Photo Galleries Archives - CYCLINGABOUT

Photo Gallery: Attempting To Cross Panama On Insane Backroads

Alee Denham — Sat, 21 Sep 2019 16:39:02 +0000

This was always going to be ambitious.

The rocks are like ice, the clay mud has zero traction and the roots constantly throw you and your bike in separate directions. Mix in the fallen trees, giant spider webs and near 100% humidity – and you’ve got yourself a pretty rough time.

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller-S 2.0
MY GEAR LIST: HERE
MY ROUTE: HERE
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic G9 + GoPro Hero 6 + DJI Mavic Air

Please note: These are social media updates rather than gallery captions, so my apologies if the captions are a little abstract.

July 22, 2019: I got my PONCHO back! This 130g/4oz sheet of plastic is THE best item of clothing for tropical areas like Panama.

Ponchos don’t just keep your upper body dry, they keep the whole damn thing dry because you hook the front over the handlebars! Plus, you know how really expensive rain jackets are meant to ‘breathe’? Well, the air swoops up underneath the poncho while you cycle, making it the best ventilating rainwear for humid conditions.

The obvious downfall is when cycling in the wind (or cold) where a rain jacket/pants are always best.

My poncho/cape is made by a Korean brand which will be hard to get your hands on, but it’s the smallest/lightest available and has an elastic waist drawstring – I love it. The Brooks model is definitely the nicest of the lot, with a tonne of features, but it’s pretty pricey so there are two other good value models in there.

July 29, 2019: If you want to learn about every detail of my super fancy KOGA WorldTraveller, you should check out my deep-dive video on YouTube.

I discuss ALL the cool features, customisations and ways I like to set up my bike, including the five hand positions I use with my signature handlebars.

August 8, 2019: The lightest hammock is the one you don’t have to carry! Time for a rest after a week of mischief.

August 9, 2019: I found the most INSANE road. It was 37% in sections but luckily only a few hundred metres long.

I’ve spent a silly amount of time in my first gear in Panama so far, the only redeeming factor is the ultra-high-speed descents (think 100km/h), makes me feel like I’m back on a moto!

August 10, 2019: It was a surreal experience camping on the Panama Canal.

I had ships that are over 360 metres long (1200ft!) passing within throwing distance of my little two-person tent. Crew members gave waves from the decks too, I guess navigating narrow canals with such a big vessel never gets old.

August 10, 2019: If there were a picture to summarise how DIFFICULT the jungle has been to traverse, well… this is it.

I can’t really complain though, I get to go on adventures every day of my life.

August 14, 2019: In the jungle, the humidity is so high that your sweat completely soaks through your clothes so you NEVER feel dry.

You get to slip over a dozen times per day, muddying your clothes, and you quickly realise that shoes are useless. It’s also a mission to use touch screens or keep your camera lenses clean.

In short, I’m far from optimised for exploring the jungle, but I can see how tribespeople would thrive out here without clothes, technology, bikes or shoes.

August 14, 2019: Sketchiest bridge in quite some time! Half of it was held together using barbed wire, making it especially thrilling to drag a bike across.

August 15, 2019: I’ve slept in abandoned quarries twice this week.

They’re super easy to spot from a distance and they always have a flat and protected place to pitch a tent. I’ve just got to make sure I’m not in the pathway of falling rocks (sometimes it’s best to camp up top) and then I’m guaranteed a great night’s rest.

August 15, 2019: My biggest strength is also my biggest weakness.

I am fiercely independent and always have been. Ever since I could earn my own money (13 years old) I’ve been using it to teach myself things, increase my skills, be more capable, take responsibility for my wellbeing, and chase after my crazy dreams. My desire for independence allows me to roam the world – alone – and trust that everything will work out fine.

But here’s where I think being independent negatively affects my life: I feel uncomfortable asking for help, receiving gifts, delegating tasks and collaborating on things. Even something as simple as refilling water bottles, I often waste time looking for a tap when I could just knock on the first door I see.

Yet I know how good it feels to help someone; I know that gift-giving isn’t a one-way street, and; I know how awesome it is working as a team.

But even with all this knowledge, I’m never quite comfortable unless I’m doing things for myself.

August 16, 2019: More SAVAGE gradients.

I wonder if a longtail fat bike with about 2psi in the rear tyre will allow me to cycle up these kinds of mountains? Unfortunately, this road only got steeper, so I turned around – even I have a steepness limit.

August 16, 2019: Why don’t I use suspension?

OK, so here’s the deal: luggage on the front of a bike absorbs HUGE amounts of shock and vibration. I couldn’t ride half the stuff I do without my bags.

Perhaps I could go even harder and faster with suspension, but keep in mind that forks need to be serviced every 100 to 200 hours, which for me is once or twice a month.

In addition, I don’t ever suffer any hand/arm discomfort over the rough terrain I ride, so I might as well keep it light ‘n simple on a fully rigid rig.

August 18, 2019: 6AM glow!

So, here’s a crazy fact for you: in Panama, the sun rises over the Pacific Ocean and sets over the Atlantic.

This had me so confused for about a week until I realised that Panama is really oddly shaped. I’ve actually been getting closer to Argentina, rather than Alaska, while I’ve been here.

August 22, 2019: I’ve done over 800km on highways in Panama. You wouldn’t think it looking at my photos, but hey, highways are usually far from photogenic places.

August 25, 2019: When I thought it couldn’t get any harder, it did.

That’s the problem with using satellite maps to create routes through countries; you can’t see whether the trails are sticky (clay mud), slippery (loose surface), rocky (boulders), steep or simply on private land.

I created a VERY ambitious route through Panama using just satellite imagery in RideWithGPS, as I was keen to find an alternative to the typical highway route.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to turn around more times here than the rest of South America.

August 26, 2019: High-speed aqua g-outs never get old.

Pretty cool that my 15” Apple laptop somehow survives all this madness. I honestly thought it would fall to bits within the first year, but it’s a sturdy beast.

I do seem to blow up an expensive laptop charger every year though, and I’m wondering if it’s because of all the dodgy power sockets.

August 27, 2019: Panama has been insane for wildlife spotting, it’s so biodiverse when you disappear into the forests.

I’ve seen sloths, armadillos, snakes, various monkeys, coatis, agoutis, metallic-coloured birds, giant insects and dozens of unidentifiable mammals.

I was letting some shiny wasps crawl all around my toes the other day, but I later found out the Tarantula Hawk Wasp has the second most painful sting in the world, paralysing you for five minutes! Whoops.

August 29, 2019: After quite a few years in the game, it’s hard to picture a time when I won’t be going on adventures.

It’s only just now that I understand how the most travelled person ever (Heinz Stücke) ended up on a 50-year, 609,000km, 195 country bike tour. He didn’t necessarily set off knowing this would be the result, he just did what he loved, made a tonne of sacrifices and followed the tailwinds.

Who knows, maybe I’ll still be sharing my adventures with you when I’m 75 years young??

August 31, 2019: Crossing into Costa Rica tomorrow. I wonder if my time there will be as difficult as Panama?

September 2, 2019: The film about my unique crossing of Panama will be delayed by a few weeks.

After gloating about how my laptop survives so much abuse, Murphy has sent me on a detour (with my tail between my legs) to find a Mac repair shop. The film has come together really well, so I can’t wait to finally render and upload it.

The post Photo Gallery: Attempting To Cross Panama On Insane Backroads appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Crossing Colombia feat. Tatacoa Desert and Los Nevados National Park

Alee Denham — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 18:14:58 +0000

Let’s explore the incredible desert, paramo, alpine and rainforest environments of Colombia. While we’re at it, we’ll cycle up the highest road in the country; a lofty 4700m/15400ft! But shh… in order to access the active volcano areas, we’ll be breaking a few rules.

MY BIKE: KOGA WorldTraveller-S
MY 24KG GEAR LIST: HERE
MY ROUTE: HERE
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic G9 + GoPro Hero 6

Please note: These are social media updates rather than gallery captions, so my apologies if the captions are a little abstract.

May 10, 2019: Welcome to the Tatacoa Desert!

This little arid zone seems quite unlikely when you consider the proximity of the Amazon and surrounding mountain forests. The winter months bring a bit of rain, which erodes the clay surfaces into very impressive 15-metre (45ft) tall red gullies, which are extraordinary fun to ride through.

May 12, 2019: The desert was very hot and dry and reminded me a lot of Australia.

I followed the marked trail through all the canyons hoping to find a rattlesnake, which the desert is named after. Alas, the only other things with a heartbeat were the leering vultures, who were hoping the heat would knock me off my feet.

May 16, 2019: Imagine cycling at 3200 metres (10,500ft) and being confronted by thousands of palm trees – this is NOT where you’d expect them!

Quindio Wax Palms can grow to 60m/200ft tall and are only found in the mountains of Colombia and northern Peru. A thick white wax covers their trunks which was once used to create candles, but these days the palms are legally protected as they are the national tree of Colombia!

May 17, 2019: I’m camping on private property 90% of the time currently. I wish there were more options, but it’s practically impossible in Colombia! It’s often hard to ask for permission too as the land isn’t always connected to a house.

My technique has been to arrive an hour before dark, wait to see if someone approaches and then ask for permission. If no-one arrives I set up my tent in the dark and start packing up at first light.

This hasn’t caused any problems so far, in fact, the farmers I see in the morning often tell me to drop by their house and pick up some fruit and water!

May 18, 2019: I was cycling along, way up in the mountains, and as I passed a series of rocks… one of them moved! Confused, I made a u-turn and discovered it wasn’t a rock, it was a crab. WTF!

The elevation was 3000m/10000ft and I was well above the clouds. There were no lakes or rivers in any direction and the road was barely trafficked, yet here I was with a decent-sized crab dancing around my feet. Any guesses how it got here? Do crabs go on holidays?!?

May 19, 2019: Colombia is great for cyclists! There’s always a big service lane to cycle in on the highways. In the cities, there are dedicated bike paths everywhere (like this one). And all the food is full of sugar so you never run out of calories or tooth cavities!

Does anyone know a good dentist???

May 24, 2019: After experiencing what water tastes like in most parts of the world, it’s safe to say that good water is a LUXURY.

As a water connoisseur, it often pains me to have to filter yellow and brown-tinged water out of small creeks. If that wasn’t bad enough, the town water tastes like metal half the time, or it’s chock full of chlorine, or it’s simply not drinkable. Ahhh… travelling by bike makes you appreciate finding that icy cold, mountain freshwater source so damn much!

BONUS QUESTION: Would you take good beer and bad water, or good water and bad beer!? You can’t have both. (Feel free to substitute beer with wine

June 1, 2019: Colombia’s Forbidden Road is also its best road. I’m not usually a rule-breaker, but can you really blame me when these landscapes are on offer!?

June 2, 2019: To get to this location I had to wake up at 130AM, push my bike through the mud for 1.5 hours, sneak past some sleeping national park guards, cycle up a soggy sandy road to 4500m/14700ft, jump a tall “do not enter” gate and rush past two more already awake guards… all before sunrise!

But after that, I had Colombia’s Forbidden Road all to myself for the next 24 hours.

June 3, 2019: The fog lifted and the euphoria kicked in. Perhaps I felt this rush because I was not meant to be here, but the more likely explanation is that I was immersed in one of the world’s most awe-inspiring landscapes.

