A Hair-raising day

Well well well, as i type this, Betsy is in a garage awaiting a full repair. I smashed the clutch, late in the afternoon probably from over-revving the engine when attempting the last of many hill starts. Not that a brand new clutch should be f****d after two days of driving, but we are the fourth team to have had mechanical issues already. We actually need both rear wheels adjusted, the throttle fixed and brakes looked at. Apart from that she runs like a dream.

Actually this morning she did, as we took her from our overnight stop of Limatambo up to 3800m and then down. We crossed a river and the vistas were simply spectacular as we drove in the Andean clouds. We arrived in Abancay for lunch with the Windy City Wanderers and Peru Are Ya, and then set off for Huancamara (pronounced Wank-a-rama for those not fluent in Espanyol) where the fun and games began.

We met our chums Do or Die and the Cardiff Cavelliers en route who were then promptly stopped by the police but we were assuredly waved on to find the legendary dirt road that would take us to our next reststop.

Everything seemed to be going swimmingly as we were again climbing in altitude (our spirits were lifted further as we heard the three front runners had taken a wrong turn somewhere and were not that far from us) until we came across the windy city wanderers half turned mototaxi who were fixing a snapped chain. Being the good samaritan that i am, i stopped to help (along with Peru do you think you are - who had rejoined the convoy after getting a lorry to Abancay and getting their mototaxi repaired after you guessed it, their clutch broke). An hour and a half later consisting of serbian lessons, mosquito bites, fire ants and nosebleeds, searching for a bit of metal, we seemed to be on the way again....but no. I tried to pull away, but could not engage first gear. It was now 4.30pm and The Incaredibles could not move. We decided the only option was to turn 180 and head back to Abancay to get a new clutch. The first half hour was fine as we free rolled our steed down back the hill in neutral, but then gravity bit us in the ass, abd he only option was to push. Moira Incaredible got on the hot seat for the first time to steer as myself and Adam pushed. We were being impeeded by first a tarantula, followed swiftly by a steep hill, and then finally by exhaustion and darkness. Luckily a Toyota pick up truck answered our distressed signs and tied our tow rope to their chasis and our handlebars. What proceeded was the scariest 45 minutes of our lives as Adam Incaredible manfully steered and broke as we were dragged back to civilisation at a speed our mototaxi had never done. We even met the French team who gave us the number of an amazing mechanic who had peformed miracles on their mototaxi in Abancay. After on the fly spanish lessons - as we tried to ring the mechanic, much pant wetting - as we overtook and got overtaken by various large and small vehicles, we were delivered by sheer coincidence to the very same mechanic Peru Do You Think You Are were at that very morning. We greased the palms of our rescuers and were told by Tommy the mechanic that work would start on Betsy at 7am the following morning, just enough time for us to roll our machine to a friendly family's courtyard for gratis overnight storage, and to get a taxi to the centre of town for somw food and some well deserved shuteye.

I feel down, tired and hopeful for a good day tomorrow. Ayabaca seems a continent away at the moment, but things can change quickly here as today proved, and we always said this would be an incaredible adventure.

This is Avi Incaredible signing off so he can join his teammates in slumberland. Please stay tuned for more of this madness over the next few weeks as i dream of being carried to Ayabaca on tarantula back.

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