Cycling to Save Archeological Heritage · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

(Links are in English, otherwise noted [es] for Spanish)
How can two apparently very distinct interests, such as cycling and archeology, come together? Nils Castro shares his experience in an article [es] as a guest blogger on Lima Milenaria.
Niles mentions that even though he had already created the Facebook group Círculo Ciclísta Protector de las Huacas [es] [The Protective Cycling Circle for Las Huacas], it wasn't until later that a pyramid suffered damage from the complex archeological site El Paraíso [Paradise]. This launched the Visitas Ciclistas Guiadas [Guided Cycling Visits] throughout Lima's diverse huacas. Its first visit recruited 70 people and up to now has done nine more. He adds:
The first lesson that we learned from these nine outings is that a many people from Lima don't know their city nor the pre-hispanic heritage that it houses. However, at the same time, there is limited scientific investigation and the government organizations involved have bureaucracy and an insufficient budget like potholes in their protection efforts.
Nevertheless, our cycling trips have shown us that each time there are more civil citizens willing to reverse this situation. Diverse collectives and activists look to preserve our material and immaterial heritage. They are getting networks together in order to make our historical riches visible.
This Sunday, April 27th, Nils invites people to join a new cycling trip [es] through several huacas located in the Rímac River valley.