June 4, 2019: This is probably the most epic photo I’ve ever taken! ICE SNOW FOG , essentially the perfect movie set for dragons! Bet you didn’t imagine Colombia looked like this.

If you had a million dollars, would you spend your life doing anything differently? I ask myself questions like this all the time to make sure I’m living with purpose, and spending as much time as possible doing the things important to me: adventures, learning, nature immersion, cycling and understanding people & cultures.

After recently thinking about the question above for a whole day, I can say with certainty that I’d change NOTHING! Ok, maybe some fancy hotels, regular massages at day spas and new threads delivered quarterly.

I’d also pay my friends to ride with me so they can quit their jobs and come on endless adventures.

June 7, 2019: You might think the most satisfying thing about bike travel is cresting a mountain pass, finishing a technical route or ticking off another country. Those are all great, but here’s something I find even more satisfying: eating through my food supplies! Five days of food weighs a tonne; I love eating well AND getting a speedier bike in the process.

June 8, 2019: Off the brakes! I love that I can somehow defy physics by drifting my 50kg bicycle around corners… while carrying everything I own!

June 2, 2019: It’s hard to imagine a more friendly or colourful place than Colombia! Everybody here wants to help you have the best time.

I walked into Dantori La Bicicleteria to get my first brake bleed in 18 months. I was instantly befriended while my bike was getting maintained, then they wouldn’t let me pay, then I was invited out for pizza and craft beer all afternoon!

I could get used to this red carpet service, but can’t afford to get inebriated every day or I’ll never make it to Panama!

June 13, 2019: Who builds 740 stairs up the side of a 200-metre tall granite rock? The Colombians!

June 14, 2019: BIG NEWS: I’m visiting Europe briefly at the end of this month! I’m also running slide/movie/q&a nights in Amsterdam on June 28 (for 35 people) and Antwerpen on July 4 (for 70 people).

If you’d like to say hello, or ask a question, or pick my brain about destinations, or the drive efficiency of Rohloff hubs (or any other obscure bike-nerdery), hit the link in my bio and attend!

I don’t normally get to meet people who read CyclingAbout, watch my films or like my Instagram posts… so this is particularly exciting for meeee.

June 15, 2019: I don’t start looking for a place to camp until the sun is setting. This is so I can use the veil of darkness to help me camp undetected. Not only is this technique best for my safety (I don’t want random people approaching), it also means I won’t get asked to leave.

Half the time I’m camped in a ditch, the other half I end up in dreamy locations like this!!

June 17, 2019: In the horns. Hunting KOMs! I love that my bike goes down the gnarliest off-road trails but then will also happily fly along at 25kph/15mph all day.

June 18, 2019: When you are freakin’ psyched by LIFE! I rode 260km/160mi this day because I wanted to squeeze the most out of my day. That might sound rough to you, but I loved almost every moment.

June 19, 2019: For 450 days I’ve worn the same shirt… EVERY DAY, in the most testing conditions!!

The Patagonia SOL Patrol II is the most legit travel shirt in existence. It’s soft on the skin, lightweight, fast-drying, well-ventilated, wrinkle-free, abrasion and UV resistant. It has tonnes of pockets, a pop-up collar and is bluesign certified (meets enviro standards).

I wish Patagonia sponsored me to talk about this product because I’d have no qualms telling EVERYONE to buy it. Sooo… anyone got a Patagonia contact!?

June 21, 2019: If you’re cycling on a dirt road and it abruptly switches to cobbles – WATCH OUT.

In Colombia, that means the road gradient will exceed 20% shortly! The Colombians surface the road with course cobbles so their cars can still conquer them in the wet. Quite smart.

Oh, and I’m NOT smiling about how steep this is – that’s just my pain face.

June 22, 2019: Let’s talk about SAFETY.

I’ve met thousands of people at times when I’ve been incredibly vulnerable (travelling with a bicycle, camping etc). The most important thing I’ve ever learned from these experiences is that I should always trust my INTUITION.

Evolution has made us very good at detecting danger and shady people, in fact, your mind has done the risk calculations before you realise, which manifests as fear. We have a great ability to predict human behaviour, so I’ll always skip past a dodgy-feeling town or be rude/cold to somebody I don’t trust instinctively. I probably won’t see them again anyway. I’m certain this has prevented me from ever being robbed.

Consider this – animals never override their intuitions, but for some reason humans do. The thing is that intuition is often right because it’s based on your every life experience AND it always has your best interests at heart (survival).

If I was to be more specific, I think ‘shifty eyes’ are the most telling aspect. I’m also somewhat sceptical of people who are trying to charm/control me. And people who act unpredictably while drunk, or on weird drugs – I have little time for them.

Sorry, not trying to scare you, but just reminding you to keep your wits about you, and to ALWAYS trust yourself. And shoutouts to the ladies who know this stuff way better than me. The world is by and large a very safe place, and by understanding this stuff it will be even safer for you.

June 25, 2019: Out of sight, out of mind.

I had forgotten how it made me feel. With eyes straining to see outside, shrieks and grunts and a piercing smell, I can sense what is coming: it’s a truck brimming with live animals. The crazy thing is that when plastic sheets are draped around the sides of the truck, I feel so much more at ease. These animals are obviously suffering in a way we wouldn’t want our pets to suffer, and are then killed when they’re still babies.

Getting bombarded by endless trucks towing live animals actually made me cut meat/milk/cheese/eggs from my diet six years ago. It was such a hard decision at the time because I knew I would be exploring the world’s harshest environments on my bicycle. I was initially anxious but quickly adapted to what to eat and how to get it. I recognise it requires discipline and sacrifice to do what I do, but simply reducing your meat, dairy, egg consumption results in less suffering, which is a better outcome!

Start by trying some veg recipes online, pick a falafel wrap over a kebab, order a vegetarian pizza, try a nice filter coffee without milk. There’s a bit of a learning curve, so it’s cool to take it slow – I started out by limiting my meat intake to a couple of meals per week.

Also, there are HUGE benefits to the environment (less land clearing and pollution) and your health if you eat your veggies – potato chips don’t count! Let me know if you’re thinking of eating more plants, maybe I can help.

June 26, 2019: South America is now FINISHED.

Took me 19 months, but look… I’m at the Caribbean Sea! Before this trip, I thought the Himalayas were the ultimate mountain range, but the Andes are my new fav because they offer so much more environmental diversity (thanks to the north-south orientation which brings huge climate variation).

The coldest temperatures I experienced were -20c/-4f in Bolivia and the hottest +45c/113f in Argentina (soaking wet shirt dries in minutes). I’ve cycled the highest roads in six different countries (all 5000m/16400ft+), including Bolivia where I went up the highest road in the world (5800m/19000ft+).

And of course, I’ve cycled everything in between: jungles, deserts, salt flats, mangroves, paramos, beaches and high alpine areas. Next up: a quick detour to Europe, then Panama.

Thanks so much for following along! I enjoy organising my thoughts and ideas into bite-sized pieces to share. It also keeps my weird brain a little less tangled when I get to dump my ramblings on you.

The post Photo Gallery: Crossing Colombia feat. Tatacoa Desert and Los Nevados National Park appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Finishing The Trans Ecuador and Cycling Into Colombia

Alee Denham — Fri, 10 May 2019 16:25:53 +0000

This month was the toughest yet! I rode through the snow on the Equator, along aqueducts, up river-roads, down insane hiking trails and across the Colombian border to the Death Road.

MY BIKE: KOGA WorldTraveller-S
MY 24KG GEAR LIST: HERE
MY ROUTE: HERE
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic G9 + GoPro Hero 6

Please note: These are social media updates rather than gallery captions, so my apologies if the captions are a little abstract.

March 18, 2019: My photos and videos make it look like I do this all the time… but honestly, I over-represent these moments just to make you think I’m a badass.

March 21, 2019: My life is CRAZY. Flash flooding turned the road I was riding into a massive river!

March 22, 2019: Here I am cycling almost exactly on the equator. Given the average annual temperature is 31°C/88°F along the equator, you wouldn’t expect snow to be here, would you?!

March 22, 2019: Small fish Big pond. It’s sometimes nice to feel like you’re just a tiny speck roaming around a massive planet. And it might actually make you a kinder, more generous person too!

According to a recent study, “by diminishing the emphasis on the individual self, awe may encourage people to forgo strict self-interest to improve the welfare of others”. I’ll sign up to that!

The feeling is also said to bind people together – by causing people to want to share their positive experiences collectively with one another.

Ok, I’ve got the sharing done, now how do I do the binding with people bit?!

March 29, 2019: I rode the iconic water channel route in Ecuador, and only fell in… once! It’s a slippery bugger!!

March 29, 2019: I hope I haven’t put you off visiting Ecuador!

I’ve been following the Trans Ecuador “Singletrack” route, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend it to many people. There is a Trans Ecuador “Dirt Road” route which requires NONE of the craziness you’ve seen in my photos/videos – it’s essentially 100% rideable and almost as nice.

I ended up choosing the ‘hard’ way through Ecuador as I wanted to escape the pasture lands and access the remote areas offering untouched natural landscapes. Trust me, if a dirt road took me to these places, I wouldn’t have pushed my bike on all those crazy trails.

If you’re thinking of coming to South America to hang out in remote natural landscapes, first consider Peru, Bolivia, Argentina or Chile. They all have great dirt road networks that can take you right into the action! If you have any questions about Ecuador or anywhere else I’ve been, let me know in the comments.

March 30, 2019: Welcome to my most ambitious trail yet!

Imagine a 6km long narrow trench full of giant rocks, ankle-deep mud and almost zero room for me and my bike. Yep, it’s as average as it sounds. Needless to say, the work-to-reward ratio didn’t stack up here, but let’s look at the positives: the Ecuadorian hike-a-bike is finally over + Colombia is a day away (cyclists coming from the north say its definitely their favourite country).

March 30, 2019: Just wait until you see all the wacky plants of El Angel Ecological Reserve in my next film. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen weirder plants, in fact, I’m almost certain Dr Seuss was commissioned to design them all!

March 31, 2019: Spot the cyclist! Most days I get to hang out in some pretty bloody picturesque nooks of the world. Feeling ultra-mega fortunate to be able to share my adventures with you! The question is, have you decided to come visit South America yet???

April 1, 2019: NEWS: I’m extending my Argentina-to-Alaska bike trip by a full year. Many things have come together to make this possible. Firstly, I’m having THE best time exploring the hard to access parts of the world, which is a much bigger time commitment than I had originally planned. And secondly, I have KOGA Bikes full support for the additional year. So brace yourself for 365 days of extra films and stories, and see you in Alaska late-2020… yewww!

April 2, 2019: My kit list has been optimised over seven years and 100,000km+ of bike adventures. I’ve got it to the point where I almost don’t break anything from wear and tear.

This trip I’ve broken one spoke, an air pillow, a camera lens, some clothes and a pair of sandals. That’s it!

I have previously used lots of ultralight equipment, but whenever it broke, it got replaced with something stronger. That’s part of the reason why I use panniers – the durable stuff is almost always larger in volume.

