Waaay to early in the morning we load into a Combi. Peru´s idea of local bus tranportation (van). One sol (about .30) will get you about anywhere in the city. The group today is about 10 guys an me. They say that there aren´t any girls that ride in Moquegua. Torata is about a 45 minute Combi ride away to the top of the mountain. From the drop off point it is about a 4 hour bike ride, mostly down hill, back to Moquegua. The views are spectacular. MOst of the ride is like being in the middle of the desert, narrow dirt and rock roads along the mountain side. We rode through several small villages where the life seems simple and quite. Torata is famous for its bread. It´s pretty damn good:) The ride was pretty easy compared to New England riding. Minimal obsticles, some sketchy down hill sections, but over all a blast. It seems that the guys were pretty impressed with my riding as I was able to jump over gaps and ride over rock walls that they had to ferry over. Just the norm for us at home, right. It was a great day and we should be going again soon. This time it should be even more fun as I will be familiar with the trail and I won´t miss out on any stunts. I have been doing alot of urban rides. I am getting pretty good at riding down stairs.
