( for some reason i cant add pictures? as soon as i can i will)

So after a very easy 10 hour flight from Schiphol Amsterdam I finally arrived. The view from the plane over Ecuador was breath-taking. Dozens of roads, tracks and pathways crisscrossing a lush and mountainous landscape. Can’t wait to get going on the bikes, three separate trips I’m taking, but first I must stay two nights in the capitol, Quito, to acclimatise. And you do need to, my first jaunty assent up some stairs at the airport left me a little breathless. And Quito city is very, very hilly and 9,350 feet above sea level.

My first breakfast was two steaks with fried eggs on top, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and of course chips. All for just 5 dollars. Its wasn’t exactly what I wanted but it’s the only thing I was sure I knew what I was ordering….. The hotel I chose was in Centro Historico, so quite old and characterful. Two nights was just 20 dollars per night, bargain. An upmarket modern hotel in the city will cost about 80 dollars upwards per night.

I had to call into the tour operator, Ecuador Freedom Motorcycles, to sort out my paperwork. It was sorted in double quick time leaving me with the whole day to do as I please before my Cloudforest, Coast & Craters Motorcycle tour on Sunday. “As you have nothing to do today why don’t you take a DR650 with our guide Raphael and go visit the El Panecillo where there is the very best views over Quito. Then you can go up the Guagua Pichincha active volcano which stands at 4,560 meters above sea level” offered Court, one of the companies owners.

“Don’t mind if I do” was my instant reply. So before I knew it Raphael and I were winding our way through the busy streets of the capital. As with most South American countries the driving was quite hectic, although on reflection no more so than London – just without the indicators.

In less than one hour we were at the highly impressive El Panecillo. A beautiful statue gazing down from high on the mountain onto the inhabitants of Quito. It reminded me of the Christ the redeemer in Brazil.

The views were amazing and the scale of the city could be appreciated from this viewpoint.

Then it was off for the main course, a ride up an active volcano. It took maybe 45 minutes from where we were to get to the base and soon the road started to turn into a track with sand, loose stones and deep ruts. Only a good 4x4 and dirt bike could ever make it up here. The climb took well over an hour and as we gained altitude I could feel the energy draining. About 2 kilometres from the summit the inevitable happened, I dropped the bike. It wasn’t hard but it did push the hand protector up against the front brake, permanently applying the brake! It took a while to notice this and I thought the trouble I was having getting going again was due to my rusty off road skills. Which to be fair it probably was also.

When we finally neared the summit it was apparent the last 400 metres were incredibly knarly. The altitude was having a very bad effect on me. Just walking a few yards was incredibly hard work. It was obvious I wasn’t going to make the summit, but Raphael was. Because of the thin air the DR650 was struggling to perform and couldnt get enough oxygen, never thought I would have so much in common with a Suzuki! The bike made a real racket as he gunned it up the last section all the way in first. To be honest from the noise I didn’t think he would make it, but he did. I walked a short distance up the track to try to get some good pictures and almost fainted with the exertion. I did manage to get some shots but my mind was cloudy from the lack of oxygen.

We then started to make our way slowly back down and again the inevitable happened, I had an off. This time it was a proper crash. To be honest I don’t even remember what happened but thankfully I was not hurt and the bike only suffered a broken indicator. trying to life the bike up the first time was really hard. the bike weighs about 147 kilos dry, so its quite heavy but i manged it on my own. standing there looking at the bike lying on its side on the steep and rutted track just the thought of lifting this on my own made me breathless. if Raphael hadent been there to help me i am sure i would still be there gasping for breath.

This is the first time I have ever experienced altitude like this. It’s really quite amazing the effects it can have and how quickly you can recover when you lose altitude. its not just the fatigue, you cant think straight and everything feels very surreal.

Within an hour or so we were back at the bottom of the mountain. We found a local Café where we had an amazing meal of beans, soup and free range chicken and potatoes, all for 20 dollars! we then headed back through Quito, back to Ecuador Freedom Motorcycles for tea and medals.