After some consideration I’ve decided to start my trip across South-America in Quito. A lot of cyclists start a little higher in Colombia for a ”true” full South-America crossing but with some unstable regions around the border I opted to start at the Equator.

Cycling from the middle of world to the end of the world. I like how that sounds.

Quito & Cotopaxi

I landed in Quito, refreshed and eager to get going, I had to wait a couple of days however. Quito is located on 2850m, and this means you need to allow yourself some time to acclimatise before doing any real activities. As I would almost immediately climb up to above 3000m is decided to spend a week in Quito and enjoy the hostel and everything a bigger city has to offer.
I strolled around the old centre, visited the official ‘Centro del Mundo’ and got used to being in vibrant Latin-America again. It felt incredible.

Of course, I’m here to ride my bike South and so after a few days I finally started! I would follow the Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike route, TEMBR in short. This route is mostly unpaved and would take me to some of Ecuador’s most epic scenery.

Immediately after leaving Quito I rode on the infamous cobblestone roads. Extremely slow progress made it a very tough start. This unfortunately for me, continued all the way until finally reaching Cotopaxi. The cobbles did make way for gravel after a while but this didn’t last long.

Eventually I rode on volcanic gravel/sand. My tires kept digging themselves in and even pushing the bike was near impossible. Surrounded wild horses and incredible landscapes I decided to make a break to the main road through Cotopaxi national park to hopefully be able to set up camp before dark. With the Volcano towering in front of me I made it to my first campsite and slept with Cotopaxi looking over me. An incredible experience and an even better introduction to Ecuador, besides the very tough start.

A volcanic lagoon & Chimborazo

The first half of my time in Ecuador is mainly spent in the volcanic region. Besides Cotopaxi there are so many other volcanic highlights to see. One of them is Quilotoa lagoon. A crater filled with turquoise waters, absolutely stunning to see. The ride up there was a lot of climbing but luckily all paved. Slow and steady and I eventually made it. The town itself was a little touristy but also sleepy? Weird vibes but a comfortable bed and good food prepared me for the biggest highlight so far: Riding to Chimborazo.

Chimborazo is Ecuador’s highest volcano and also the highest point on earth. Mount Everest has this reputation but due to the shape of the earth and the location near the equator, Chimborazo’s peak is the closest you can get to the stars from earth.

The route towards Chimborazo has honestly been some of the toughest riding I’ve done so far. Everyday I’d start with a climb of +-1000m up and often very steep gradients. At some point the wind got so strong it even blew me back downhill.. Not ideal and definitely a lot of complaints. On the plus side, I did have incredible accommodations and a small local church let me sleep in their dorm for the night.

After two brutal days with endless climbs and valleys I finally made it to something I had looked forward to for a while now. Chimborazo. Descending down a mountain in the rain I wasn’t paying much attention but as I got lower and around the final hairpin I suddenly saw a massive Volcano. No clouds, just immense natural beauty.
All of my efforts were forgotten and I spend the whole day smiling while slowly climbing to 4400 meters above sea level. With enough photos and selfies I made my way down to a small finca where I had a rest day and met another bikepacker.

Finca Castillo de Altura

A small finca that specialises in milk production. It’s a favourite stopover place for Overlanders and cyclists. With many already having visited Juan’s farm. You can either camp or stay in a comfortable room. Both options give you access to a shared lounge with a big tv and a small gas stove. Breakfast is made by the parent’s and consists of tasty eggs, coffee and fruit. A real small gem and already one of my favourite places. You can even help milking the cows.

Cuenca and Peru

With Chimborazo behind me I set a new goal: Cuenca. The last city before crossing the border to Peru.
Cuenca had been a random dot on my map but suddenly it felt so close and it became my unofficial end to my time in Ecuador. I mainly followed the Pan-American road and flew downhill, climbed more mountains again and even slept at my first Bombero (firefighter) station.
Now riding as a duo, me and Tom made quick progress and in three days covered the remaining climbs and kilometers. We had made it to Cuenca.
My first impression was that it felt less like a Latin-American city and a lot more Spanish. The streets were cleaner, the river flowing through was trash free and people were relaxing in the park. A contrast to the usual, and expected, noisy cities.

Checking in at the hostel led us to Liron, another cyclist who is also on his way to Ushuaia. We’ve all done the necessary bike maintenance, strolling around the city and are now all slowly preparing for the next leg of this incredible ride: Crossing the border into Peru and getting to Huaraz.

Final thoughts on Ecuador

Before starting I had the idea that Ecuador would be an ‘easy’ start of cycling through Latin-America. Yes, culturally this is absolutely true. Ecuadorians are very relaxed and hospitable. They smile at you while driving past and the amount of thumbs up has been overwhelming.

But, the landscapes and elevations are tough. Seriously tough. With altitudes reaching up to 4400m you need to be in a good physical shape and have a certain amount of determination and grit. Descending into valleys is fun, climbing out on steep narrow roads is hard work.
For me personally it has been all worth it and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ecuador. I’m looking forward to being back in Peru but luckily I have another 3-4 days left in this incredible country.

It has been a crazy tough start and I have often questioned why I’m doing this, but fortunately the country and the people have always shown me exactly why I enjoy riding my bike so much.
It’s because of the endless smiles, kindness, language struggles and genuine moments with people on the road that make this such a rewarding adventure.

¡Gracias Ecuador!