I'm dazed and confused trying to type this after our second massive day of cycling. I wish I had more typing ability, I'm using Microsoft spell check every few words just to keep this coherent so please forgive me if it's all over the place. I'm touring with nine mature gentlemen who have all been cycle touring for years, boy can they climb mountains! We left from Quito yesterday and climbed and climbed and climbed. There was a steep 15km hill, where I spent more than 2 hours pushing my 40kg bike and luggage because I couldn't pedal any longer. If only I packed a little lighter. Sorry but I'm jumping ahead to Day 2 because it's 8.30pm and my lids are heavy so I'll share what happened today, hopefully before I fall asleep.

Today we left from Cayambe and started with some downhill then a few climbs and I managed to keep up with the crew for the first half of the day. I had the Get-out-of-jail card of catching the bus from Otavolo if I chose to play it. I made it there and checked out the largest indigenous market in South Amercia.

It's also where I spotted the biggest col (cabbage) of my life.

That one cabbage would make enough coleslaw for eighteen family BBQs!

Below is Enrique on the main street cycling into Otovalo and the church and palm trees in the plaza.

We loaded up on fruit and Jose (our leader) said it was all downhill from there. How wrong could he be!? In the end we climbed more than the first day, although today I did about an hour and a half of pushing instead of two hours like the day before. I was so impressed with the view, we watched the clouds scatter from Imbabura's volcanic peak, surrounded by a peaceful lake - a great place to spend a few days but not for us.

The most memorable moment of my day came when...

I was pedalling up a steep incline before lunch. The sun was beating down and I was moving at snail's pace. I saw a guy on the side of the road, probably waiting for a bus. I gave a nod of acknowledgement and grimaced with every rotation of my pedals.

Next thing I know I hear footsteps running up behind me, the guy is running straight for me.

I'm too exhausted to react and my options flash before my eyes, will he try and rob me? Steal the bike? He put his hands on my back carrier and I expected to hit the ground any moment. But then something weird happened, I felt myself propelled forward, the guy was running and pushing me up to the top of the hill, giving me the boost I needed to make it to our lunch spot. 

We stopped at the hilltop town of Urcuqui for a makeshift lunch of crackers and tomato and the guys really gave me a boost of confidence, congratulating me on getting to the top of another Andes elevation. It was probably a tactic on their part to get me to keep moving but it worked! We took a crazy bumpy road downhill at one point that was so jittery that I snapped my aluminium water bottle bracket. But the view opened up before us and the mountains were on full show.

I'm used to cycling well over 100km in a day but cycling at this altitude is something else. For the last 3km today I was pushing Meg, 100 slow steps at a time, then stopping to catch my breath and so it went on, I considered swearing, yelling, crying but none of it would have done any good. We were on route to Banes Termales Chachimbiro (thermal pools) and the dream of a muscle soaking swim and cold beer sat taunting us from the top of each hill.

I was recently reminded that a tough day cycling in Ecuador is still better than a good day sitting in the office. Tomorrow we start making our way north towards the Colombian border and then we go west to the coast. Hopefully by then I will be able to keep up with my tour group a bit more, the muscles having adjusted to the daily grind.

I'll try and update this every few days so you can see where we're at, any questions or suggestions please talk to me below.