How to cross Lima on a bike

For anyone out there who is cycle touring and needs a route to cross Lima we have our suggestions. Our route southbound started just after Ancon. A few kilometers past Ancon is an unassuming sign indicating a right-hand turn-off for Ventanillas (this is after going up a hill and passing a large concrete block letter sign that says 'Ventanillas'). From there it is a few Kilometers to the towns of Mi Peru and Ventanillas. Of the whole route this section between Ancon and Ventanillas is probably the "sketchiest", but during the day it really wasn't too bad considering other neighborhoods we've encountered on our trip. We spend the night in a cheapie little hostal and set out early Sunday morning (January 2nd) to avoid as much traffic as possible. The city was already up and running by 7 AM, but there was plenty of room for us to ride and not feel like we were going to get attacked from every which way by loco moto taxi drivers! From Ventanillas we headed South along the main drag. We continued along the highway for 15 kilometers or so passing an oil refinery and el Pesquero (a large fishing terminal on the right-hand side). Soon after el Pesquero is a roundabout with signs indicating Lima and the airport to the left. Following those signs will drop you onto the main road running by the airport, eventually called Elmer Faucett. We followed this road for several kilometers, past the airport, until dead-ending into La Marina. There, we took a left and, after about 4 blocks took a right onto Rafael Escardo toward the ocean. From there it was roughly 10 blocks until hitting the Circuito de Playas, the road running along the Pacific. We followed that all the way along past Lima and Miraflores and turned left up the hill at Chorillos (can't miss it - there is a giant 'Chorillos' sign on the hillside at the turnoff). After riding up the short hill we took a left on Huaylas (the old name for the street...in parenthesis underneath the new one on the sign). From there it was home free to the PanAmerican which we hopped on at about kilometer 21. I'm not exactly sure how this route would go for Northbound riders, but I imagine that it would be just fine once you find your way to Chorillos. Another thing to note is traffic patterns. We only have one experience doing this ride, but doing it Sunday morning worked well for us. We had the extra bonus of the holiday weekend, meaning that many people were out of town. We were told that during the summer (January to March), when Limenos hit the beaches, that southbound traffic is especially heavy Fridays and Saturdays. Northbound traffic, therefore, is especially bad Sunday afternoons when everyone is heading back home. They actually closed the Panamerican southbound while we were riding it, directing all southbound traffic to the secondary highway and turning both sides of the divided Panamerican into a northbound thoroughfare. We had a tough time finding information about cycling through Lima, so we hope that this comes in handy for others who are looking to do the
same. Cheers!