For those of you who know me well, you know that bike riding is generally not my favorite activity. My family and many close friends love mountain biking, so it would be a great hobby to participate in. However, I think I was traumatized as a child when I was lost in the woods during a family bike ride so while I don’t mind leisurely bike rides, intense mountain biking isn’t a personal passion of mine. However, when I found out that Peace Corps offers bikes to those who are interested, I figured this would be a great opportunity to improve my attitude about biking.

I recently got an email saying that our bikes had arrived in Trujillo, so I called my friend Ian who lives close by and we decided we would go in and pick up our bikes. We casually mentioned that it would be fun to ride our bikes back to Ian’s site, which is about a 45 minute combi ride from Trujillo, but I left without giving it too much thought. When I met up with Ian we decided we were feeling adventurous, so we set out on a mission to collect our bikes and find a way to ride them back. We were sent on a bit of a wild goose chase to find the actual location of our bikes, but eventually found them. Now, the bikes we receive are usually passed down between Peace Corps volunteers after going through maintenance so the quality of the bikes varies quite significantly. When we arrived at our regional coordinator’s house to pick up the bikes, I was pleasantly surprised with a really nice Trek mountain bike. Ian, however, got the “Cadilak” of bikes (yes, that’s actually the name brand written on the frame), complete with a seat that doesn’t move and extremely noisy gears. Determined to continue our adventure, we ignore the quality of Ian’s bike and decide to set off for our sites.

Keep in mind, I forgot to bring clothes to bike in, so I am wearing Ian’s basketball shorts that are meant for a 6’3” boy, my nice white sweater, and 4 sole flip flops. Not to mention, we both are happily rocking our brand-new helmets (part of me wishes I would have had my camera, but another part is very glad I don’t have documentation). Looking like serious cyclists, we proceed to find some local policeman to help us navigate our way out of the city. They clearly think we’re crazy, but reluctantly explain the most effective route towards Laredo, also offering an emergency contact phone number which they seem to think might be handy during the course of our expedition. Trujillo is a huge city with crowded streets and heavy traffic, not to mention fairly dangerous outskirts. However, Ian confidently asserts that we’ll be totally fine and I agree; after all, we have helmets (which also ward off robberies and kidnapping, in case you didn’t know). As we’re pedaling through taxis and buses, I wonder whether or not this is a very good idea, but luckily we make it out of the city and onto the main road without any problems. As we continue along the road we see many interesting sights, including two dead dogs. After that lovely run-in, the views get much prettier as we pass sugarcane fields and the steep cerros lining the road. After several miles of riding we decide to switch bikes; poor Ian is not only carrying a huge backpack, but also riding his beat up bike with the most uncomfortable seat in the world. We continue on, happily chatting as we pedal back to Bello Horizante. After several more miles both of our butts hurt so bad we have to take a break. We stop in a tiny little town for some water and provide everyone with their daily dose of entertainment. After a short break we reluctantly hop back on our bikes and quickly ride back to Bello Horizante, proudly passing several Peruvians on bikes. When we got back to Ian’s site we proceeded to polish off a solid 1/5 of Ian’s leftover birthday cake, which was a fabulous end to a great adventure.