so, this weekend i went to Santo Domingo de los Olleros, or Olleros, for short.
The trail begins at 11000ft, and drops all the way to the beach. one of the longest, if not the longest downhill on earth.
20 miles of steep singletrack down the mountains, plus 20 miles out, across the narrow stretch of coast between the andes skirts and the shore.....
the rain season in the andes is about to end (3-4 weeks more).. so i decided to venture into the highlands for the most epic ride Peru has to offer. we were probably the first group to ride down this trail this season, before hordes of locals and gringoes fly thousands of miles to rip its singletrack.
the first 20 miles, almost virgin like ground, compacted and humid after 4 months of rain, with awesome grip and natural berms and whoops... and the last 20 miles, of rock solid dry mud, with multiple natural lines, whoops, jumps... almost a deserted mud skatepark at parts.
if the almost worthless, by now and because of the cliches, word "epic" once had a meaning, its the Olleros trail.
Its not exposure galores as Casta (although it has its exposed 500ft cliffs sections), it has its own charm because of its lenght, variety of weathers (in one single 4hr ride you can go from a blizzard to 80f degree summer) and terrain. Its technical parts, and its almost rollercoaster like groomed singletrack. Its mountain biking on its broadest and yet purest definition, from WC downhill to groomed singletrack in one trail.
got up at 6am, and loaded stuff in order to leave Lima (sea level) at 7:30am... we drove up a mountain road for 60 miles... only to encounter a broken down bulldozer at 9000ft above sea level blocking the road... only 10 miles away and 2000ft below out destination.. we would not be stopped. we turned around, and drove 80 miles around the other side of the mountain to reach the trail head.
in front of my house, 7am
river crossing, as we left Lima into the Andes
shuttle mule
shuttling in progress
the road less travelled
stretching legs
broken bulldozer, only 10 miles away, and we had to turn around to drive 80 miles around the mountain because of this
back to the coast... starting the shuttle again, attacking the mountain from its other face... we got to the top at 2pm, instead of 10am as originally planned
Trail begins here. 3412 meters high. That over 11000ft high.
somewhere along the trail
the ridge, and skinny singletrack flowing down are the trail..
me, mashing the pedals for the 20 mile ride out of the andes skirts and into the shore across a dried flat mudslide bed
sunset, as we got closer to the shore
only thing i regret, is i did not take pictures of the gps showing "elevation 0", as we loaded our stuff in the truck, after the whole ride, which ended within walking distance of the ocean, almost in the dark...
short video of the shuttling, as we laughed our asses at a silly joke
"Dice... dice, que no hay el repuesto" on Vimeo
The trail begins at 11000ft, and drops all the way to the beach. one of the longest, if not the longest downhill on earth.
20 miles of steep singletrack down the mountains, plus 20 miles out, across the narrow stretch of coast between the andes skirts and the shore.....
the rain season in the andes is about to end (3-4 weeks more).. so i decided to venture into the highlands for the most epic ride Peru has to offer. we were probably the first group to ride down this trail this season, before hordes of locals and gringoes fly thousands of miles to rip its singletrack.
the first 20 miles, almost virgin like ground, compacted and humid after 4 months of rain, with awesome grip and natural berms and whoops... and the last 20 miles, of rock solid dry mud, with multiple natural lines, whoops, jumps... almost a deserted mud skatepark at parts.
if the almost worthless, by now and because of the cliches, word "epic" once had a meaning, its the Olleros trail.
Its not exposure galores as Casta (although it has its exposed 500ft cliffs sections), it has its own charm because of its lenght, variety of weathers (in one single 4hr ride you can go from a blizzard to 80f degree summer) and terrain. Its technical parts, and its almost rollercoaster like groomed singletrack. Its mountain biking on its broadest and yet purest definition, from WC downhill to groomed singletrack in one trail.
got up at 6am, and loaded stuff in order to leave Lima (sea level) at 7:30am... we drove up a mountain road for 60 miles... only to encounter a broken down bulldozer at 9000ft above sea level blocking the road... only 10 miles away and 2000ft below out destination.. we would not be stopped. we turned around, and drove 80 miles around the other side of the mountain to reach the trail head.
in front of my house, 7am
river crossing, as we left Lima into the Andes
shuttle mule
shuttling in progress
the road less travelled
stretching legs
broken bulldozer, only 10 miles away, and we had to turn around to drive 80 miles around the mountain because of this
back to the coast... starting the shuttle again, attacking the mountain from its other face... we got to the top at 2pm, instead of 10am as originally planned
Trail begins here. 3412 meters high. That over 11000ft high.
somewhere along the trail
the ridge, and skinny singletrack flowing down are the trail..
me, mashing the pedals for the 20 mile ride out of the andes skirts and into the shore across a dried flat mudslide bed
sunset, as we got closer to the shore
only thing i regret, is i did not take pictures of the gps showing "elevation 0", as we loaded our stuff in the truck, after the whole ride, which ended within walking distance of the ocean, almost in the dark...
short video of the shuttling, as we laughed our asses at a silly joke
"Dice... dice, que no hay el repuesto" on Vimeo
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Must spread.
