MOUNTAIN BIKE PERU

What’s the price of this 7-day Andes to the Amazon Cycling Adventure? And what’s included?

The price is 2295$ per person.

Price includes:

• All transport
• Airport pick up and drop off
• Bilingual guide
• Kona Process 153 mountain bike rental
• All lodging from night 1 to night 6
• Meals from day 1 lunch to day 7 breakfast
• Snacks and water everyday
• 3 day/2 night Amazon jungle excursion
• Entry fees Manu National Park
• Tents for camping nights

Not included:

• Tips
• Entrance into the Pisac ruins should you decide to visit them
• Sleeping bag and mattress
• Meals not mentioned
• Alcoholic beverages

Peru’s currency is called the Nuevo Sol. You’ll be able to exchange US currency for the Sol easily in Cusco. The exchange rate often fluctuates between 3.7 – 4 sol per US dollar.

We recommend you bring cash. Peru is still a cash society. Most people don’t have bank accounts as Peruvian banks charge up to $15 per month just to have the account open. So, services like Venmo, Pay-Pal, and Apple Pay aren’t used here. Most local stores, taxis, and local restaurants are cash only.

ATMS charge around $8 to take out $60-200. Banks only allow a small withdrawal daily. Thus, it’s probably a good idea to withdraw a good sum of cash before you come to Peru unless you have a bank that returns the ATM fees. You can also try the app called ATM hero and do a little research before you come to decide if an ATM card or cash is best for you.

The USD, EURO, CAD cash you bring should be non-ripped bills. Small rips or bills that are written on are not accepted for exchange.

Seeing as Peru is a cash society and it is difficult to withdraw large amounts of cash, we require your balance be brought in cash.

TIPPING: Local restaurants generally do not require a tip, however, leaving a few soles is a nice gesture. Tourist restaurants are generally a 10% tip.

Tipping your guide in Peru is generally 10-15% of the price you paid for the tour. Drivers are generally the same amount in soles. (If you tip a guide 200 USD the driver would get often 200 soles) Tips should always be based on performance and are never obligatory.

Each person is required to have a specific travel/trip insurance outside of your credit card or regular medical insurance.

You should get comprehensive coverage with trip interruption/cancellation and with personal liability. Mention all activities that you will be involved in such as mountain biking, hiking at high altitude and whatever other activities you may have planned.

We do not provide refunds.  If you should get hurt or sick not only will travel insurance cover your medical expenses it will also cover the lost portion of the trip. Make sure you have trip interruption or trip cancellation included! South America is famous for people striking and shutting down all activities. If you miss your Machu Picchu trip, Galapagos or any other side trip,  or even your flight due to strikes the insurance will cover the loss or additional costs that are incurred.

Part of making sure this is your mountain biking holiday of a lifetime is looking realistically at your ability level. We’ve rated the Andes to the Amazon Cycling Adventure at a fitness level of 3 and skill level of strong beginner to intermediate.

What does that mean? 

For us you need to be fit with the ability to pedal for longer periods of time. You can fit into our beginner to intermediate experience levels. Note that beginner for us does not mean someone with no experience on the bike. Read below to see how we categorize fitness levels and experience levels of beginner to  intermediate.

Fitness level 3: You exercise one to two times a week but do not have a normal schedule that keeps you biking or doing other activities weekly. You don’t go to the gym or train for any specific sports but you lead a relatively active lifestyle by biking, hiking, skiing, or whatever it may be. For biking: climbs and long descents give you some trouble and you tend to get tired after about 2-3 hours on the bike.

Mountain biking skill level for this cycling adventure: beginner to intermediate

Beginner: You’ve been riding a mountain bike for a couple of years or less and you’re most comfortable on smooth single-track and wider, forgiving double-track. You like rides with scenic views; you like both ascending and descending on well-maintained, safe trails. You’re looking for an active but safe mountain bike vacation; you’re not into jumps, drops, super steep trails, rock gardens, roots or taking big risks on your bike.

Intermediate: You’ve got two plus years of experience mountain biking on single-track trails under your belt; you’ve gotten pretty confident behind the handlebars and are beginning to expand your mountain bike abilities. You like riding most types of terrain, and you’re comfortable both climbing and descending on single-track trails with smaller technical features such as rocky sections, small drops, and small steep sections. You aren’t trying to walk on most of the trail and are looking to take small risks with things like speed, jumps, rock gardens, and stair sets to improve your skills as a mountain biker.

We include airport pick up and drop off with your mountain bike.

