The Peruvian Great Divide – Exploration notes

There are lots of things that can define you as an athlete, as a cyclist, as a human being. Unsupported races, world records, sportives, audax brevets, you name it. Some of the things you decide to do though, can change the idea you have upon something, for ever.

When it comes to endurance, we all search for something absolute, that won’t be questioned among the experiences we all thrive to live. What is called the “Peruvian Great Divide”, is one of the most life changing and beautiful thing we have ever dared to attempt. Its name has been slowly whispered and shared in the bike touring world for few years, in honor to the American Great Divide which marks the USA’s main mountainous chain from the North to the South of the country. In terms of scale, beauty and wilderness, you will see why it deserves more than an americanism to define how vertical and unprecedented the ride was for us in Peru.

We were a 5 man team: Rodney (IncaDivide 2017 & 2018 winner), Nicolas (IncaDivide 2018 finisher), Axel (founder of BikingMan and stupid ideas producer) David Styv (taking the shots), Didier (surviving the drive of a Toyota Hilux on these trails).

Read on the long story below, but beware: this is a serious exploration ride.

Axel likes to get high. It’s a long love story since 2015, which began as he cycled across South America, aiming at tackling along the way all the highest passes of the Andes mountains. He has never stopped searching ever since, the highest roads on Earth. Meeting Rodney, born and raised in the sacred valley of Cusco at 3,400m, didn’t help at all.

The Peruvian Great Divide is definitely one of the highest road segments on the planet. Still relatively undefined, the track stretches from central Peru at the doors of the White Cordillera, down south to Cusco region over a 1,500km distance, around 35,000m of elevation gain and countless +4,000m passes.

We decided to start with the first stretch of 473km and 11,000m of the Divide, with a planning of 150km per day, starting in Conococha lake where athletes of IncaDivide 2017 and 2018 cycled along. Let’s see below why this never happened !

When the team you ride with, cumulate such an extensive knowledge of what Peru’s potential is in terms of exploration cycling, you just expect to find something similar to what you have experienced so far. Big mistake!

This is by far the most spectacular and scenic ride we all had experienced in our lives, so far. Everyday felt like riding in another world, a whole different country. Colors were mind-blowing, we cycled along gigantic lakes, cornice trails with not a single soul around. Peru’s Divide proved to be so remote and beautiful that every member of the team fell in love with the experience.

Tackling Peru’s divide is not given to everyone though. Most of the stretch we explored had literally almost no accommodations and very few places to eat. Distance-wise, the effort you have to put in to cycle 75km, feels like 2,5 times the distance with the high altitude factor. Most of the ride has to be completed above 4,000m which turns the experience into a virtual cycling strangulation if you happen to develop altitude sickness of if you’re just not acclimatized enough.

Abra Rapaz at 4,961m is the highest point of this segment as you cycle along one of the biggest Peruvian copper mine. This is a glimpse of how challenging this area is. The trail conditions are just random and can evolve in a dramatic way if the weather conditions during the rain season in Peru were bad. From battling the rockiest terrain our Open gravel bikes had known so far to ridiculously steep shepherd trails, it is very hard to put words on the actual road conditions we cycled on. It is just a very challenging terrain to ride on, especially with a super-light bikepacking gravel bike configuration and Schwalbe Bites 40mm tires.

But folks, what an exploration! If we had to do it again, Axel would try to acclimatize himself instead of starting riding straight at 4,000m. Nico would ride faster with a lighter bike, Rodney would bring a group of riders to share the experience.

Let’s see what we’ll come up with in 2019. This won’t be for everyone. Sign up to our stories notifications below to receive more details about 2019 explorations.

Note: if you plan to take the Divide on your own or explore the White Cordillera, you can visit the following websites ran by Harriet and Niel Pike, two avid cyclists and writers of biking guides:

• Blanca Huayhuash.com : you can buy printed guides to explore the White Mountain Range
• Andesbybike.com: get accurate info about route planning, accommodations and preparation on the whole Andes mountains