Big, mas­sive, epic down­hills — that’s the rid­ing on our Inca adven­ture. There are few words that can match the grand scale of moun­tain bik­ing in the Andes. 

Descend 50,000 feet on this incred­i­ble mul­ti-day down­hill adven­ture in the Andes. Shred the Lares Trail start­ing at 14,500 feet and expe­ri­ence vibrant Inca cul­ture first­hand with our local Guides.

Get ready to wipe some seri­ous drool off your full-face helmet.

Stand on top of a mas­sive Andes down­hill and you’ll feel pret­ty big too, with every wor­ry you’ve ever had in life drift­ing away into the clouds, replaced by that in-the-moment feel­ing of pure bliss as the moun­tains play host to your wildest moun­tain bike fantasies.

Is This Ride For You?

You love down­hill rid­ing and have at least a 6″ trav­el full-sus­pen­sion bike. You can han­dle tech­ni­cal ter­rain, with rocky sec­tions, steeps, and ter­rain fea­tures such as old stone steps. You’ve done some stunt rid­ing and jumps, or would­n’t mind try­ing (you can ride around all the jumps on the local trails). You’re not afraid to get out of your cul­tur­al com­fort zone and expe­ri­ence some­thing dif­fer­ent, like a meal of roast­ed guinea pig or meet­ing the elders at a remote vil­lage. You like to give back to local com­mu­ni­ties when you go travelling.

Itinerary

Day 1. Arrive in Cus­co, Peru

Wel­come to Peru!

We offer an air­port pick-up on Day 1 at 11:00 a.m. from the air­port in Cus­co (Ale­jan­dro Velas­co Astete Inter­na­tion­al Air­port CUZ). After col­lect­ing your bag­gage, head out to the main pas­sen­ger pick-up area of the air­port, and look for your shut­tle dri­ver with a Sacred Rides sign in their hand. We’ll then trans­fer you to our hotel in Cusco.

After set­tling in to your hotel in Cus­co, we’ll head out for an ear­ly lunch near the bustling main plaza of Cusco.

After lunch, we’ll head back to our hotel to build our bikes. We’ll then head out right from our hotel for a short intro ride to the upper part of the city. Once we are on top of the city, we’ll ride down an Inca trail with a few sur­pris­es thrown in. We’ll end our ride back at our hotel leav­ing enough time to explore Cus­co or catch up on a few lost Z’s from travel.

Tonight, we’ll head to one of the best restau­rants in Cus­co. At din­ner, we’ll take the time to review in detail our full itin­er­ary for the week and answer any ques­tions you may have. Tonight, we can enjoy some of the nightlife this Impe­r­i­al city has to offer.

Day 2. Chi­unchero, Rac­chi and Maras Downhills

We’ll trans­fer ear­ly in the morn­ing to the town of Chinchero at 3,750 masl (12,327 ft.), the start of one of the most demand­ing down­hill trails in Cus­co. We’ll cross the Inca site of Chinchero with its incred­i­ble stone archi­tec­ture and infi­nite rock steps to then enter into a deep canyon that will take us direct­ly to the Sacred Val­ley at the vil­lage of Urquil­los (2,950 masl / 9,697 ft.). This is a one hour down­hill with more than 750 meters of ver­ti­cal descent!

We’ll shut­tle up to the top for the next descent where we’ll start near the Inca site of Rac­chi on a nat­ur­al look­out of the Vil­can­o­ta Moun­tain Range. This is an amaz­ing Inca trail that descends to the Sacred Val­ley fol­low­ing steep lines and tight corners.

We’ll enjoy lunch in Urubam­ba, the main city in the Sacred Valley.

After lunch, we’ll trans­fer to Maras to ride anoth­er impres­sive Inca trail with stun­ning views of the glac­i­ers. We’ll pass by the vil­lage of Maras before we drop on an amaz­ing ancient Inca trail down to Sacred Val­ley. It’s a one hour down­hill that will leave us near our hotel in Yuncaypata.

