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: 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.
The stops in between: Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I, Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande and back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
The Inca road did not end at the Ecuadorian border; it ran on through the Andes of southern Ecuador towards Cuenca and Quito, and segments of it survive in the province of Loja, among them this one between San José, Llamacanchi and Las Limas. It is a remote stretch in hill country near the Peruvian border, where the Andes are lower and drier than further north, and the road crosses ridges and valleys covered with scrub, pasture and patches of seasonally dry forest. It belongs to the Qhapaq Ñan World Heritage site, which spans six countries.
Read the complete Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas is where the day begins. Next is Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I.
Far down in the southwest of Ecuador, in the province of Loja near the border with Peru, the old Inca highway crossed a dry and broken country of ridges and ravines on its way between the Andes of Ecuador and northern Peru. The subsection near the Quebrada Huatuchi is one of the stretches of the Qhapaq Ñan identified and protected here, part of a route that linked Inca settlements on both sides of the present border, including the ruins of Aypate on the Peruvian side. Out here the stone paving, retaining walls and drainage of the road can still be traced across the hillsides.
Read the complete Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande.
The Inca built a road through the Andes of Ecuador as they did elsewhere, and in the south of the country a stretch of it runs through the hills near Saraguro, north of the city of Loja. This is a section of the Qhapaq Ñan, the great Andean road system recognised by UNESCO in 2014, and the segment from Ciudadela to Vinoyaco Grande follows a paved or cobbled path across high grassland and over low ridges, with stone steps in the steep places and drains to keep the water off. Saraguro is known for its indigenous people, the Saraguros, who wear black clothing, the men in knee-length trousers and flat hats and the women with shawls and long pleated skirts, and who keep a strong tradition of farming and festivals.
Read the complete Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 212 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande. Next is back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I, late in the day. Next is Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas. That is the ride.
Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas → Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I → Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande is 152 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande → back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I is 151 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I → Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.