Day 1
Arriving in Cusco and preparing your bike and gear.
Welcome to the Imperial City! Your Peru mountain bike vacation will begin as we pick you and your gear up at the airport. Cusco is waiting! Today, you'll be preparing for an intense week of high-adrenaline mountain biking. After loading the van we will take you to exchange money and do any necessary things in Cusco before heading to the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
If the group arrives at different times you can head out and start exploring Cusco while waiting for the rest of the crew to show up.
The Plaza de Armas now exists over what was once Haukaypata, the Great Inca Square. Now, it is dominated by the towering Spanish architecture of the Cusco Cathedral as well as a charming collection of cafes and bars. Breathe in the history, acquaint yourself with Peruvian cuisine, and drink a cold Pilsen Callao or Pisco Sour as you mentally prepare for the mountain bike trip of a lifetime!
At night in your hotel we will come and give a short briefing about the upcoming week's adventure!
Itinerary disclaimer: example itinerary; we'll ride all or most of trails listed but may juggle due to weather, logging, road closures, festivals. What we promise is an epic trip with lots of downhill, super fun riding.
Lodging: Hotel in Sacred Valley AMAK. Meals not included.
Day 2
Lamay: The Biking Paradise of Peru
Today is the first day of your epic Peruvian MTB adventure tour! In the morning, we'll pick you up in our private shuttle and take you to the Sacred Valley, about 20 kilometers north of Cusco, to give you your first taste of the Andes. We'll head to Lamay, a steep valley dotted with small adobe pueblos, and shred downhill singletrack for 13 km. We'll take on ancient Incan trails, chunky Incan stairs, and natural hits with plenty of free-ride open sections at the top. The burly Inca stairs will be sure to get your blood pumping before finally dropping into Lamay village.
When we finish riding this first Lamay trail, we can either hit it again or ride any of the other many trails that are in Lamay Valley; one of our favorites is Lamay 3, where we'll shuttle up through some breathtaking scenery to ride a fast and fluid MTB trail with switchbacks, a gnarly rock garden, and views of the famous Huchuy Qosqo. This one also ends in the town of Lamay. We will sleep in the Amak hotel in Huran.
Stats — Lamay 1: 16.78 km/10.42 mi · Max 4334 m · Descent 1386 m · Ascent 71 m. Lamay 3: 7.22 km/4.5 mi · Max 3542 m · Ascent 277 m · Descent 574 m.
Lodging: Hotel in Sacred Valley AMAK. Food included: B, L, snacks.
Day 3
Lares Pass: Descending the Andes
Today, we'll hit the wide-open scree fields — check out pro MTBer Geoff Gulevich's gnarly GoPro video from this part of his Haku mountain bike adventure. The shuttle will take us up to the Lares pass where we'll hike our bikes up to 4462 m/14,600 ft. From there, we'll rip free ride lines through the scree and ride down verdant mountainside down we hit an ancient Inca singletrack trail. We'll pass high-Andean alpaca herds as we descend to the town of Calca, where we'll finally have a chance to catch our breath after our dreamlike ride through the high country. There are many versions of the Lares trail. We can choose to ride it twice, or even a different version, if we have the time.
Stats — Lares scree field/waterway: 20 km/12.5 mi · Max 4446 m · Ascent 184 m · Descent 1482 m. Lares Inca Trail: 7.56 km/4.7 mi · Max 4227 m · Ascent 55 m · Descent 566 m.
Lodging: Hotel in Ollantaytambo or in another Sacred Valley Hot Spot. Food included: B, L, snacks.
Day 4
Exploring Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley or Day Trip to the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu!
Time to rest up once again! After the Lamay and Lares rides, you'll be ready for a day to eat, sleep, and rejuvenate. Or, if you've still got enough energy, you can visit places like the Temple of the Sun and the Wall of the Six Monoliths within it, or the Inca Granaries of Pinkulluna up on the hillside.
Today would also be a great day to visit the historical crown jewel of Peru, Machu Picchu — check out our optional Machu Picchu add-on. If you think you would like to explore the ancient Incan citadel, let us know and we'll set up an excursion for you, complete with a tour!
Lodging: Hotel in Ollantaytambo or Sacred Valley. Food included: B.
Day 5
Riding Patacancha, One of the Highest MTB Enduro Race Courses in the World
Today is, in a word, hardcore. We'll hit Patacancha, which is famous for being one of the highest-altitude enduro races in the world at a whopping 14,500 ft, with rock gardens and narrow dirt switchbacks. As such, any bucket-list-worthy MTB adventure tour in Latin America wouldn't be complete without it!
The course is split up into five stages, with tons of free-ride lines and cross-country-type terrain. There are multiple trails you can ride here — we'll ride the section from the top all the way down past Patacancha and into Huilloc. There, we'll have a home-cooked lunch with a local family. After that, we'll ride a trail exclusive to Haku Expeditions though Huilloc alto before doing a local favorite Pumamarca. We will ride back into town and then pack up and head to Cusco!
Stats — Patacancha Enduro: 27.9 km/17.3 mi · Max 4435 m · Ascent 138 m · Descent 1551 m.
Lodging: Hotel in Sacred Valley, generally in Urubamba. Food included: B, L, snacks.
Day 6
La Maxima
Hopefully you slept well last night — today is, in a word, amazing! The coveted number one trail La Maxima is on the itinerary for today.
We can ride La Maxima a seemingly endless enduro trail that takes us through 15 km of Andean single track. This highly demanding Enduro trail has punchy climbs, long beautiful traverses with stunning views, loose rocky switchbacks, and loose baby head sections that will give you Popeye forearms.
Note: This trail is for advanced riders only. If the group can not ride this trail we will head elsewhere for the day.
Stats — La Maxima: 15 km/9.3 mi · Max 4407 m · Ascent 65 m · Descent 1537 m.
Lodging: Sacred Valley. Meals included: B, L.