Final­ly, we’ll be trans­ferred to the town of Yun­cay­pa­ta where we’ll be stay­ing for the next three nights.

Day 3. Megaavalanche Down­hill Course

Today, we’ll ride the Megavalanche down­hill course where the likes of Steve Peat, Cedric Gra­cia and Bri­an Lopes have duked it out.

We start with a one hour bus dri­ve to the Moun­tain pass of Mala­ga at 4,350 m (14,300 ft.), where we’ll have great views of such glac­i­ers as the Veron­i­ca Sum­mit at more than 5,000 meters (16,500 ft.). The trail starts with a wide sin­gle­track on top of the moun­tain and then turns to a nar­row trail with many obsta­cles like rock steps, jumps and close turns. It will take us approx­i­mate­ly one hour to com­plete the trail until we reach the vil­lage of Tan­j­ca in the Sacred Val­ley at an alti­tude of 2,850 masl (9,370 ft.).

We plan to ride this amaz­ing trail twice! 

We’ll enjoy a group din­ner and head back to the same hotel as last night.

Day 4. Par­que de la Papa (Pota­to Park)

The area where we will be rid­ing today has been declared as a Nation­al Pota­to Park,  known for its cul­ti­va­tion of a vari­ety of potatoes.

This is an amaz­ing area locat­ed above the Inca site of Pisac, in the Sacred Val­ley.  The three trails we’ll ride are locat­ed in dif­fer­ent areas of the same val­ley, start­ing at an alti­tude of 4,200 m. We’ll enjoy a full day of grav­i­ty down­hill on ancient Inca Trails.

We’ll enjoy a group din­ner and head back to the same hotel as last night.

Day 5. Rest Day or Choose Your Own Adventure

Day 5 is a sched­uled rest day with no activ­i­ties planned. For those need­ing to catch up on some extra Z’s are wel­come to take the day at leisure.  The fol­low­ing options are avail­able as Add-Ons through the Add-Ons tab.  Please vis­it the Add-Ons tab for pricing. 

MACHU PICCHU

(Please Note:   the Machu Pic­chu tour is not includ­ed in the trip price. Please vis­it the Add-Ons tabs for pric­ing. The Machu Pic­chu tour includes return train ride to Aguas Calientes, bus to Machu Pic­chu, admis­sion and guide.)

We high­ly rec­om­mend you vis­it Machu Pic­chu while in Peru, con­sid­ered one of the 7 won­ders of the world!

The Machu Pic­chu tour starts with a train ride from Ollan­tay­tam­bo to the town of Aguas Calientes. From there we’ll take a bus up to the Citadel.

Machu Pic­chu (like most of the Quechua names of towns and dif­fer­ent sites in the region) is a com­pound word that comes from Machu = old or ancient, and Pic­chu = peak or moun­tain; there­fore, Machu Pic­chu is trans­lat­ed as “Old Mountain”.

The famous moun­tain that appears in most of the clas­si­cal views of the site is named Way­na Pic­chu (Young Mountain).

We’ll have the entire day to explore the remark­able Citadel and learn about its well-pre­served secrets.

Tonight, we’ll dine in Yanahuara Vil­lage and head back to our lodge for a good night of rest.

RIDE HUCHUY CUSCO, THE INCA FORTRESS

(Please Note: the Huchuy Cus­co ride is not includ­ed in the trip price. Pric­ing for this ride depends on the # of par­tic­i­pants. Please con­tact us to be added to the “Rid­er” list and for more infor­ma­tion on pricing.)

For those choos­ing to ride Huchuy Cus­co, The Inca Fortress, it won’t disappoint!

We’ll have an ear­ly start and head towards the Sacred Val­ley and the sur­round­ing moun­tains in Chinchero.

This expe­ri­ence will be a true epic Enduro ride, where we’ll have to first climb until we reach 4,336 m and then descend fol­low­ing an ancient Inca trail down to Sacred Valley.

This Ride will treat us to amaz­ing views of the moun­tains, small vil­lages and the Inca Fortress of Huchuy Cus­co, locat­ed strate­gi­cal­ly high atop the Sacred Valley.

