters, tapirs, spider monkeys and uncounted insects. UNESCO listed it in 1987 and the core zone is closed to visitors, with a few Indigenous groups living in voluntary isolation.
Read the complete Manú National Park write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
116 km in you reach Manú National Park. Next is back through Segment Kintama-Tawis.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Kintama-Tawis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Kintama-Tawis, late in the day. Next is Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka. That is the ride.
Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka → Segment Kintama-Tawis is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Kintama-Tawis → Manú National Park is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Manú National Park → back through Segment Kintama-Tawis is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Segment Kintama-Tawis → Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.