Day 44 Abancay to Limatambo

This was one of the hardest days in the entire trip so far, with over 2500 metres of climbing in only 116K.  The weather was fine as we left Abancay but we immediately started climbing and it lasted just over 35K reaching a height of over 4000 metres again.  We are going over 4000 metres quite a lot and it gets a bit cold up there!  Lunch was at the top and I had caught quite a lot of people on the way up who had started a bit earlier than 8am, which pleased me as it indicates that my climbing has improved.  My waist size has certainly gone down so I am sure that I have lost some weight which means less of me to get up these climbs!
After lunch there was a descent of about 55K which was on smooth tarmac so made it much easier than the recent days on un-paved.  However, the famous Murphy's Law came into play as there was a headwind all the way down, it's just not fair to have to pedal downhil!!
The last 20K or so was lumpy with a few un-paved roadwork bits and a short sharp climb up to the finish which was camping in the grounds of a hostal.  It had taken 7 hours 45 minutes for the day but I was pleased to get it over with so quickly and to get in ahead of quite a few riders.