Tonight, we’ll dine in Ollan­tay­tam­bo and head back to our lodge for a good night of rest.

Day 6. Lamay Val­ley Shut­tle Runs

Today, we’ll ride two dif­fer­ent descents from the top of Lamay Valley.

The first trail starts at the top of the val­ley at an ele­va­tion of 4,350 m (14,271ft.). We’ll expe­ri­ence Enduro style rid­ing on the top, fol­lowed by an incred­i­ble descent down ancient Inca trails to the bot­tom of the val­ley at 2,900m (9,514ft.).

After catch­ing our breath and wip­ing the tears of hap­pi­ness from our wind swept faces, we’ll hop back in our shut­tle and head back to the top of the mountain.

Our sec­ond run will cross moun­tain­side farms where we’ll cross paths with the locals hard at work. This ride will be a true Inca expe­ri­ence, high atop the moun­tains of the Sacred Valley.

Tonight, we’ll dine in Urubam­ba and head back to the same hotel as last night.

Day 7. Lares Inca Trail 

After a well deserved break­fast, we’ll trans­fer to the town of Cal­ca in the Sacred Valley.

From Cal­ca, we’ll climb to the moun­tain pass of Lares, locat­ed at 4,350 m (14,300 ft.), where we’ll start anoth­er epic ride going through an impres­sive Inca trail that fol­lows a nar­row val­ley with big walls of gran­ite.  We’ll then enter one of the most impres­sive land­scape in Peru, cross­ing a deep canyon one can access only by foot or by moun­tain bike.  We’ll pass through dif­fer­ent ter­rain types, from flat rocky sur­faces on top of the moun­tain to fer­tile val­leys towards the end of the trail.

We’ll end this epic ride in the town of Cal­ca in the Sacred Val­ley at an alti­tude of 2,900 m (9,533 ft.).

After lunch, we’ll trans­fer back to Cus­co where we’ll end our day rid­ing anoth­er Inca trail that descends to the cen­tre of the city.

Day 8. Milky Way & Hua­cot­to Down­hill Trails

We’ll enjoy a group break­fast before hit­ting up more of what Peru has to offer.

Our final day of rid­ing will treat us to the best two down­hill trails in the Cus­co area. 

Our first ride, known to locals as “The Milky Way” because it starts way up on the moun­tains of Cus­co and the ter­rain on top is unre­al.  We’ll first fol­low the ridge of the moun­tain before drop­ping into an ancient Inca trail that descends to the bot­tom of the valley.

Our shut­tle will be ready and wait­ing for us to jump in  to then climb the oth­er side of the val­ley to ride Hua­cot­to.  Hua­cot­to is home to the local down­hill race series held month­ly.  We’ll see big jumps, tight berms, rock gar­dens and much more on a long descent down to Cusco.

Tonight, we’ll head into Cus­co for our final din­ner and last big hoorah of our epic jour­ney togeth­er in Peru.

Day 9. Adiós Cusco! 

We have reached the last day of our amaz­ing trip in Peru and it’s time to say good­bye to Cus­co and it’s won­der­ful Inca Trails.

We’ll arrange for your shut­tle to the air­port based on your indi­vid­ual flight times.

Please note: we only offer an air­port shut­tle on Day 9. If you are depart­ing a dif­fer­ent day, we can book an air­port shut­tle for you at an addi­tion­al cost, please vis­it the Ride Add-Ons information


The fol­low­ing data rep­re­sents a typ­i­cal itin­er­ary, but adven­ture trav­el can be unpre­dictable and our Guides may need to make last-minute changes to ensure your enjoy­ment. Inclement weath­er, road clo­sures, changes to the itin­er­ary to accom­mo­date requests, and oth­er issues may affect the itin­er­ary. The ride data rep­re­sents an ‘aver­age’ itin­er­ary, and may dif­fer when you actu­al­ly show up to ride. Our guides make every effort to stick to the itin­er­ary as post­ed, but your safe­ty is our #1 priority.

