Interview with Wayo Stein, Sacred Rides' Lead Guide, Peru

Eduardo 'Wayo' Stein is our lead guide in Peru. He's the former national DH champion, a devoted father of two, and one of the friendliest guys and best guides you'll ever meet. Even the locals love him: in one village high in the Andes, where we start one of our rides, several women have even named their children after him. Yes we also raised an eyebrow, but once you meet Wayo, you may consider naming your first born after him too.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I started riding bikes since a little kid, first with BMX and then with mountain bikes. My first years riding BMX I liked to ride with my friends and build little BMX tracks with jumps on the empty lots that there were many on those days. There were other friends in other districts with the same passion and every week we used to meet in one place to ride that local track. Then started the passion for jumps. On each place every one of us used to built bigger and bigger jumps until we reached 25ft. double jumps (with a hole inside). Just a few of us could jump on those ones and I was one of them. At the same time, I started to race BMX and I was hooked also in BMX racing. I wasn't so good as I didn't won any title but I was always on the top 5 riders in Peru. I also raced internationally on Panamerican Championships and even a World Championship in Brazil at the age of 18. Left 2 years from competition to get used to the university and at the age of 20 I started riding and racing mountain bikes. Started first in Cross Country back in 1994 but at the same time I raced downhill with my GT Xizang hardtail. I was winning the XC Championships and getting second or third with that bike on the downhill events. I won the Annual Championships in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and was XC National Champion in 1995. In Downhill I was second place on the Annual Championships and National Championships during 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 with the hardtail beating many riders with full suspension bikes.

In 1999 I started racing only downhill with a good downhill bike and I won every single race between 1999 and 2001. Was Annual and National Champion during those three years. I also went to race outside and reached a 4th and a 3rd place on the Panamerican Championships in 1999 and 2001. I also reached the second place on the Bolivarian Games in 2001 and that was the peak of my carreer. In 2002 I stopped racing to win another race: get my masters degree in Business Administration. So I was away from Mountain Biking until the end of 2004. I 2005 I returned to downhill racing and I won the Masters National Championship and the Annual Championship. In 2006 I started to work as a mountain bike guide and my life went to the other side from the competitions. Now I was focused in riding everywhere and discovering new trails for mountain biking in Peru until today.

I got married in 2005 and had my first kid in 2006 and the second kid in 2007. Now my family is growing fast and the kids are starting to ride their little bikes with great skills!

I consider myself as a normal guy but with a lot of passion for mountain bikes and passion for riding epic trails in remote destinations, especially at high altitude trails. I'm a very friendly guy who loves to show Peru to every rider that comes down here. I also like to travel and camp with my family especially in the Andes Mountains of Peru where we can find cool new destinations with hot springs, white water rivers and awesome scenery.

2. As a Peruvian how would you describe the essence of your country? What other things are iconic beyond Machu Picchu?

I can describe Peru as one of the most scenic countries on earth for mountain biking because we have almost all type of terrains and weathers. One day you can be riding in the dessert, the next day you can ride in the jungle and then you can ride in the mountains, crossing rivers, riding from the glaciers, descending to the deepest canyon on earth, etc. etc. Besides this magical scenery in Peru, we have a great cultural heritage of thousands of years ago that goes back to 5,000 years ago with the oldest civilization in America or 10,000 years ago with rock drawings up in the Andes Mountains. Many civilizations since that time has passed throughout all the Peruvian territory making the area very mistic and with a lot of spiritual energy inside. On our rides we can feel that energy sometimes when we ride close to Cusco or close to the center of a past civilization.

Machu Picchu is not the only iconic site in Peru. There are many other sites and places that are considered as unique on its kind like exploring the Amazon Jungle, riding in the Colca Canyon that it's the deepest canyon on earth with more than 4,000m deep, Choquequirao, Lake Titicaca which is the highest sailable lake on earth, the northern beaches of Peru and many other sites.

3. Tell me about your most sacred mountain bike ride, where was it, what made it sacred?

The most sacred ride I've ever made, well, there are many in Peru, sacred and epic at the same time. I can tell maybe that in Cusco are the most sacred rides on earth because they combine awesome mountain biking, mind-blowing landscapes, lots of energy coming from the Inca's and they all descend to the Sacred Valley. The first time we went to make that trail, it was a little bit of an exploration ride. No one, even the local riders of Cusco, knew about this trail and we decided to ride it! It was quite hard to get to the top. First we went on our vehicle above Cusco at an altitude of 4,000m and from that place we had to push our bikes up until we reached the Inca trail. We were on those times with DH bikes so if we have to go up, it was a must that we have tu push. We pushed for around one hour and when we reached the top, the views from there were rewarding and watching the Sacred valley on the other side and an amazing Inca trail going that way was the extacy for all of us! I think that there's nothing better than that. After we rest for a while, it was time to enjoy that trail. We descended from 4,450m to 2,900m that it's the bottom of the Sacred Valley. On the way we passed one little Inca site and a major Inca site that it's called Huchuy Cusco which is a big military fortress that dominates the whole area of the Sacred Valley. Then we had amazing views and sections we had to pass very close to the cliff. Other super technical sections but with our skills and our bikes there were just amazing to ride. Another sacred part of riding that trail was that we knew we were riding the main Inca trail that goes from Cusco to Machu Picchu! Watching the dimensions of the trail, made us imagine the importance of that trail and we were always thinking that the Inca used to pass over the same trail we were riding!

4. Why do you guide trips with Sacred Rides?

I guide trips for Sacred Rides because I'm a passionate mountain biker with lot of experience on mountain bikes and I love to share my riding experiences with other great riders too. I like to meet great people from all over the world and for me is a game more than a job!

5. How would you describe yourself as a guide?

I have learned a lot through these years of guiding groups for Sacred Rides and other companies from all over the world. At the beggining it was just my riding abilities and my knowledge of the trails but today I feel a more experienced guide. I can understand inmediately every rider, what are their needs and how much skills they have. I say inmedialtely as the first 50 meters of trail. At that moment I understand the group and their needs and I work for them. Every rider gets the best for me. Some guys needs some technical tips and other guys they want to ride super flowy on the trails and take them to some really technical lines. At the end, my mission is to satisfy everyone and take them safe on the trails. I know every risk we have on the trails and I advise everyone when we have one of those.

6. We have community partners in all of our 9 destinations, can you tell me more about our partner in Peru and about what they are doing?

We are starting to work with Awamaki organization which it's an NGO organization and I know them since 2006 and I know they are making one of the best jobs in the whole country. They are based in Ollantaytambo and they work mainly with the community of Ollanta, Huilloc and Patacancha that are located very close to Ollantaytambo. Their main job is with the ladies and the kids which I think it's great and the best people to focus. They are developing projects to preserve ancient traditions of weaving with natural wools like Alpaca and Sheep. Their products are exported and sold on their local store to the turists and I can see they are doing great clothes. With the kids they are also working in their schools giving education and group activities to improve their schools.

7. How has Sacred Rides made an impact?

Sacred Rides is defenitely making an impact on the economy and lifes of local people. At the beginning we used to donate school supplies to remote schools in the Peruvian Andes. Every client and Sacred Rides brought many school supplies and made the donation in group to one school at the time. I saw that most of the colors and stuff were totally new for these kids and watching their faces happy was a good impact we made on them. Now we are going to work with a NGO in Ollantaytambo and I think better things are going to come soon! Can't wait to start working together with that NGO and help develop those local communities in the highlands of Cusco.

Find your Sacred Ride in Peru, http://www.sacredrides.com/tours/peru