Chaquiñan Like a Boss!

I have been trying to do the Chaquiñan bike route for quite a while now. How long is quite a while?

Well, ever since it started being built. I lived all of my childhood in Cumbaya, before it was CumbaYork or whatever they are calling it now. There used to be very few houses, a very old looking and gloomy town and a lot of construction sites, empty lots, creeks, two rivers, a reservoir, and a  ritzy country club  for me and my friends to explore, This was probably the best time of my life, a lot of people dont look back fondly on their childhood but I do, I loved it, and miss it everyday. But Im going on a tangent here.

So, when I lived in Cumbaya they announced the Chaquiñan, said it was going to be a bike route from Cumbaya to Tumbaco. I saw the construction of the first portal in Cumbaya next to the traintracks and was excited, couldnt wait for it to be inaugurated... and nothing happened. They built the first portal, left it there and never touched it for years to come. Everytime I came back from the States while I was in college I would ask about the Chaquiñan and would never get a good answer. In the end my parents moved from Cumbaya and I forgot all about it. Until recently (5 years ago)  when I started to hear about the Chaquiñan and how it had been finished and how so many people were biking and running on it and having a great time. I was curious. Then I did a short stint with the Peace Corps and they had their offices in Tumbaco right next to a section of the Chaquiñan. Again I reminsced on it and wondered what it would be like to ride on it. I didnt have a bike back then (I bought my Schwinn Voyageur February 2015) so again I couldnt do the Chaquiñan.

I had just returned from my bike ride to the Historic Center on Saturday (1st post) and was feeling good and ready to take on the Chaquiñan. The only problem now was that I didnt have a bike carrier for my car, and I didnt want to fork out $80 USD for a carrier. So, I decided to disassemble my bike and stick it in the trunk of my car. It worked out perfectly and I was tre-happy about this. I had saved some money and was able to buy some snacks for the ride (A banana, some Beef Jerky and some Powerade)

Lets sidestep to make a plug-in:

I found this at the store next to the first portal of the Chaquiñan. That store used to be a video club called VIDEO DRILO. just a random Cumbaya fact.

Beef Jerky locally made 

This was a great snack for the road and a great find. Beef Jerky is seldom found in Ecuador ever since the tax rise on imported goods hit us. This is a decent substitute good.

So now I had a banana, some jerky and water and was ready to go. 

This is the route: 

I went from Cumbaya to about km.12 and back. I didnt want to go all the way to Portal La Lomita since I didnt know how tough it was. Next time Im doing it all. It wasnt too tough, there are some parts that are uphill but they have done a good job with the route since there really is no insane uphill to tackle. Maybe if I had gone all the way I would have had to do the uphill from the Chiche Bridge to Tumbaco which seems tough.

Loved the ride, really nice, you go up and down hills, find some great look-out points, many portals that have hydration points and bathrooms. Very well organized and a great experience all together.

 This is my favorite spot of the entire ride:

Such a cool place, if you stand beneath the bridge you hear an echo as you speak. Really old looking and just a great spot to stop, take a break and a take in the views.

THE CHAQUIÑAN : Tons of fun and great exercise. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!