Mountain Biking with Alpacas

August, 7th, 2022

Cusco, Peru

Sasha & Eric Hathaway

Growing up in Bozeman, MT I never thought I would be typing the words “Mountain Biking with Alpaca’s.” This was by far one of the steepest and most technical ride I’ve every done, but also the most diverse and beautiful ride, and was worth every penny.

About 2 hours outside of the main town of Cusco, we met our guide Mattias, who was sporting a dark red racing shirt and looked like he was just plucked out of a magazine called Outside International. We booked it through a group called - “” and they were great. The bikes were in fantastic condition, they were super helpful in customizing the trail options based on our riding level, and very communicative! 

We loaded the bikes onto the van and headed up a steep mountain pass, driving like they’re weren’t any laws (which, after spending 2 weeks here I’m not convinced there are), honking the horn, and making sharp corners where I swear I could hear the rear wheels skidding along on the dirt. However, when we rounded the last corner and the view of the Andean mountains peaked into my sight, my jaw dropped. It was like we were in the Avatar movie with unreal vegetation and huge peaks that looked as if they were floating.

Prepping our gear and heading to the trail head we felt ready to go. Up until we saw the first drop that looked as if we were headed down a double black chute with no real trail in site. Mattias asked “This look good to you guys?” Urging our confidence to come out of its shell, we uneasily replied “yep” and made the drop in. My heart was pumping, the track was steep, full of ruts, rocks, drops, and man did we feel out of our level. To my surprise I handled it quite well – although my thighs were shaking from nervous energy, and my hands were already cramping from gripping the handlebars so hard. 

After about 10 minutes I stopped and looked up from the trail, realizing I’d had my eyes glued to the ground out of fear and was missing the absolute most beautiful landscape I’d ever rode through. Quickly snapping out of the fear, I took in the moment and realized holy crap I’m Mountain Biking in Peru. Just at that moment, a group of grazing alpacas appeared on my right-hand side and the fear disappeared. The feelings hit, and I was ready to ride.

We continued our way down through the open valley and then dropped into a beautiful canyon with steep drops, sharp turns, and a fast-flowing river. Following that, we entered a small mountain town and made our way through cobblestone streets and stairs as we continued down to Calca. It ended up being a 20km ride, dropping 2,000m in elevation and we were exhausted. It was definitely an adventure filled, adrenaline pumping, one-of-a-kind experience kind of day!