Here’s the kind of stuff I broke in the early days: rims, tents, pillows, mats, water filters, pots, beard trimmers and Spot trackers. I’d recommend not going too ultralight with some of that stuff. To see the bombproof equipment I carry nowadays, click HERE.

April 4, 2019: I’m honestly not motivated by total distance, average speed, elevation gain, or even the idea of finishing this leg of my journey. Instead, I’m addicted to the adventure, freedom, unpredictability, vulnerability and diverse range of experiences that bike travel offers. Can’t get enough of this life.

April 5, 2019: What the hell! This picture shows the weird angle my leg swings over my seat when I dismount. Not sure legs are meant to bend like that, but hey – this adds to the growing evidence that my body was designed for cycling.

April 7, 2019: I believe that time is life’s most precious commodity.

It, therefore, shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve dedicated my life to exploiting time for all its worth. My philosophy is simple: when faced with a decision, pick the option that selects for the most learning, sharing, compassion and personal contentment.

Admittedly, this brazen optimisation has – by design – put me on a very long and uncertain pathway through life, which certainly isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. But I must say, this approach has allowed me to live an undeniably vibrant existence, full of surprises along the way.

April 8, 2019: Ecuador. This is farewell.

For such a small country, you pack a lot of punch! On the bike, you gave me volcanoes and mud as I’ve never experienced, roads that were literally rivers, unbelievably stony Inca trails and the steepest hills in South America. You’re definitely a tough nut to crack for us bike adventurers.

Off the bike, you showed me your beautiful colonial cities, vibrant markets, reserved yet friendly people, and incredible biodiversity of both the Amazon jungle and the Galápagos Islands.

I’ve gotta go explore Colombia now, but hopefully, I’ll be back soon enough.

April 13, 2019: Welcome to Colombia’s Death Road.

Carved into the side of an unbelievably steep mountain is this crazy road. Dropping 2000 vertical metres from high plains to the jungle, Colombians drive this rough road at speeds that leave very little room for error.

I’m glad I had full control of my destiny travelling on a bicycle.

April 14, 2019: As the sun was setting, the only flat bit of ground was this construction site. I moved enough large stones to pitch my tent on a nice surface, watching the fog rise from deep in the valley.

My stove ignited with a bang, catching the attention of a little street dog who was keen for a pat and a feed. We shared dinner together (pasta) and then the little doggo curled itself up under the tent’s vestibule.

At 5AM (still dark) the construction workers started digging. They kindly worked around my tent so I could wait for the sun to rise. With men in hard hats pushing wheelbarrows brimming with soil about the site, I made my coffee and oats and was thinking about how this situation was only possible in a few pockets of the world.

April 16, 2019: Let’s talk about belt drivetrains.

I had the option to choose a chain when I ordered my KOGA, but there are two main reasons I went with a belt: they last 3-4X longer than a chain, and they require almost zero maintenance.

I’ve been using belts to cross continents for nine years now, covering every riding condition you can possibly imagine. My belt drivetrains typically last more than 25,000km before I need to consider replacing anything.

The main downside to a belt is that you need specialist bike parts (a belt drive frame and an internal gear hub or Pinion gearbox – both expensive).

April 17, 2019: This is Mica. He was backpacking in Colombia but decided to try travelling by bike instead!

He purchased a bike for $50, spent another $10 on upgrades and went to a welder to get a custom rack made for his hiking pack ($15). It’s not the ideal setup but fine for his five-week trip in the south of Colombia.

We’ve been camping in eco-villages, on farms and on mountainsides. The Colombians have been very friendly to us, offering coffee, bananas, bread, lots of sweets and ‘agua panela’ which is a hot sugar cane drink.

The last time I travelled with someone like this was ten months ago, so it’s nice to share the special moments again, even for a short time.

April 18, 2019: The mountains have been pretty dry recently, but all that changed when I dropped into the Colombian jungle. As you can see the roads get pretty flooded when the epic tropical thunderstorms roll through. You can’t say I’m not having fun though!

April 19, 2019: When you hone your senses in on the life of the jungle, you can cycle along and spot so many animals.

I’ve seen lots of tiny monkeys, colourful insects and all kinds of crazy birds. I usually try to focus on movement (rattling trees and silhouettes) and sound (crushing leaves, animal calls) when observing wildlife – do you have any spotting tips?

April 21, 2019: The Colombians call me NAIRO when they see me cycling up the steep hills! This is the name of a very famous Colombian cyclist, Nairo Quintana, who has won 2/3 cycling grand tours. Obviously, my cycling palmarès are equivalent when you factor in that I also carry my house, kitchen, office, wardrobe AND pantry.

April 24, 2019: For one week I travelled with Mica.

His $75 bicycle was allowing him to experience Colombia in exactly the same way as me. The difference was in the bike maintenance; his top headset cup was removing itself from the frame’s head tube, a piece of glass punctured his front tyre, he had to replace his brake pads after a few hundred kilometres and he had flat-spotted his front rim a few times on the rocky roads.

Mica didn’t really mind though, because he only had 440km until his end goal of Bogotá. In comparison, my bike needs to survive 20,000km more to my final destination of Alaska.

May 5, 2019: I use rather wide handlebars which give me a huge amount of confidence when descending.

The high steering leverage makes it super easy to make pinpoint-accurate steering manoeuvres which helps me to stay on the best lines. The aim of the game is to minimise brake pad wear – I’m up to my fourth set in 17 months of mountains! I reckon that’s pretty impressive considering where my bike has been.

May 8, 2019: I was loving the tree-lined highways of Colombia so much that I punched out 170km yesterday. That took me nine hours including a few breaks… oh, and I was carrying every possession I own too.

The post Photo Gallery: Finishing The Trans Ecuador and Cycling Into Colombia appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Quilotoa Lake, Cotopaxi Volcano and the TEMBR To Quito

Alee Denham — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 19:43:00 +0000

This month I cycled some of the crazy sections of the TEMBR trail between Quilotoa Lake, Cotopaxi Volcano and Quito. I made a film about the experience which you can check out HERE.

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller-S
MY 24KG GEAR LIST: Here
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic G9 + GoPro Hero 6
MY ROUTE: HERE

I’ve been complaining about the rain all wet season, but you know what, the last two weeks have dried up dramatically! Can’t wait to hit the road again and show you the northern section of the Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route.

I tell the story about how I narrowly avoided getting robbed at knifepoint on my Ask Me Anything page this month! I do these regularly for fans of my videos and supporters of CyclingAbout.com. It’s essentially a way to offset the costs associated with video production and the operation of a large website (I’m lucky to break even on these things – but I do them ‘cos I’m passionate about them).

3, 2, 1… DROP IN! Don’t think I’ll be topping this moment anytime soon…

I wish I could show you more, but this has been my view the last few days. Inside I’m burning up a little knowing that I’m climbing massive mountains (with amazing views) but never actually reaping the rewards. Let’s hope the weather fines up soon!

How do you defeat Alee D? Still not sure, but sticky mud and 20% gradients will get you close.

I was about to open a gate into another grassy field when two cowboys approached on horseback. I explained that I was following a track back towards civilisation after spending the last week high in the mountains. They then jumped off their horses and began talking amongst themselves. I was told to follow one cowboy to a different gate while the other cowboy jumped up high on the fence and started waving his hat. Then out of the distance, a bull was charging straight at him! The bull stopped a metre from the fence and started scraping its feet on the ground while massive amounts of stream were pouring through its nostrils. It looked pissed. Real pissed. While the cowboy was distracting the bull, I followed the other cowboy through a different gate into the same field as the bull. But our plan backfired when the giant animal noticed… and charged straight at us!! I dropped my bike and climbed the fence in a split second while the cowboy somehow manoeuvred the raging bull through the gate into the field where we’d just come from. Not sure how this situation would’ve played out without the two cowboys there to help, but I can’t imagine it would’ve been great.

In the high mountain areas, I’ve been waking up at 5:30am every day just to ride through the morning mist. If I’m on the bike by 7am, the sun will cut beautifully through the mist to create shots like this.

This is a road, but it’s only fit for cycling, horse riding and walking. It’s my favourite kind of road thanks to the incredible viewz & endless solitude, but a side benefit is that there’s also a 0% chance I’ll get run over by a car.

Ever wondered how I get extra ground clearance when I need it?!? Koga Denham handlebar horns delivering the goods.

What you’re looking at is an expert snacker. He is on the go from sunrise to sunset with no big meals or breaks! He thrives on short stops which include stuffing his mouth with nuts (yeah, not those nuts), dried fruit (prunes por favor), Lupin beans (an Ecuadorian speciality), breads (wraps preferred), avocados (with hot sauce), peanut butter (the calorie king), potato chips (his vice) and coconut biscuits (pictured ).

Descending the black volcanic dirt behind the second tallest mountain in Ecuador (5897m/19347ft). Only some flowing lava would make this experience better!

10/10 camping on the Ecuadorian Páramo. Not a tree in sight!

FML My next film drops in a few days though! It’s a special one because it features Michael Dammer who is one of the route designers of the Trans Ecuador. He provides insights on the history, geography, ecosystems and experience of crossing Ecuador on a bike! Note: this road is not the TEMBR, it’s an Alee-route.

I still can’t get my head around how the weather is so consistent here. There seem to be so many variables involved with the weather, yet in the mountains every day there is a big thunderstorm within 10 minutes of 3PM, without fail. Anyone actually know how/why this weather phenomenon occurs???

I’ve explored some very wild places recently, but not everyone survived the journey with me! The most secluded places of Ecuador have been particularly hard to access (check my latest film to see the madness). But in many countries, this isn’t the case. For example, in Australia or Peru, I can cycle on dirt roads less than 100km and get to some places just as remote.

People often comment on how calm I am through adversity. This is a behaviour I’ve taught myself since I was a teenager. I almost remember the precise moment I decided to be a calm person. It was after an interaction with a car driver that had cut me off and verbally abused me while cycling. I was filled with rage, and it ruined my day. I didn’t want to have this happen again, so I trained myself to take a more philosophical view on life which involved controlling what I could and letting the rest wash over. Living this way has allowed me to prosper in high-stress situations, enjoy more things, not dwell on the past and maintain an overall more positive mood!

The post Photo Gallery: Quilotoa Lake, Cotopaxi Volcano and the TEMBR To Quito appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route – Southern Section

Alee Denham — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 14:27:07 +0000

Enjoy my months’ photos from the Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route with crazy mud, hike-a-bike, river crossings, insane hills, loose af descents and navigation woes!

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller-S
MY 24KG GEAR LIST: Here
MY ROUTE: Here
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic G9 + GoPro Hero 6

When you go on a multi-year adventure, the things you’re interested in will constantly change. Sometimes I’m fixated on history, other times its nature, culture or people. Sometimes I like writing, other times I prefer to film or take photos. Sometimes I like to explore cities, other times I prefer to explore small villages or remote areas. Sometimes I read a few books a month, other times I prefer to listen to podcasts or binge-watch YouTube. Variety is the spice of life, amirite?

Today it’s Christmas and I’ve honestly been given the greatest gift – I’ve got my wheels back on the road! For five weeks I stared at a pile of folded and snapped metal in the corner of my room. Unlike an accidentally dropped glass, this broken bike is an extension of me – it’s a core part of my identity. My bike is always there to help create the best memories. It’s also my golden ticket to freedom. As long as it looked hopeless, I felt the effects of this hopelessness too. It was a huge weight off my shoulders to see it in a rolling state, and it felt even better again to have the dynamo cabling re-wired, the steerer cut and the frame polished to perfection. My bike has survived and will now thrive as I roll to Ecuador (on one wheel ).