On this 5 day itinerary you can arrive on day 1 and leave on day 5 unless you would like to come early or stay longer.

A driver will be waiting at the Cusco airport for you with a sign with your name. He will not arrive early. If your flight arrives early please wait for him to arrive at the original scheduled time of arrival.

We offer to pick you up any date you arrive. Therefore, if you would like to arrive early we will pick you up and store your bicycle for you. We also offer to take you to the airport on any date you leave from Cusco. We do not offer this service from another area such as the Sacred Valley.

This cycling tour begins in Juliaca and ends in Cusco, Peru. You will want to look for flights to Juliaca and out of Cusco.

You can also fly into Lima and spend a night there before flying out in the morning — if you choose that option, let us know so we can help with your bicycle logistics. This requires that you pay a second time for your bike. Latam charges $35 on national flights.

IMPORTANT: Generally, anytime you land in another country, you need to get your luggage and rescan it or re-check it for security purposes. Every country is different so check once you arrive; do not count on the person at the front desk who checked you in at your first airport. In Lima, you must re-check your bags/bike. Make sure you have enough time during your layover for migrations and the bag check.

Cusco is at very high altitude, so we suggest arriving early if possible to acclimatise.

We recommend you bring a solid road bike with gravel tires or a hardtail mountain bike with gravel tires.

Since the ride is car supported it’s not necessary to carry loads of weight on your bike, a small camelbak with water and inclement riding gear is necessary.

Our Peru mountain bike tours include breakfast from your hotel and lunch on ride days.

Our MTB rides include lunches at local restaurants and also in the homes of locals who live on the trail. All of the food we eat for lunch is produced locally and more often than not organic. Most meals are a large bowl of soup followed by a main meal. The main meals are generally meat, chicken or trout along with rice, potatoes, and vegetables. Most lunches do not contain flour. If you don’t eat meat, you can get a plate that has rice, eggs and fried plantain. All of our meat is free range, grass fed and produced by local farmers with small farms.

If you have dietary restrictions please let us know so we can help you plan for the trip accordingly.

We provide snacks for the ride days. However, Peru does not have the same high calorie snacks that most developed countries have. Feel free to bring extra energy bars for the trail if you think you may want snacks you already enjoy!

We provide water for the rides. You will need a bottle or camel pack to fill.

This Peru mountain bike trip does not provide dinner (except the farewell dinner of course!) We have chosen to do this so that you can explore Cusco’s amazing food scene on your own!

• The support car is with you for the entire ride. You can leave your extra gear inside. Each day you’ll carry your water, snacks, camera
• Any changes to the itinerary after the ride begins can incur charges.
• You must have travel insurance with trip interruption. Your deposit is non-refundable and would be returned to you by your insurance should you get sick or need to go home in an emergency.
• We cannot be responsible for acts of nature such as, but not limited to, earthquakes, landslides, flooding, etc. Nor can we be responsible for strikes by the people closing down roads and transport. We will do our best in these situations to get you to the necessary destination; however, you may need to depart earlier than expected or take a transport that is longer than stated in the itinerary or make changes to the itinerary
• We’ll take care of cooking gear, most meals, water purification, tents. Accompanying you on the ride is your English speaking guide, a driver and an assistant if needed.

What to bring:

• Headlamp
• Sleeping bag and mattress
• Water bottle or two for refilling or Camelbak bladder in your day pack/ hiking pack
• Rain gear. You must have a rain jacket or shell anytime of the year. From October through May you also need rain pants as well — a poncho won’t suffice. From June through October, you can take your chances with the rain pants. Just know that it can rain anytime of the year in the cloud forest.
• Shoes for camp
• Warm weather gear  down jacket, hat, gloves, scarf
• Base layers such a thin wool like smartwool base layers
• Wool Socks such as smartwool or another like it
• Sunscreen and visor for riding
• Biking clothing such as padded shorts and jerseys both long sleeve and short sleeve
• Biking gear, helmet, bike shoes, pack, water bottle etc.
• A fully maintained cross country bike or road bike with gravel tires and spare parts such as brake pads, tubes or sealant
• Any medicines you may need: epi-pens, inhalers, Ibuprofen, aspirin, or something similar for headaches or muscle pain, If you think you will want high altitude medication, Diamox is what many people use. Possible meds for both parasites and bacterial infections should they occur while in Peru
• Camera or phone and charging devices for phones and camera
• Official passport for entrance to any sites
• Day pack for carrying water, camera and snacks
• Larger pack or duffle for additional clothing and snacks — this will go in the support car

Meals are mentioned in the itinerary.