Ride Data: Inca Adventure — Downhill

Day Hours of rid­ing Dis­tance rid­den Ele­va­tion gained Ele­va­tion lost High­est ele­va­tion
1 1 4 131 1542 12467
2 3 16 384 8990 12467
3 2 20 1509 11549 14337
4 3 14 177 8235 13878
5 0 0 0 0 0
6 3 14 180 6562 14239
7 3 16 49 5741 14239
8 2 8 213 5479 13878
9 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 17 HRS

Picture Yourself Here…

Book Inca Adventure — Downhill Now

Dates chosen: Jul. 13, 2024—Jul. 21, 2024
Skill Rating: Black Diamond
Fitness Rating: Black Diamond
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Skill Levels
Black Diamond

The Black Diamond Rides are  suitable for riders looking for that edge. Maybe it’s the edge of a drop, the edge of a cliff, or singletrack requiring focus and fast reactions developed from extensive experience riding “the edge”. You will find yourself on steep trails of varied surfaces. In the Pacific North West that could be slick roots and loam, in Nepal you will find exposed granite in the Mustang Valley and in Guatemala it maybe narrow stairways through cliffside villages. While airtime is rarely required, the ability to find the backside or clean a tabletop should be comfortable or in a state of progress. Obstacles on Black rides are likely to be outside the range of your bikes ability to cover your goofs with its awesome suspension and grip.

Blue Square

In general, Blue trails are narrower than green trails, encounter unavoidable obstacles such as roots, rocks, and drops that are up to 8-inches tall. You will want to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of mountain biking including body positions, powerful braking, cornering, riding on varied terrain, steep sections and experience riding trails that requires line choice. Airtime is not mandatory, but you will find yourself on trails with alternate lines giving you the option.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black ride is for those that already know they are looking for a Double Black. It’s going to be very hard and require advanced bike handling skills. You will find yourself on trails with sections most non-riders would look at and say, “that’s totally nuts!”. You will know how to look at a line and contemplate where it will work and where it won’t. Drops of a couple feet should be comfortable and getting your bike off the ground should feel predictable and fun.

Green Circle

Typically, green Rides are safe for beginners. Green Rides may have both avoidable and unavoidable obstacles. Trails are generally low grade, wide, consistent surface texture and have minimal features. You are likely to come across unavoidable obstacles 2-inches or shorter, which is small enough for mountain bike tires to simply roll over. More challenging than tarmac, but in general, a wonderful Ride for those riders new to mountain biking or looking for a casual experience.

Fitness Levels
Black Diamond

A Black Fitness ride will test you. Aside from needing to be able to manage up to 6 hours on the bike, day after day, including distance up to 50km/30miles and elevation gains up to 1750m/5000feet of climbing, you will be adding extra challenges along the route like periods of hike-a-bike and the extra effort required by the whole body to safely dance with your bike over technical terrain. Generally, riders who are up for a Black Fitness ride, likely spend time on the bike a couple times each week.

Blue Square

Blue should be considered a good deal more effort than our Green Rides.  You should be able to handle 3 to 5 hours in the saddle covering up to 45km/30miles and be able to pull off a big day of 1000m/3000feet of elevation gain. Managing fuel is important as well.  You should have a good understanding how your body responds to multiple days on the bike. We will help with positive coaching, a manageable pace and plenty of trailside snacks.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black will be for those with the strength and endurance to get to the top of anything they want and understand the term “turning the screw”. Distance could be quite high on some routes and elevation gain numbers could hit 2000m/6000 feet+ in a day. You are likely riding multiple days a week during the dry periods and have a trainer or belong to a gym for the rest of the year.

Green Circle

You should be ready to spend 2-4 hours per day on the bike. Mileage may be up to 30km/20 miles and elevation gain will be under 500m/1500feet. On e-MTB tours, numbers will be higher, however the approximate effort would be considered similar to a standard Green Circle ride. If you get on your bike once a week, you will be just fine. However, when preparing for a Ride, you will benefit from more rides and time in the saddle.