Not gonna lie, I’m quite nervous about getting out into the wilds tomorrow! That’s because I’ve now adjusted to the comforts and predictability of city life. For weeks I’ve had good food, a comfortable bed and a fast internet connection, but now it’s time to let all that go. Sure, it’s easier for me to make the first step than most, but trust me, there’s always a hurdle that I have to jump over too. I hope you didn’t think it was just you that needed to break down the comfort barrier — I take a deep breath and do it ALL THE TIME!

The ancient city of Chan Chan was constructed over 1000 years ago and is the biggest mud-brick city in the Americas, spanning 20 square kilometres. The Chimú people were conquered by the Inca in the 1400s and one hundred years later the Spanish swooped in and emptied their coffers entirely, including $5 million in gold.

Couldn’t have asked for a better New Years! I pitched my tent in a sandy canyon in the middle of nowhere but it turned out it was actually a 555 star hotel! I obviously watched all the shooting stars but I also listened to the insect musical ensemble, ate tropical fruit, and I even had a little owl friend swoop all around me, later landing on the roof of my tent! I hope 2019 brings you all the adventures!

What’s your relationship with time? How do you spend it? Who do you spend your time with? I think about time regularly because I’m always trying to squeeze the most out my precious moments and opportunities. The best way to use time has got to be living a dynamic life where you try new things, go to new places and meet new people – it’s always the moments outside your routine that solidify into the best memories. If you’re into adventures, I can recommend scheduling them in at a regular interval – lock those dates away into your diary! Taking an overnight trip every month with family, friends or by yourself (solo trips are underrated ) will tick a lot of boxes here and result in 120 new memories over a decade!

You know how I said I’d take it easy for a while? Turns out that was a lie. I’ve been getting rowdy in the cloud forests of the Trans-Ecuador instead.

Ecuador! Delivering!!! I’m actually quite surprised how different it is here to Peru. There seems to be a much bigger middle class, measured by houses that are more refined, very well-kept gardens and people exercising in the parks. The Ecuadorians are more reserved in nature too, a bit more softly spoken and less likely to ask you questions from across the street. Interestingly, people are more interested in where I’m FROM rather than where I’m GOING (it’s normally the other way around). Also, the country must have got a nice discount on barbed wire fencing — every metre of every road is lined with the stuff, making it harder for me to wild camp where I *technically* should not. I don’t think Ecuador was prepared for this giraffes arrival though!

Almost everyone who has cycled Ecuador has warned me about the ultra STEEP hills. And boy, are they right!! I actually changed the gear ratios on my bike in anticipation for these gnarly gradients. The topography of Ecuador is extra undulating, and the roads definitely don’t follow the contours like Peru. Check out my body position trying to get some body weight on the front wheel – if I don’t do this I’m literally climbing while doing a wheelie!!!

How does this rich white tourist navigate the ethics of travelling through developing areas of the world? As a highly privileged human who spends time around people who have so much less wealth and opportunity, my initial feeling is always that of guilt. But over time I’ve realised that perhaps feeling guilty isn’t necessarily justified given it was really just dumb luck that made me who I am. I think, at a minimum, there are a few actions we can take to ethically justify travel. I believe we have an obligation to be interested in the local cultures, customs and people, even if it makes us feel uncomfortable. I think we need to treat local people how we’d like to be treated ourselves. And finally, I don’t think we can complain if one of our western comforts isn’t met. Essentially, it all about being a respectful human. Travelling on a bike typically requires these actions by default, and that’s one of the many reasons why I think bike travel is the ultimate way to see the world. I have overwhelming positive interactions with every person I meet, which seems to be mutually beneficial based on the size of the emanating smiles. To help frame my perspective, let me present the antithesis to my preferred style of travel – staying exclusively in resorts. What this signals to me is that you’re wanting to enjoy the resources of an ‘exotic’ place without having to confront life in that country. I don’t think I can find an ethical case for this.

Perfect trails for panniers in the Ecuadorian highlands! It might surprise you that I’ve only had a handful of occasions in South America where my front panniers have been in the way. The vast majority of trails are perfectly wide for my bike.

I love poring over topographic maps to visualise the terrain I’m cycling over. But it’s even better when I can climb a ladder into the sky and visualise it with my own eyes!

“There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices”. I subscribe to this 100%. I’ve found that as long as you’re warm, you can have a pleasant day on your bike! My favourite wet weather item is my waterproof pants. I keep them in an accessible place and when the first drop hits I throw them on over whatever I’m wearing. They keep my legs toasty warm, but more importantly, my clothes DRY – even after the heaviest downpour. Plus they’re only 167 grams and about $20! Best investment ever!

I made my first Attenborough-style documentary about the Galápagos Islands!! Found HERE. In this doco, you’ll learn about how these islands came to be, and find out about the really weird adaptations made by the wildlife to suit the otherworldly conditions. It was so much fun exploring the islands with my new camera, finding all these crazy animals! I’d love to know whether you think I should do more doco style films, or just stick to my cross-continental bike adventures?

I got sick for the first time in South America! Nothing major, just a chest infection, but how good was that run of 14 months?! Other travellers seem to get sick ALL the time here. I think my secret is that I prepare 99% of my own food, which is normally cleaned thoroughly. I also filter my water, eat super healthy and rest my body as soon as it starts feeling fatigued.

A few people are a bit perplexed why I prepare so much of my own food. It’s mostly through necessity! A lot of the routes I travel are away from people and restaurants. I also tend to snack all day rather than have a meal, and by the time dinner comes, I’m tucked up in my tent! So yeah, I don’t intentionally avoid local food, it just kinda works out like that currently. But I suspect this will also change as I get less remote in Central America. Also, I take EVERY invite to share meals and drinks with local people because food is undoubtedly the perfect way to socialise.

I’m super psyched on my new camera! I’m now using a Panasonic G9 which is pretty much taking the nice photos for me. Hopefully you’ll notice the extra crispness, nicer colours and if you watch my films, the extra stabilisation of my handheld videos! And if you were wondering, every shot I take is from a tripod. And yes, I have to ride back and collect my camera every time!

Who knew Ecuador could look this dry and baron? Before I arrived here, I pictured Ecuador to be super lush! But it’s definitely a mixed bag of terrain, even with the heavy rains of the wet season.

I camp anywhere. As long as the site is protected from the wind, is away from people, and is far from barking dogs and crowing roosters. As long as it provides shade in the morning if it’s hot, or sun in the morning if it’s cold. As long as the land is flat and dry and not prone to getting waterlogged by rainfall. As long as the ground cover is smooth and without any thorny bits to puncture my sleeping mat… ok, so maybe I won’t camp anywhere.

Australia, is that you? It’s strange how all it takes is some red dirt and eucalyptus trees to make me feel at home. Despite how familiar the surroundings are, it’s probably the scent that launches me deep into Australia dreaming.

Insane road gradients and ultra red earth. This is Ecuador! Can’t wait to circumnavigate some conical volcanoes in the coming weeks.

It’s been pretty wild out here! I hiked my bike into a beautiful national park but then it rained and rained and rained. After a night of camping the mud was up to my knees! In fact, the mud was so thick that every time I tried to pull my feet up, it tried to steal my shoes!!

There are really some nice sections of Ecuador, but so far I’ve found it really hard to achieve the feeling of ‘remoteness’ which was so easy to tap into in Peru. There seems to be a very even spread of farms across the mountains, the people tending to livestock which is best suited to mostly cleared land. Even the national parks have had free-roaming cows! Don’t get me wrong, I still love cycling through the countryside, but I’m currently on the hunt for untouched nature and some long distances to the nearest human!

I got a new rain jacket! My previous jacket had the waterproof membrane separate from the fabric after six years of heavy use. This time I’m testing something ultralight (under 200g/7oz) to see if it can provide anywhere near the same daily use/abuse. The model I ended up with is a North Face Verto Storm. I like the compact size, deep pockets, high collar and hood fit under my helmet. The breathability of the fabric is poor though, but I don’t know any ultralight 2.5-layer jackets that perform well in this regard (apparently the Gore R7 Shakedry is a game changer for €299). I think this is compounded by the fact that the fabric is so shapeable – it sticks to your skin when wet, unlike heavier-duty fabrics which tend to ‘hang’. I’ve also noticed I need to wear an extra warmth layer underneath to get the same insulation as my heavier jacket – possibly making the weight savings negligible. This jacket is discontinued, so if you’re looking for something similar, check out the Montbell Versalite.

Elizabeth, Alex and their two-year-old brother discovered my tent shortly after 6am. I thought I was hidden well, but they know their farm like the back of their hand. They watched me make coffee, eat breakfast, pack up my sleeping gear and then helped me roll up my tent! My mother recently sent across some Australian souvenirs, so these curious humans ended up with a pretty sweet swag o’ gear! Next time I pass by, I’ll make sure to knock on the door and meet them as adults.

It was 8pm, dark and I was sitting under a flickering street lamp in a town the size of a large extended family. Out of the distance comes a man with two tiny puppies in tow. I offered him some biscuits while he asked the usual ‘where are you going’ type questions. The man had a long piercing stare and a really odd way of breathing. It was definitely creepy. Even when we ran out of things to say he stared at me in a really unusual way. I used the puppies as a distraction, giving them 100% of my attention, hoping that he’d get the message that we were done. He then took a step closer, made a strange comment about my legs, touched the material of my shorts and abruptly left. I camped about 1km out of town on the top of a ridge. It was pretty hard to hide in these endless farming fields. I was woken by tapping on my tent. It was the same man as the night before, wearing a traditional poncho and big gumboots, obviously off to work. He opened the fly and again awkwardly stared at me straight through the mesh of the tent. I gave him a brief tour of how I live in my tent and he kept going on about how it must be so cold sleeping inside there. He then came around to the other side of my tent. I opened the zipper so that I wasn’t being totally rude. He squatted right next to me and then started touching my mat, sleeping bag and clothes, exclaiming that I cannot possibly be warm with these items. While I was still in my sleeping bag, he asked if I wear trousers while I sleep, but before I could answer he started digging into my sleeping bag with his hand and took a big grab of my genitals!! He was laughing in a pretty manic way as I pulled his arm away. He then took off, after finally getting what he wanted out of me. Normally you’d feel anger in this situation, but it never came. I instantly felt really sorry for this man who obviously had homosexual tendencies but could never truly be himself in this tiny community. I still don’t really know what to think; I guess I didn’t ever imagine I’d have a farmers hand down my pants.

Sometimes you’ve just gotta take a leap of faith! This is over one of the many 2m/7ft deep ruts found up in the mountains of Ecuador in the wet season.

The wilderness areas of Ecuador. I found them. xx

What happens when you descend with slick tyres straight off the side of a volcano? Absolute chaos. Can’t wait to drop my next film with its dramatic-as-hell riding scenes!

