Day 2 ( Huanuco to Huancayo) "Getting High"
Less you misunderstand "getting high", I mean that we started the day at the very "low" altitude of 5,000 ft ("take that Denver!") and began a climb of 200 km to the top-of-the-world at Cerro de Pasco hitting 14,400ft above sea level. I have a little GPS on my handle bar and the altimeter was ticking away like a clock. We had left without breakfast, so a quick brunch at a roadside cafe was in order...
I think we ate too much, but everyone was feeling surprizingly (sp?) well. We topped off the fuel and started out across
the Pampa de Junin (a relatively flat plain up there that runs N-S between the two Andes ridges). So off we go, but not even 1/2 km along we had our first accident. Whitney (18 yr old daughter of Craig, she is also an MX racer) could not avoid a large dog that went straight for her tires. Whit, dog and moto went down. Whitney slid 20 ft along the asfault edge of the
road while the moto went off into the dirt and flipped twice. The dog ran off....
Whitney (pix) slightly sprained her wrist, the moto had a few bent or broken stuff, but within 5 min we were all on our way again. We each are covered in rider armor from MX boots and knee guards to chest/shoulder/elbow protectors. Each one of us will take a few falls on this trip.
The altitude affects us all differently. Me, it made me tired and sleepy. With Luke it was dimensia and he got turned around. But we fought on "down" into La Oroya at 13,300 ft. There we picked up our 11th team member, David from Lima, and cruised on down to Huancayo on free-flowing curves of asphault following the river into a wide, lush 
valley.
Julio (the ex-National MX champ, now a pastor) had contacts for "Hotel Presidente" in Huancayo with hot water and I am told an incredible breakfast tomorrow to set out on. Van and his KTM 625 can be seen in front of the hotel dining room. We will need to rest well tonight for we will not see pavement tomorrow.....
NEXT DAY: day3huancayotoayacucho.htm
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