Each group should have at least 2 people with a max of 8 riders. If you are alone and have specific dates outside of our trip dates, contact us — we are flexible and will make sure we can get you out biking in Peru.

Our clients generally range in age from 25-60. However, all ages from 18 up are accepted if the mtb level and skill fit the trip.

On each ride you should have a Camelbak with water, snacks, rain jacket and whatever bike tools you need for the trail. Since we sleep in a hotel each night, we do not need to carry any additional gear with us.

How to pack your bike for travel

Packing your bike for a trip like this requires either a bike bag or a bicycle box. Both work. If you do not have a bicycle box you can contact your local bike shop and generally get one for free or very cheap.

Steps to pack your bag:

Drop the seat post before you take off the wheels. It’s easier that way.

Take the pedals off, it is easier now while the bike is still whole.

You will need to take off the handle bars. Put the screws back into the stem so you do not lose them. Strap the handlebars to the side of the bike with padding. Make sure nothing moves so you bike does not get scratched. Zip ties can help with this.

Take out some of the air in the tires. This is a requirement for flying with the bike. Take off both wheels. We recommend you put the axle back into the bike so you do not lose it.

Take off the discs from the wheels. While this may seem tedious it saves your disk from getting bent and only takes a few minutes. Put the disks inside something like a folder to keep them safe. Put the screws inside a baggie and tape to the folder. Keep them with the bike. (If you lose your suitcase with clothes at least you still have your full bike together!)

Take off the derailer and derailer hangar. While this is optional it keeps both pieces from getting bent. Remember exactly how this goes back on.

If you have a bike bag like Evoc or Dakine there will be directions of what goes where. Make sure to tie up the chain so it does not move and scratch the bike. Tie up any loose ends with zip ties or string.

If you are using a bike box you will need to put in a tire or two first then the frame (and maybe the second tire) with the bars strapped to the bike. Make sure nothing moves. I usually use zip ties to make sure the tires are strapped in one place with the frame. Also make sure that the cog set is facing away from the bike. This will scratch the bike otherwise.

Once everything is packed you can often put a few extra items inside like your helmet, bike shoes and empty CamelBak. You will want to keep the bag at 23 kilos/50 pounds unless the company you are flying with allows for more weight without a price increase. (Calling to make sure is the best way to know)

Also, don’t forget to put your name, address, phone number and email on the bag or box.

Luggage comes with us in the shuttle vehicle as we move along.

We require that you purchase travel/ trip insurance outside of cc or medical insurance from home. This insurance is much more broad than just medical insurance in case you get hurt. These insurances also cover, trip interruption, trip cancelation and many other good benefits. If something happens and you miss part of the trip these insurances will return the lost portion of the trip to you.

We do not do refunds for missed trips, trips that are cut short due to an injury or trips that are interrupted due to natural causes such as weather, strikes by the people, etc.

In short: Our dry season is between mid-May and late September. The shoulder seasons are April and October, and the rainy season is between November and March with the heaviest rains in December and February.

The weather in the mountains changes quickly. Be prepared always for both cold, hot and rainy weather.

Basically, this is true year-round: if you’re in the sun, you’re hot; if you’re in the shade or the clouds are out, it’ll be chilly.

The cloud forest area can be very warm. You can use shorts and short sleeves but may choose not to due to the bugs.

Our guides are local men and women who are have at least three years experience as a mountain bike guide and are excellent companions on the trail.

They have a keen knowledge of both their history and their surroundings — it’s a pleasure to be with them.

If you want a room to yourself, let us know and we can arrange that.For this trip we can provide you your own room for the 5 hotel nights and 4 tent nights. We can not provide this on the 3 hostel nights and 1 homestay night.

Price: $350 USD

 All add-ons can be purchased at check out.

Save yourself the hassle of bringing a bike!

We have a full fleet of rental bikes.  We provide Kona Process 153 full suspension mountain bikes.

Price: $60 USD per ride day

7 ride days: $420 USD

All add-ons can be purchased at check out.

Make your vacation even easier! Let us book a hotel or airbnb for you!

We make sure to book you a place that has a central location in Cusco with in walking distance to the Plaza de Armas.

We also make sure you have a place that has real hot water as many places in Cusco only offer cold water or luke warm showers at best!

Hotels include breakfast. Private apartment airbnb do not.

Price: $60-80 USD for 1-2 person group

All add-ons will be offered to you at check out.

Make your vacation even easier! Let us book a hotel or airbnb for you!Sleeping bag rental

Price: $25 USD

All add-ons can be purchased at checkout.