You thought that Mt Everest was the closest point to space, didn’t you? Actually, it’s here! Because the planet bulges at the equator, Chimborazo volcano is technically the highest point on Earth… and I did a cooking show up there with my favourite touring recipe! Stay tuned for my next film…

Woahhh…. natural colour gradients! It was super nice to have had this view and road to myself as I took on the tourist-free backside of Chimborazo. (Lots of frolicking vicuñas, though.)

If you’ve been following my photos the last few days, you’ll have noticed how different the environments appear. The crazy thing is that these photos were all taken within 10km/6mi of each other. Chimborazo volcano creates all kinds of unique microclimates, making it a wonder to behold and definitely my highlight of Ecuador so far!

NEW VIDEO! Watch me fight the wet season in Ecuador HERE. It’s truly adventure packed with crazy mud, hike-a-bike, river crossings, insane hills, loose descents, navigation woes, a cooking segment and the reason why I don’t use a mountain bike on mountain bike trails. Please let me know what you think – I love being able to use your feedback to improve these films.

Here’s some of my backstory. I’ve been travelling by bike for over a decade, but have been to over 80 countries since 2012, covering more than 100,000km. I started out with month-long tours, but it was always my dream to cross overland from Europe to Australia to experience the slow evolution of people and culture from the western to eastern worlds. I saved up heaps of money and sold everything I owned to ride a tandem bike on this 2.5-year journey with my ex-girlfriend. And it was the best thing I ever did – I was hooked on the adventure, fascinated by the learning experiences and I revelled in the randomness of nomadic life! Skip forward a few years and I’m still on the road, cycling up to Alaska. While the first big trip was all about understanding the people of the world, this trip is so much more about understanding myself and the natural world. I don’t really know what will happen when I finish this trip… but can you really cycle across five continents and then not visit the sixth? One thing is for sure: wherever the tailwinds lead me, you’ll be coming too.

The post Photo Gallery: Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route – Southern Section appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Bicycle Touring Huascaran National Park & Canyon del Pato

Alee Denham — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 04:22:26 +0000

Enjoy my adventure over the highest section of the Andes (Huascaran National Park), through Peru’s craziest canyons and along some wild mountain trails.

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller-S
MY 25KG GEAR LIST: Here
MY ROUTE: Here
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic GH4 + GoPro Hero 6

People ask me literally hundreds of questions per month about bike travel. I answer everything! You’d think I’d get sick of talking about bikes, gear and adventures, but honestly, the more I travel by bike, the more I want to talk about it. You have no idea how deep my passion for this extends! I normally don’t get to reply to your emails/comments in as much detail as I’d like (no time!), so this month I created a place where I can actually do your questions justice. My favourite question this month allowed me to describe the changes I would make to my bike and gear so that it’s more off-road appropriate. It took me a whole day to think that one over! I also got to discuss my rain gear philosophy and how I find all the backroads I ride.

I spent half of today staring at satellite maps in order to piece together a 150km route linking two mountain towns that have precisely… zero roads connecting them. It should have some rad views over the Amazon, but may also require hundreds of kilometres of backtracking if it doesn’t pan out! YOLO??? This month is going to be completely wild, can’t wait to share the experience.

Our sense of beauty evolved from pattern recognition in nature. The things that helped us to survive (for example, picking fruit that consistently looked the same) activated the rewards centre of our brains, helping us to subconsciously navigate potentially dangerous situations. While survival now comes somewhat easily, we still do get a kick from beautiful places/objects that are comprised of great symmetry and detail (like what you’ll find in the natural world). On the other hand, monotonous environments (typically man-made) are scientifically proven to negatively affect our wellbeing, behaviour, mood and cognitive function. For optimal health, Dr. Alee therefore prescribes you 1x daily dose of NATURE.

The Cordillera Blanca is the highest section of the Andes mountains. No less than 22 peaks exceed 6000m/20,000ft here, resulting in vast areas of snow, ice and glaciers (hence the name, “white mountain range”). I’ve just spent six days exploring some of the mountain roads and trails with mixed luck (weather!) – but it’s safe to say this is one of the most impressive regions of the South American continent.

Two tickets to the gun show! Ok, so my biceps aren’t very impressive, but I can ride my bike for longer than I can stay awake. And I can carry my fully-loaded touring bike up some pretty gnarly trails!

Don’t worry, I’ve got the bike-push technique down pat. The secret is to mostly pull the bike rather than push; from behind the seat tube when it’s super steep, or from the seatpost or seat when it’s not.

Ride with me through the pearly gates and down a dirt road that has more than 30 hairpin turns. The next film is going to have some pretty wild scenes!!

WELCOME TO MY PLEASURE PALACE I’ll just be carvin’ it up here, come join anytime.

It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.

I’ve been cycling over snowy passes for six months now! It’s time to say goodbye though; my next ones will be in the USA. Today I’m cycling towards the Amazon to a region where there aren’t even roads marked on the maps. Hopefully, I’ve done enough homework to string together 7-8 days of small mountain tracks. It’ll be two weeks of backtracking and re-routing if not… wish me luck!

A week ago I had the worst accident of my life, in one of the least-accessible locations. I was pushing my bike along a small trail when the ground disappeared beneath me. I fell 30 metres (100ft) from the trail with my bike, free-falling the last 7-8m (25ft) onto some rocks. I have torn tendons in my hand and multiple broken ribs. Considering the huge impact, it’s incredible my injuries aren’t worse. There were no roads in this part of Peru, so it was five days before I could get proper medical attention. I’ll be sharing the insane story of this freak accident over the next week, and please rest assured – I’m fine and will make a full recovery over the next month.

It took me a few seconds to register what the hell just happened. I was the straw that broke the camel’s back, falling 30 metres (100ft) from a very low-risk trail. I had somehow protected my head from impact all the way down and I could still feel my limbs. I gingerly got up from the creek bed and couldn’t believe how mobile I was. I moved my bags which were strewn all over the rocks to a place where they were no longer sitting in water. I then had to work out how I was going to get up to the trail with a non-functioning wrist, and a back which was slowly locking up thanks to the muscles protecting my injuries. I left everything behind and started climbing my way up the creek. It was steep enough to climb like a large set of stairs. I jumped from boulder to boulder and finally made it to the base of a waterfall which was over 5m high. I somehow climbed up this vertical wall without using one of my arms – it’s amazing what the body is capable of when there’s no other way out. I stumbled like a robot for a few kilometres to the nearest village and asked for help. The locals quickly turned from warm-welcome to holy-crap-this-guy-isn’t-in-a-good-way; after all, my shirt was torn to shreds, there was blood everywhere and I was covered in dirt. I collapsed in a heap and explained that I’d fallen off a cliff with my bike. My back was seizing up even more and my wrist was now immobile with swelling, but an army of people followed me back to retrieve my bike and gear. I couldn’t leave it where it was, as the afternoon’s monsoonal rainfall was imminent.

We found a good way to get down to the bike and an even better way to get all my gear out. The assisting kids each grabbed a piece of my luggage and we were now marching towards the nearby village. It was only now that I realised my bike was in a bad way, which should be expected after an impact from 30 metres. The front wheel was folded in, the forks were bent, the handlebar was snapped and all kind of bits hung off it. I didn’t even want to entertain what was going on inside my panniers. About halfway to the village, and a dozen people were assembled who were shoving leaves in their mouths and chewing furiously. I was sat down and an elder poured water over my open cuts. She was then summoning people to spit the chewed-up green paste on all of my wounds (turns out they were coca leaves), rubbing it in deep. This is the traditional way to ward off infection. By now I was feeling faint and REALLY had to lay down as my back had almost turned to stone. It was another few kilometres of marching up a hill to a house which was finally accessible by three-wheel motorbike. I was laid on a heap of blankets and was thankful that this was over for now. The family offered to get me to a nearby medical centre, but given the pain I was in, I couldn’t imagine anything worse than bumping along these tracks on the back of a trike. I asked if I could spend the night with them and they kindly agreed. They brought me plates full of rice and chickpeas and helped me into their icy-cold shower to change out of my bloody clothes and into something dry.

At 6am I was woken because a trike was waiting to take me to a nearby medical centre. I jumped in the back with all of my possessions and we were soon bumping along the insanely steep mountain roads. The trike operator made a cushion for me to sit on, but the shock travelling up my back was simply unbearable. I squatted to reduce the impact, however, after just a few kilometres I was in tears. I was already dreading the remaining 110km to the hospital and started planning a way to walk out of here! The medical centre was as basic as you’d imagine, complete with muddy floors. A handful of random passers-by joined the nurses to hear the details of my accident. After some painkillers, a cream was getting rubbed into my wounds while my wrist and hand were getting aggressively poked and prodded to find out which bits were in the most pain. I didn’t dare tell them about my ribs. The steep muddy roads were too much of a risk to ride with the current heavy rainfall, so it was a 4-day wait for a trike that could take me to hospital. In the meantime, I was invited out for every lunch and dinner, and for a whole day, I patrolled the town with the very friendly police officers. Nobody I spoke to had ever seen a foreigner in Bambamarca. For most children, I was the first foreigner they’d ever laid eyes on. Their stares couldn’t have been longer or more intense.

Alarm anxiety had hit. It was 1AM and I could feel cortisol stimulating every part of my body. In just one hour I’d be in the back of a trike making the long journey to hospital. The trike was rumbling outside my room while my helper Oliver was gathering my every possession and dumping them into the single bed sized tray. The full moon offered far more light than the dim, wavering headlight beam. My eyes were quickly able to adjust to the serene dark blues and greens of the endless mountains surrounding us. A sea of thick clouds had perfectly filled every valley 2000 metres below; we’d soon be visiting this damp, mystical world. The stillness, quiet and beauty of the nightscape were only interrupted by face-level spiderwebs… annnnd intense jolts that resulted in the audible cracking of my ribcage. I jammed my feet in the corners of the tray, single-handedly holding onto a safety rail and bracing myself with core muscles I didn’t even know existed. I kept my quads loose enough to absorb as many of the big hits as possible; it took every bit of my concentration to prevent them from cramping after suffering a leg death of a thousand squats. The 20km/12mi journey to a nearby 4×4 track took four hours to complete. A few days prior I walked UP this trail, gaining almost 3000 vertical metres (10,000ft) in as many kilometres. So essentially, we were descending a trail that’s >20% for the most part. And there is almost zero margin for error when the rear wheels take up the full trail width. While the riders take all the precautions necessary, it was still terrifying being so close to the near-vertical embankment as the trike slid about in thick mud. An aspiring World Rally Championship driver was waiting for us at the bottom of the mountain. Nine people piled into the only vehicle leaving for the city today. I wish there were more moments when the four wheels weren’t drifting; the game of ‘corners’ is much more fun when you don’t have hundreds of kilograms of bodies crushing your damaged rib cage. The smell of vomit permeated through the vehicle as plastic bags were filled and immediately discarded out of the windows into the pristine canyons outside. Seeing this disregard for the environment hurt more than all my ailments combined. It may have taken 15 hours to cover just 291km, but I was now within spitting distance of a hospital in the beachside city of Trujillo.

Can you make out the 4500-year-old brickwork from this ancient ritual building? I camped within a stone’s throw of this timeworn structure, thinking all-night about the generations of people from different eras who also shared the same night sky. A humbling and incredible experience!

DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND? Standard question, asked every day. No, I don’t. This life is rough – I live in a tent, eat mangoes underground, push my bike up unknown trails and sometimes fall off cliffs, apparently. What kind of messed-up human would actually join me on a silly journey like that?! …cos I need to meet them.

For 365 days now I’ve been on the South American continent. I feel like I can remember almost every moment, which is such a cool aspect to living a non-routine life. Routine is nice; it gives you great comfort – but it’s also the ENEMY of time. It makes it disappear! I’m hoping to turn my 100 years on this planet into 1000 by living my unconventional dream.

A lot of you have been asking if I’m getting a whole new bike. I spent days checking and re-checking every millimetre of my ride, and fortunately, the damage is limited to the front. The fork, headset, handlebars and rim will be replaced in the coming weeks. KOGA bikes actually allowed me to design my new handlebar shape which I’m SUPER excited to test. It could be better or worse than my beloved Velo Orange Crazy Bars – I’ll let you know. The rear rack needs replacing too; it was the roll cage that protected the rear end of the bike. A massive shout out to Aloys at KOGA for helping to get this broken traveller back onto the smallest trails of the Andes!

Hey! It’s just me on this incredible car-free road in Peru (my favouritest country ever for adventure touring – I’ve been here for five months and don’t think I’ll be able to leave ).

Ever wondered why I like short-shorts so much? With these bad boys I get water clearance for dayssss! (They’re actually normal-length shorts delicately draped over some irresistibly lengthy underpinnings – Sarah Hammond will verify the numbers! )

I was recently asked whether I think spending so much time documenting my experiences detracts from the ‘purity’ of travel. The thing is that I’ve never NOT documented my travel experiences! To me, the storytelling aspect of travel has always been just as important as the journey itself; it’s both my creative outlet and precious preserver of memories. Since childhood, I’ve always taken photographs in exotic places, and even before I started CyclingAbout, I would put pen to paper to keep a highly-detailed daily journal. Going public with my thoughts, ideas and experiences has actually given me MORE insight into my own life, as I get to start regular dialogues with thousands of brilliant minds (you!).

What am I going to do when I get to Alaska? Let’s be real here, I’ll probably try to keep the dream alive and go to AFRICA! (But only if I’m still having as much fun as I am now… )

The sheer resilience and incredible efficiency of cactuses never cease to amaze me. These two qualities I quite admire in almost everything, including all the great humans of this world. Here’s to being more resilient and efficient, my globetrotting amigos!

Since I was a child, one thing has always made sense to me: we should learn how to live our lives from people who’ve almost completed theirs. For a long time now I’ve been designing a life that AVOIDS the greatest regrets of the oldest members of our society. This seems like a logical shortcut, no? The most profound things I’ve heard include living true to yourself (and not living the life others expect of you), expressing your feeling more, spending less time worrying and more time accepting, investing more time in your family, working less, travelling more and keeping in touch with old friends.

The post Photo Gallery: Bicycle Touring Huascaran National Park & Canyon del Pato appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Cycling The Peru Great Divide

Alee Denham — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 22:02:21 +0000

With the diverse landscapes, wild views, amazing camping and lack of cars, I’m convinced the Peru Great Divide is the best touring route in the world. I pushed my bike for just 500 metres in total, so it’s also very rideable.

Here’s All The Route Info You Need:
Peru Divide Part 1
Peru Divide Part 2
Peru Divide Part 3
Peru Divide Part 4
Peru Divide Part 5

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller-S
MY 25KG GEAR LIST: Here
MY ROUTE: Here

Cycling The Peru Great Divide Touring Route

Hiking down an old Inca staircase in the middle of nowhere! The stonework from the Inca time (15-16th century) is simply outstanding and will undoubtedly outlast anything we construct today.

Since the beginning of my trip nine months ago, I’ve been riding just ONE set of tyres. I’ve clocked over 15,000km on my Schwalbe Almotions and reckon the front is still good for another 5,000 at least. I wish I could have ridden them till their death, but with my parents visiting from Aus it was too good an opportunity to pass up some fresh tread! A big thanks to BikeBox for the replacements which should now get me to somewhere in North America!

This photo was taken near Macusani, Peru after a big dumping of snow. It’s one of the most memorable days I’ve had on the bike because the vistas were so incredibly majestic!

So I turned 30 the other day. While this early milestone hits some with the realisation that they aren’t quite where they planned to be, I’ve managed to pull off a particularly calculated life, on my own terms. It’s not always easy to balance your (selfish) needs and desires with your ethics and morals. But by continually questioning everything, I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of that. So yeah, don’t expect me to have some kind of crisis, sell everything I own and do that thing I’ve always dreamed about. Because I’ve already done that. Twice! Here’s to the next 30 years, you beautiful humans – I’m super pumped for what the future holds. Big love from Peru!

Perched at 4500m/14700ft in this gorgeous valley, I’m not sure if I’ve had a more tranquil nights sleep. My location was completely exposed to whatever the weather wanted to throw at me, but on this particular night it couldn’t have been stiller – my tent fly didn’t even rustle once. As I closed my eyes I tried my best to listen for a noise, any noise, but it seemed that all the animals were tucked up in bed too. I awoke to a great brightness a few hours later as the moon rose over the mountains. For a while there I could clearly make out every item in the tent (it’s quite surreal), but soon the clouds swooped in to turn the lights off again. My next waking moment was to the inoffensive chirping sounds of tiny birds playing around in the grass next to my tent. What a lovely reminder that I have more mountains to conquer today!

“Your Facebook photos and stories are great, but how are you, really?” This is one of the first questions I get when I’m chatting with my close friends from home. And it’s fair enough too because social media allows us to choose the story we want to tell the audience. Let’s face it, we mostly share the moments of our lives that (perhaps unintentionally) are great. We then collate all these great moments into an app and benchmark ourselves against a (possibly) warped perception of reality. For all you know, I could just be a master storyteller, weaving the misleading adventures of my life and my happiness. Don’t believe everything you see and read! Right, with that preamble out of the way, here’s how I really am. You’re gonna have to trust me here. I’m healthy, I’m happy, I’m motivated, I’m excited and I’m alone, but not lonely. I sometimes wish I could ride or cook or debate the future of humanity with someone else. I don’t really have bad days or feel sad or get frustrated. There are times when it’s pretty tough, but I’ve always controlled what I can, accepted my situation and moved on. I am in total awe of the universe and all of its marvels and how insignificant I really am. I know I can’t be this lone, nomadic wolf forever. After all, we humans have evolved to be social animals who need to feel loved, valued and part of a physical community. But for now, it’s such a luxury to explore the world, in my own time, on my bicycle.

Hailstorm in 3…2…1 I’ve been getting caught up in storms every afternoon! This is a sure sign of the changing seasons from the dry winter to the wet summer. Luckily, it’s still much drier than not.

One of the coolest things about spending so much time in nature is that you develop the ability to predict changes in weather. Your senses fine-tune to slight changes in humidity, unusual breezes and the shape, colour and movement of the clouds. You notice patterns in animal behaviour too, often hours before you get a whiff of the changing weather yourself; birds disappear from the landscape and ants work hard to build taller mounds when adverse conditions are on their way!

Someone recently left a comment that annoyed me. They questioned why I go to all the effort to photograph and film myself on this trip yet provide “zero practical information” like the location of water, shops, good campsites etc. My answer is simple: go on your own bloody adventure! My job is to provide you with a taste of what it’s like to see the world by bike. I even provide the GPS tracks for my entire journey if you really want to trace my tyre treads. Trip research is an important skill to have in your arsenal because conditions are always changing. You’ve gotta stare at maps, ask locals questions and make tonnes of educated guesses. When you make mistakes along the way, great, you’re learning – plus you’re now on an adventure of your own making! That’s infinitely more rewarding than getting me to plan your every metre.

I called this lake ‘Two-Tone’ for obvious reasons, but its real name is Lake Quinine. Why? When you ground-up the bark of the nearby cinchona trees, you get a chemical compound called Quinine. For hundreds of years, the mountain people have been mixing Quinine with sweetened water to make a muscle relaxant drink that stops shivering in sub-zero temperatures. The tonic water you drink at home also gets its flavour from cinchona bark, albeit at a MUCH lower dose!

The Peru Divide is (possibly) the best touring route in the world. Seriously! It follows a section of the Andes Mountains where water falling just a centimetre to the left or right could have its fate in the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans. The route is the most geographically diverse place I’ve ever travelled. In just a few kilometres you’ll see snowy, jagged peaks, insane formed rocks, colourful mineral deposits, grassy hills and piles of volcanic rubble. There are lakes and forests and hot springs to explore. You’ll meet vicuñas, viscachas, altiplano mice, hummingbirds and if you’re lucky, you’ll see the largest flying bird in the world: the Andean Condor. A lone car or two per day will stop to check you’re ok, but with views as good as these, of course, you are!

When you’re a child, everything is new and shiny and different. You have no preconceived ideas about the world. Every day you get to go on a journey full of adventure, curiosity and intrigue. As you grow older you become a creature of habit; you can still live a happy and dynamic life but everything eventually becomes familiar and/or predictable. The closest I’ve ever felt to my eight-year-old self is when I’m exploring the world by bike. Everything is new again; my life is full of wonder and ever-expanding curiosity. Every day I’m bursting to tell the world about all the cool things I get to see and learn about. This feeling is both my biggest addiction and also my greatest motivator. I wouldn’t be out here taking risks, feeling uncomfortable and exploring the unknown without it. It’s inevitable that familiarity will one-day try to take this feeling away from me, but I’m hoping the creativeness with how I approach life will always get it back.

This can’t be real life. Can it? So I pushed my touring bike on some hiking trails through the Cordillera Huayhuash to get up close and personal with the mountains. But over three days, I had just ONE hour of sunshine and mountain views… total. The other times I was getting hailed/snowed on while sliding around in the mud. It was pretty rough, but worth it for this incredible photo, right!!? Right!?!

Does it surprise you that I’d rather ride up a massive mountain, rather than down? Don’t get me wrong… I LOVE descending! But there’s something special about finding your rhythm, getting into the zone and observing the wild vistas around you.

Rocks on rocks on rocks. It’s incredible that roads in Peru are constructed through terrain as harsh as this!

After spending all of the winter above 3500m, my poor legs have lost their colour! I’m pretty excited about soon feeling the sun’s rays on my skin as I approach the tropical climates of Ecuador and Colombia.

As someone who spends 99% of my time exploring and appreciating the natural world, climate change is a particularly important issue for me. The world’s climate experts recently warned that we have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe. If you like the world as it is, it’s time to look to the scientific data and make some hard decisions about how you live your life.
Here are the things you can do which have the greatest impact:
1. Many tonnes CO2 saved per year – Vote and engage. Politicians have the ability to enact policies which curb huge quantities of emissions. It may go against your socioeconomic or fundamental political ideologies, but voting for a party that offers strong environmental protection is the most important thing you can do. If you have the time, join and donate to environmental organisations that put additional pressure on political leaders too.
2. 58 tonnes CO2 saved per year – Procreation is natural, so don’t take this the wrong way if you’re a parent. But the numbers don’t lie. Choosing NOT to have a child is, by a factor of 50x, a decision that can have the greatest positive impact on the environment going forward. Plus, there are 153 million orphan children already on the planet who need homes.
3. 2+ tonnes CO2 saved per year – Right now, avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your personal environmental impact on the planet. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife, as well as the biggest air and water polluter. Like steak and cheese? Try to consume these foods on special occasions only.
4. 1+ tonnes CO2 saved per year – Reduce your motorised transport use. 17 hours in a plane, or 3000km in a car (by yourself) results in about 1 tonne of CO2 emissions.
5. <1 tonne CO2 saved per year – Buy fewer things, buy them to last & reuse them. There is an insane amount of embodied energy in everything we own, especially large objects like cars and houses. Buy second hand where you can, and try to spend a bit extra for objects that will likely last decades.

