Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca and Segment Cerro de Cojitambo
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
300 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 39
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.
From Alausí it runs 300 km to Alausí; allow about 5 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of 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. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca
Achupallas is a high village in Chimborazo province, about sixteen kilometres from Alausí, and the walking trail named after it, which runs south towards Ingapirca, is one of Ecuador's best-known treks. For motorcyclists the point is the landscape and the road beside it: bare páramo at over three thousand metres, with the volcanic cone of Sangay on a clear day, and little else but sheep, lupins and the odd shepherd's hut.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca is where the day begins. Next is Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez comes up about 100 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Cerro de Cojitambo.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca to Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez
Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca → Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez is 100 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 Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca
back through Segment El Tambo - Honorato Vásquez → Subsection Achupallas - Ingapirca is 100 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.