buff3ysbicyclingblog

Category: Uncategorized

  • Cuzco and Machu Picchu, Peru

    Cuzco and Machu Picchu, Peru

    Machu Picchu has to be done. Yes, in order to get there to take ‘that photo’ you have to join the throng of tourists and be prepared to endure a good dose of the local sport of ‘tourist fleecing’ from railway, bus and tour operators, hotel managers and local vendors. But such is the wonder of the view once you top that rise and set eyes on the city for the first time, it’s suddenly all worth while. Mind you, this correspondent slept in and almost missed the dawn which wouldn’t have done at all. But fear not dear reader for I arrived just in time to see the sun rise and get my mug in front of the camera to capture an image with a backdrop that only 152.6 million* people before me have been able to witness.

    While in Cuzco I’ve taken full toll of the Irish and English pubs for lashings of sheppard’s pie and Old Speckled Hen ale and scoured the back streets for the finest cappuccino coffee that the city could offer prior to heading back out into ‘Pollo & Papas’ land outside the major tourist centre.

    The bike has had some tender loving care while here in Cuzco and is now resplendent in a brand new set of lovely Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour tyres (thanks to Zach at Co-Motion Cycles in Oregon), so is well ready for the next leg of the trip on to Bolivia. And so in the next few days I will bid a, …well, pretty relieved adieu to Peru.

    Buff3y in ‘That Photo’
    Machu Picchu sun beams
    Cuzco Roof Tops
    Cuzco Street 2
    Cuzco Street Scene

  • New Video: Peruvian Andes Biking

    To mark the completion of The mountain passes of the Andes, here is a new video. You might recognise the music (‘El Caminante’) which is now the official anthem of my Pan-American bike ride.

  • Photo Gallery update

    In the endless quest to improve your viewing pleasure, I’ve added the Ecuador and Peru photo sets to the ‘Photo gallery link to Flickr.

  • New Song

    As I move southwards through Peru the hats are thankfully reducing in size; high conical Fedoras replacing the heavy white brims of the Big Hats, some even boasting colourful plastic flowers. Before putting a full stop on the time in Northern Peru, however, and particularly that spent in Big Hat country, (and by popular demand – at least one person requested it), here is a Big Hat song.

    Martin Luther King once famously said he dreamed of a time when a man would be judged, “not by the kilos of his brim but the content of his carrot cart”, and I like to think that he was thinking of the Big Hats when he said that.

    From the writing team that brought you classics such as ‘Bag Stuffin Woman’ and ‘I killed a Dog & I Liked It’, comes ‘Big Hat Song’ (in the American Song Book Page)

  • Photo Gallery

    Cowboy2Cowboy3Buff3y SerenityCoat Cane CuttersCoat Art 2Coat Cow
    Cardenas ArtCoat FactoryCoat MarketCoat ClockAlvanado2Alvanado1
    CrunchesBike TaxiAquaductDelores LunchAngel HotelBuried Alive
    Aquascal Cathedral nightBike sign AquascalDinos2CentrosaurusDiablo 45 pesoesBike in Son

    In the seemingly never ending quest to bring my readers the latest and greatest information on Buff3y’s feats of daring-do, I’ve now created a Flickr gallery of photos for your viewing pleasure. There is also now a link ‘Photo Gallery’ on the menu bar.

  • American Song Book

    Well there appears to have been a (very) belated recognition of the sublime quality of my song writing. About bloody time!! So much so that I have gathered up the road songs to date and put them on a page for your viewing convenience (see menu bar at top of Home Page). At the conclusion of the trip some drunken Irishmen and I are going to get the instruments out – maybe in a pub at the southern tip of Argentina – and record all of the songs from the road ( available in time for Christmas on CD and iTunes for US$9.99 – pre-ordering available).

  • Part Twenty Three : Mexico City Photos

    To celebrate the purchase of my new camera lens (a Sony 1.8f 135mm) a thing of the most wondrous beauty, here are some shots I took in central Mexico City. The bicycle shots are mostly from the Sunday morning when some of the streets of Mexico City are cordoned off for bicycle use only (there is hope for this place after all). For no apparent reason other than the fact that I just got it, there is also a shot taken of your correspondent in LA (thanks Andy).

    Hot work – Mexico City
    Biking Sunday in Mexico City
    Cathedral - Central Mexico City
    Cathedral – Central Mexico City
    Balcony in Mexico City
    Bicycle Sunday in Mexico City
    Pillars in Mexico City
    Smoke Treatment – Mexico City
    Street Stall – Mexico City
    Me back when I had hair in USA having breakfast

  • Updated Equipment Listing

    Am going completely over the top today in terms of enhancing the buff3ysbicyclingblog experience by also updating the Equipment List. Yes, for those of my readers with an interest in widgets and reasons as to why one would chose a Co-Motion bike over a Surly, a Rohloff hub over derailleur, a carbon belt drive over a chain, then this is the place for you. It’s riveting stuff for bike nerds so please enjoy.

  • New Map of Route

    In order to optimize your viewing pleasure, we at buff3ysbicyclingblog have now provided you, dear reader, with an enhanced pictorial representation of the cycling travel route. This will also maximise your ability to appreciate the scale and grandeur of Buff3y’s bicycling endeavor. Just click on the ‘Map of Route’ menu at the top of the main page and then click on the link. It may look like a simple Google map but please appreciate that drawing the line on this thing took almost as long as it did to ride it.

  • Deadhorse Alaska

    I’ve arrived in Deadhorse by air from Seattle via Anchorage.  Self, bike and gear arrived with no drama. The Prudhoe Bay Hotel is ostensibly accommodation for the oil workers associated with the Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline. Deadhorse, while romantically named, is a series of sheds, shipping containers and 450 Ford 4WDs. The hotel has all the conveniences (CNN, ATM, donuts, twinkies) and is handily ‘all you can eat’ so am carb-loading as I enter this log.  The bike (attached) is  now assembled and is a thing of rare and wondrous beauty.  Co-Motion in Oregon have done a marvelous job on the bike (thanks Zach and Teryk).  Will take a day or so to tweak settings, sort out gear and explore the wonders of Deadhorse. Already shedding excess gear/weight.