I’m nearing the equator and it’s just 1.5 months from summer, so I kinda wasn’t expecting blisteringly cold conditions and a decent whack of snowfall. But I guess at 5000m/16400ft this will happen whenever it bloody-well likes.

My Peru Divide film is FINISHED! I’ve collaborated with a professional film colourist for this episode! The raw footage looks incredible, I can’t even imagine how INSANE this is going to turn out.

I’ve been super lucky with river crossings in South America. For some reason, the water always seems more aggressive on the days I don’t need to cross. It’s like the rivers know to stem their flow for my passing!

I get quite a few requests to ride with me, which I love! I’m totally happy to do that with any of you.
But there are a few things to note:
– Firstly, my timeline is very rough, so you’ll probably have to come and find me.
– Secondly, given I don’t know you personally, I can’t commit to much more than half a week. I’m open to travelling longer, but we’d need to see how well we travel together first.
– And lastly, I’m super fit! You’ll need to have decent fitness (8 hours of riding per day is typical) and enjoy the hills because my routes are often 2000m/6500ft or more per day.

Pushing a touring bike on muddy hiking trails in the driving rain and snow… is exactly as rough as it sounds!!

My Peru Divide film is up on YouTube and I think you’re going to love it. With the diverse landscapes, wild views, amazing camping and lack of cars, I’m convinced this is the best touring route in the world. I pushed my bike for just 500 metres in total, so it’s also very rideable.

Camping is the answer. Who cares what the question is.

Within your own experiences, you give everything meaning. Some things you’re taught and accept to be meaningful, but ultimately, you can make anything as meaningful or meaningless as you want. It’s totally up to you. Take the sun. This is a giant fireball in the sky that sends heat to the Earth that is converted into the food that powers you along on your long bike rides. You could just not pay attention to what’s going on here, and the sun will be meaningless to you. But here you are, eating sun-grown avocado on toast, which is repairing your muscles from yesterdays ride, and yet you’re wondering about whether to upgrade your tent to something 500 grams lighter…? Look, I don’t think like this all the time, but it’s something that I remind myself of pretty regularly. This pattern of thinking helps me to constantly find more meaning in more things as I cycle about the world. It also gives me all the meaning I’ll ever need to understand my existence on Earth. That’s pretty cool, don’t you think?

One of the things that makes Peru unique is the mineral deposits that cover the mountainsides. You’re never far from large swathes of red, green, blue, purple or yellow colouring your field of vision – or if you’re lucky, it’s all colours at once!

The post Photo Gallery: Cycling The Peru Great Divide appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Snow Adventures In The Andes

Alee Denham — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 03:01:00 +0000

It’s been such a wild ride through the snow in the Andes this month. I’ve been blown away by the landscapes, the wildlife and the sheer terrain… this place is the real deal, and a true paradise for those who have adventure running through their veins.

Here are the photos and captions that I shared on social media this month.

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller Signature
MY GEAR LIST: My 25kg of stuff
MY ROUTE: HERE
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic GH4 and GoPro Hero6

Imagine a therapy that has no known side effects, is readily available, and can improve your cognitive functioning at zero cost. It’s called ‘being in nature’. At a time when American adults spend less time outdoors than they do inside cars, nature is scientifically proven to reduce stress. Our bodies have evolved in nature and that’s why we think they’re able to relax and unwind in natural surroundings. People who interact with nature have been shown to recover faster in hospitals, perform better in school, nail problem-solving questions and even display less violent behaviour in neighbourhoods where it’s common. While I’m currently a passionate advocate for environmental immersion via my photos, videos and stories – I’d love to one-day take people of all ages with me into the wild, to help them appreciate how important it is for their wellbeing.

There’s the easy way to escape La Paz, or there’s the Alee way. The latter pretty much involves finding the steepest roads with the best views of La Paz. 30% was not an uncommon gradient on my escape route — I was on the rev limiter most of the way up!!

Pushing your bike can slow down your travel experience enough so that you get the optimal time to appreciate the wilds that surround you.

You might think that I’d constantly have sore legs given the amount of time I spend in the mountains. Believe it or not my legs are NEVER sore! This is for a few reasons: I ride all day at an effort I can sustain, I eat very well, I listen to when my body needs rest, I use appropriately low gear ratios and my muscles are well-conditioned to cycling.

When you cycle above the clouds in the mountains and it’s almost like you’ve got your own pedal-powered aircraft.

Don’t stress guys! Internet is sparse, but I’m living the good life here in Peru.

L A G O T I T I C A C A : the biggest lake in South America. As I’m cycling north that means I’ve hit my SIXTH country on this rather large continent – Peru! In just 24 hours I could probably visit six countries on a bike in Europe though… how about Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and France? I think the world record is actually seven: Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bosnia&Herzegovina.

I wave to everyone on the small backroads. Even the llamas get their fair share of wavy hand.

I’ve done lots of riding in both Peru and Bolivia where there is no road or trail. The ground is often hard enough that you can point and shoot and you’ll eventually hit your destination. I recommend working with the contours, rather than against them! And be prepared to push your bike a bit.

HOW DO I PROTECT MY LAPTOP ON ROUGH ROADS? I have a 20L pannier dedicated to the job! First I put my 15” MacBook Pro (necessary for video editing) in a small backpack. I then fill the bag out with a puffy jacket. The daypack slides into my rear pannier along with my sleeping bag which is loose. The theory is that if I can prevent as many vibrations from getting to electronic circuitry as possible, then my laptop should be able to last as long as my bike. So far so good!

I’m finding it really hard to schedule in rest days when the scenery is this good! But I do try to put the feet up at least once per week and definitely prefer it if there are hot springs in town to relax in.

This mountain looked so much like a villain’s secret lair. As I was cycling around it I was imagining finding a trap door to access the control room for taking over the world!

To tell you the truth, I’ve been getting my ass kicked by winter. And so have the Peruvians. A cold spell hit HARD recently, killing hundreds of mountain people who didn’t have the resources to keep warm. I was one of the lucky ones up around 5000m in a remote part of the country. For 36 hours I was constantly lifting snow from my tent to prevent it from collapsing in on top of me. There were days where I pushed my bike for 10+ hours in pretty wild conditions too. I ultimately had to abandon a section that I’ve been looking forward to for months. That was hard. In hindsight I’ve downplayed the difficulty way too much in my videos because I somehow revel in the hardship. This makes it super hard to be honest with the camera and come across as authentic at the time. But it’s definitely the real deal out here. Anyway, enjoy the next few days of snowy mountain pics. Peru is stunning under a thick blanket of snow. And please rest assured that I’m making smart and calculated decisions to ensure my safety. I’ve got enough experience behind me to know where my limits truly lie.

Adventuring every day puts a bloody big smile on my dial. I don’t quite know how I’m going to re-integrate with civilisation after so many years of this. Have you guys ever struggled to slot back into the herd after a big trip!!?

Here I am descending from heaven, and I have a message from the skies: Earth is on par with the pearly kingdom! Scratch that… it’s actually better!! Please look after our planet because there’s clearly an overwhelming greatness to it. Visit a few nooks and crannies from time to time and you too will remember this fact.

Here we go. More rough roads with a side serve of ice! Oddly, there aren’t any people out here. Not sure why.

When the road is carved perfectly into the side of the mountain. These roads were built for bicycles to explore! When are you guys coming to Peru to see this for yourselves?!?

Peaks over 6000m/20000ft are like magnets to me. I may as well be an insect to a flame. Whatever it takes to immerse myself in the sheer scale and beauty of these landscapes.

Dropping into my winter wonderland.

I listen to podcasts when the landscape is vast, when there’s lots of traffic on the road or when I’m cooking! Almost every solo traveller seems fluent in podcast chat. Here’s some that will exercise your mind: Sean Carroll’s Mindscape, Waking Up With Sam Harris, The Ezra Klein Show, You Are Not So Smart, The Jordan B Peterson Podcast, Rationally Speaking and Under The Skin With Russel Brand. I try to listen to very left and right-leaning podcasts to prevent living in an echo chamber! For lighter listening try Case File True Crime (Silk Road series in particular), People Fixing the World (WorldBiking recommendation), Dr Karl on triplej (Science!) and How I Built This (the Wikipedia and Patagonia are cool stories). What do you recommend for fellow travellers?

Exploring the land of the giant boulders. Peru killing it with landscapes as usual.

BRRRR! More heavy snowfall this week! I luckily descended 1000m vertical in the dark before setting up my tent, so I didn’t have any frozen gear in the morning. Ride high, sleep low is the mantra here in Peru!

WHAT’S THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BIKE TRAVEL FOR ME? You might think it’s pushing my bike through the snow, packing up the tent in the driving rain, climbing 3000 vertical metres on one incline, dealing with trucks in busy cities or missing my friends and family from home. But there is honestly nothing that affects me more than seeing the hitting, shoving, cutting and transportation of animals. I’m exposed to it every day. It brings my mood down and often makes me feel sick in my stomach. You’re probably thinking I’m ridiculous because this is just how life is. If you don’t want to see it, don’t go travelling, right?! You’d also think I’d have come up with a strategy to overcome my vulnerability by now. Harden the f up, Alee! Well, that was super easy to do when I just turned a blind eye and suppressed how it made me feel. Unfortunately, after years of seeing this stuff day-in and day-out it eventually caught up with me. I was being dishonest with myself and with others. These days my morals and actions are closer aligned and I’m feeling so much better for it. I intentionally let myself feel this pain as a constant reminder that I once made a wise decision.

I live such a crazy life! I get to go on bike adventures about 75% of all days, and put my feet up for the rest. I have the luxury of asking myself every day, is this experience making my life richer? Am I spending my precious time on this earth doing something I’m truly passionate about? Am I learning something I can share? This is only made possible by living simply. I rarely buy anything other than food and the odd night in a hotel. When I buy gear, I invest as much as I need for it to last forever. It’s sometimes a bit bigger and bulkier, but can you believe my stove and cook wear has been with me on every adventure since I was a teenager?! I’m also very fortunate to have been raised and educated in a supportive environment with endless opportunity. For this, I’m super grateful.

Wide valleys. Icy winds. No trees. Lotsa gravel. Welcome to the Peruvian Altiplano. When I ride through these harsh environments I can’t wait to drop back into the steep, narrow valleys again where life is a bit more pleasant! That said, I don’t think I’d appreciate the more enjoyable sections of my trip without this brutal contrast.

