26th July 2012: Final Day Mtn Biking

Final day:

MTN BIKING DAY TO MORRAY AND SALIENERAS....!!!!
What better way to end my holidays in Peru than with a big bang...!!!!?????:P
Meet Bertine at the travel agent, and we proceed to board a pvt car to our starting location, some 1 hour away from Cuzco. As the bikes are unloaded from the car, and I inspect my ride for the day, shock and horror...!!! Rigid mtn bike with awful front suspension, only 21 speeds and v-brakes!!!! and the buggers are badly tuned, with no lubricant on the chain...!!! I ask for a set of tools to fix the rides, but guide has nothing but a set of allens...!!!! So I am forced to make do with the hand I was dealt....

The uphill sections were a nightmare, with the 28 teeth 'granny gear' not even willing to engage (for info, I am used to spinning a 34 teeth cog on the uphills). The fat and heavy 2.35 tyres did not help either... 
As soon as I shifted to the small front rings, the crapper would drop the chain... I decide to leave the front on the small ring, and play with the few gears I have on the rear, now effective 6 speed cassette with largest cog of prob 24...!!!! (bikers will understand...:P)
The start of the day's ride is a fairly smooth dirt road, with mtn Salkantay in the background. As we get closer to the mtn, the terrain gets more broken, and the real mtn biking starts. Undulating terrain to the Morray Inca site, where we stop for a visit. 

Our guide is still an apprentice, and isn't very assertive. Usually, in outings of the like, a more experienced guide would give us just a limited amt of time. This one allowed us to roam freely for however much time we wanted, and I have to say, we may have abused his patience...:P
Morray consists of 4 'craters' which have been terraced by the Inca people for the purpose of experimentation in the field of agriculture. From above, each crater looks like a series of concentric circles...very impressive.... We manage to explore 3 of the 4 main craters, but we could not find the 4th...

We resume the mtn biking, and from this point onwards, it's all downhill. 

We stop at the salinieras, which is a collection salt pans owned and exploited by the Marras family. The salt rich water comes straight from the mountain, and is fed to the literally thousands of individual ponds via small water channels. 

The final descent after the Salinieras is a fairly technical (by my standards anyway) twisting amazingly fun mtb section leading to a small flat, before we reach Urumbamba at around 5.00... 90 Minutes bus ride to Cuzco (we were meant to be back in Cuzco @ around 3 pm, so the difference is due to us abusing the Apprentice Guide's leniency with time spent @ the respective Inca sites...:P) , and I finish my holidays in Peru with probably the most succulent roast chicken I've ever eaten in my life, in one of the local restos...

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=200321359511111245655.0004c60c20ffa8966cb17
Total distance: 36.66 km (22.8 mi)
Total time: 5:30:20
Moving time: 3:22:52
Average speed: 6.66 km/h (4.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 10.84 km/h (6.7 mi/h)
Max speed: 42.30 km/h (26.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 9.01 min/km (14.5 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 5.53 min/km (8.9 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.42 min/km (2.3 min/mile)
Max elevation: 3603 m (11821 ft)
Min elevation: 2886 m (9470 ft)
Elevation gain: 888 m (2913 ft)
Max grade: 5 %
Min grade: -20 %