It surprises me every day where my Koga Worldtraveller can take me. I have four panniers, slick tyres and lots of heavy/durable gear. It may not be the best on any one trail or road, but it can do everything pretty darn well, and that’s why I brought it here. Before you ask: the bike weighs 15kg, I have 25kg of gear and the tyres are Schwalbe Almotion in 700x50c/29×2.0” which have done 15,000km since Patagonia. I’ve broken one spoke and had four punctures. Pretty stoked with that. Any questions?

These days I make enough money to support my adventures by sharing my expertise and my experiences around the world. My hourly rate for these things may be incredibly low, but hey, my living costs are also low. An accountant friend once told me that he has clients who make big money, but also spend big money. We’re talking millions of dollars coming in and going out. His clients with average salaries were often so much better setup for the sustainability of their lifestyle. This has always resonated with me because I don’t think I’ll ever live a lavish lifestyle. Investing what I have in time, learning and experiences around the world feels like the best investment I can currently make.

The post Photo Gallery: Snow Adventures In The Andes appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Cycling The Wild Bolivian Landscapes

Alee Denham — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 14:53:27 +0000

This month in Bolivia I rode across the largest salt flat in the world and pedalled into the Yungas Mountains. I discovered a road with 52 hairpin turns, I may have found my favourite sealed road in the world, I found out about cocaine production, I was gifted lots of food and I cycled up “the world’s most dangerous road”!

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller Signature
MY GEAR LIST: My 25kg of stuff
MY ROUTE: HERE
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic GH4 and GoPro Hero6

Just beginning this solo journey from Argentina to Alaska was a GIANT STEP for me. I had to give up the comfortable predictability of my home life. I had to say goodbye to my friends and family. I had to give up my weekly rituals, my bikes, the prospect of a partner and the access to any food type that I could possibly desire. But this giant step will have taught me a bit more about people and the world, and will have given me endless time to get lost in my thoughts and ideas. Right now I’m six months into CyclingAbout The Americas, and I’m certain I took the right, giant step forward.

Yo! This was once a steam train, but now it’s rusting at 4000m in Bolivia! Built by the British, this train has been living right here since the 1940s when the mining industry collapsed. No wonder it’s missing its boiler!

I’m pretty stoked to be able to say that I travel to some of the most remote areas of the planet, on a bicycle no less – without consuming any animal products. Did you know that the latest research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75%? And that loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife? That’s insane – being vegan is the least I can do for the planet which I spend so much time exploring and appreciating.

On the Koga Signature order form, I left the kickstand box unchecked. I hadn’t needed one for the previous 10 years of touring, why would I need it now? But when I picked up the bike there was one fitted. Koga said, “just try it Alee, if you really don’t like it, you can throw it away”. I reluctantly accepted their request. Skip forward a few months into my trip and I broke a bolt on the kickstand. I had to remove it for a while, and it was then that I realised how much I missed having it. I use it every time I get off the bike; to snack, to take a video. The rear-mounted setup with the Koga’s steering limiter will stay upright almost ANYWHERE except in the sand. Can’t believe I was so close-minded about kickstands for so long!!

The salt flat drags on and on after the novelty wears off! It’s like being on a treadmill; everything always looks the same and the horizon never appears to get any closer! After two nights on the Salar de Uyuni, it was relieving to finally have dirt under my tyres again.

On overcast days in Bolivia, the white from the sky washes the colours out of absolutely everything. Here I am waiting for the volcano to erupt so that the landscape can be livened up again!

I was looking at my topographic maps and determined the precise location for the most incredible viewpoint… ever. The only problem was that there were no roads or paths to get there. So I spent a while forging my own path across the rough, swampy land and ended up blissing out right here!

Bolivian Villagers: “Where are you going?”
Me: Quime.
“You’re going the wrong way!”
No, I’m going to Quime this way.
“But it’s impossible on a bicycle.”
Me:

It’s a pretty nice feeling to find yourself above the clouds and snow on a llama track that offers such wild panoramic views of the Cordillera de Quimsa Cruz (and a certain death if you fall off the edge).

For the first time this trip, I’m really struggling to get anywhere. That’s because Bolivia is a massive network of mountain trails and small villages, and I want to explore ALL of them!! I’ll definitely be coming back here to finish off what I started, preferably with a friend (or 3) to share the experience.

So stoked on Bolivi(YE)a(H)! Not even a green screen can project a backdrop this good.

HAIRPIN TURNS. These are my life at the moment. I’m either grinding away up a steep canyon or dropping in from the sharp peaks of the Yungas Mountains. My switchback turn record this trip is 52(!) in a row. There can’t be many roads in the world with more.

You’re probably thinking I’m the biggest narcissist ever; I feature in almost every photo I take! But over the years I’ve found that I can relate most to travel photos when a rider or two is cycling through an interesting landscape. I almost always imagine myself as the cyclist in the photo at that particular place and moment in time, and wonder how much I’d enjoy being there too. Is it just me, or do you find yourself doing this as well?!?

I smile to everyone whose eyes meet mine. I try to make people laugh. If I’m eating something on the side of the road I offer it to people passing by (farmers love sweet biscuits!). I reduce the suffering to animals by not eating them or their products. I try to buy stuff without packaging. I say no to plastic bags and I pick up other people’s rubbish when it’s convenient. I try to spread bike travel knowledge and inspiration far and wide because it’s the thing that brings me so much joy. All of these things require a bit of effort, but I figure that by doing them every day I can help create the world I would most like to live in.

Confirmed: wet & moody mornings on a bike are still better than being inside.

Camping out on the Uyuni Salt Flats! The stars are absolutely INSANE with so little light pollution.

This month I rode across the largest salt flat in the world and pedalled into the Yungas Mountains. I discovered a road with 52 hairpin turns, I may have found my favourite sealed road in the world, I found out about cocaine production, I was gifted lots of food and I cycled up “the world’s most dangerous road”! My latest video is HERE.

If you’re partial to a bit of climbing, it doesn’t get much better than the Yungas mountains in Bolivia. In one day you can be pushing your bike through snow at 5500m and then drop into the rainforest at 1000m. You won’t see another tourist, it’s just villagers who want to know where you’re heading. If you chat for a few minutes they’ll probably even give you some fruit or corn from the garden too. There are enough towns here to not need a tent or cooking gear, but I’ve enjoyed camping every night with a view. Oh and cars… what cars!!?

Have you heard of Death Road? It winds its way up the side of a mountain and for the majority of the time you’re just metres from a sheer drop (to your death, naturally). But not that I’d know!! I was in the clouds for almost the whole thing!

Yes, this is the road on my maps. Smooth as silk! The contributing factor to its wonderful condition: a river that got a little temperamental in the rainy season!!

Look! The town is right there! If only I could fly — to get across the valley I had to descend 1000m vertical then ride my way back up the other side. I’m not complaining though… cycling through the Yungas mountains is such a delightful experience. I’m already planning my route for next time I come here!

The post Photo Gallery: Cycling The Wild Bolivian Landscapes appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Photo Gallery: Cycling The Highest Roads In The World

Alee Denham — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 17:29:17 +0000

Last month I cycled through what I think is some of the most stunning scenery… in the world! Have a look through this gallery from Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, and let me know if you agree.

MY BIKE: Koga WorldTraveller Signature
MY GEAR LIST: My 25kg of stuff
MY ROUTE: HERE
MY CAMERAS: Panasonic GH4 and GoPro Hero6

It’s so great to be back in the Andes! Last night I slept at 3000m — do you guys have the WEIRDEST dreams at altitude too, or is it just me?

Chasing Alfredo up into the mountains…

It’s hard to imagine a place that is more diverse than Argentina. This country has every type of landscape!

Yesterday I was cycling at almost 5000m elevation. It’s been a while since I’ve been this high! My brain was struggling to process the most basic information and I was slurring all my words. I felt like I’d drank half a bottle of vodka I was swerving around that much. What a weird phenomenon!

Carving my way through the red and white mountains of northwest Argentina. And no, I don’t have a personal photographer! To get these shots I have to sit my camera on a tripod a few hundred metres away from where I’m riding. I either get my camera to fire a shot every few seconds, or take a video and grab the screenshot I need. It’s hard work, but I think the results are worth all the extra miles!

One of my favourite campsites this trip! Nestled in a small canyon with very little wind or noise. It was at an altitude that didn’t wake me up in the middle of the night, plus the temperature wasn’t minus-10! And the stars were absolutely wild.

This is about as sci-fi as natural landscapes get!

The landscape between Argentina and Chile changes instantly as you cross the border. After cycling across the arid, high plains, you enter a volcano complex that is so big and beautiful that you can’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed.

It was a shock to find that the famous Sico Pass is now a sealed road! I prefer smooth roads though crazy landscapes like this, as I can focus more on the scenery, and less on the impending potholes and sandy washouts.

Cycling past Laguna en Salar el Laco.

The wild rock formations of El Laco, Chile.

When sleeping at over 4000m, the overnight temperatures are well into the negatives (-10 sometimes). I made the mistake of dribbling onto my pillow one night; argh… frozen slobber! But look, I will cop an icy pillow for million dollar views like these.

The bald hills near Laguna Aguas Calientes.

Right. I’m off to Bolivia! I’m hoping to ride up the highest road in the world (almost 6000m/19,700ft – there’s less than 50% oxygen up there). My next update and YouTube video will be in a couple of weeks, when I should have discovered the worst roads in South America.

5815 METRES • 19,078ft. That’s the highest you can ride a bike… in the WORLD!! Here I am standing near the end of the road with Mt Uturuncu looming in the background. How did I feel this high? Honestly, I had no negative effects. My body is now crushing it with a full haematological (blood) adaptation to altitude. Super stoked on this and can’t wait to show you the next video!

When you cross from Chile into SW Bolivia, you end up at Laguna Blanca. The water appears whiteish as it has a high amount of minerals suspended in it. I wish the background showed a nice morning fog, but that’s actually dust kicked up by dozens of tourist 4x4s screaming between photo opportunities.

The sky is a stunning blue at altitude! Or perhaps it’s just the high contrast to the white dusty landscape. Either way, your eyes are bowerbird-level mesmerised as you cycle through these otherworldly landscapes.

This is me in full-flight, riding into a strong headwind! I was reluctant to interrupt my day with a tailwind, so there’s at least 1000 watts running through my cranks to get this photo over and done with. Tailwinds are an ultra-rare commodity for me, OK?!

I can always find the time to stop and take in my surroundings. I’m not in a rush to get anywhere, especially on the super sandy Bolivian roads! Even if I don’t make my planned destination, all I need is 3L of water and some food and I will stop practically anywhere that’s wind protected. After a -10 degree night one thing is guaranteed: warming my fingers and toes with my stove in the morning.

Beautiful colours surround you as you cycle through Eduardo Avaroa National Park.

Climbing up towards the Sol de la Manana Geyser.

Laguna Colorada is a sight to behold — it’s filled with red water due to the sediments and pigmentations of the residing algae! It’s also famous for the being home to three types of flamingos.

You’d think that the Bolivian Altiplano is just volcanoes and salt lakes, but it is also home to some of the craziest rock formations! When you visit, you too will ride past these big, bold rock sculptures that take your breath away.

My latest VIDEO is ready for you! It’s been the hardest month yet for me, which always makes for good viewing. If you’ve been blown away by the crazy landscapes, dust storms, high-speed winds, sub-zero temps and are also keen to watch me ride up the highest road in the world (5815M).

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