Good decision: Buying 2nd row tickets to Bryan Adams Poor decision: Wanting to challenge myself and bike the 26 very mountainous miles!
I actually only biked 20 of it as I was near death! A lot of gentle climbs initially and I was doing fine. The mountains scenery was fantastic!! I had made notes of where the steeper climbs were so I was mentally prepared for them. I'll let the pictures tell more of the story, but in the end I was resting at a police checkpoint. I tried to flag down one pickup, but they said they weren't going to where I wanted. Wasn't about to try one of the crazy shuttle buses so resigned to continue biking. I was rested and cooled down, but I also knew my legs were shot. Then an interesting contraption went by and it's the point again of "beggars can't be choosers." Either way, I was risking death. Ha ha
Loaded up my bike and was happily crusing along. It actually went down and flattened out a bit and I was thinking, "I could have made it." Then we get to a hill and the thing conks out. Liquid is leaking from the engine. I decide it's best I keep biking. So, I unload and pack up my bike and push it the rest of the way up the hill. I did pay both guys pretty decently as I was so grateful for the ride and figured they needed it more than me. I had cut off 3.5 miles. They went back down the hill, but just as I get to the top, they pass me and pull over. As I could see more hills, we load up again. This is kind of comical now.
They misunderstood which hotel I wanted and dropped mt at what had been my second choice. I could tell they were massively overcharging me and he dropped 10,000 dollars off the price pretty quickly. Decided to check out my first choice and it's much cuter and yet priced fairly. I settled in and then walked to town to get some drinks.
I did go through an absolutely beautiful area with spectacular views with the guys. Banana fields galore. Disappointed no pics. If I was just a little bit stronger of a rider, it would have been amazing to bike through.
Today's ride: 26 miles (42 km) Total: 3,957 miles (6,368 km)
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Mark BinghamKim, I think it's fantastic that you're doing this ride, and will continue to follow along as I have the past few months! Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Kim JohnsonThanks Mark. Well, technically, that part of the ride is done. Just trying to bring my journal up to date. Getting ready to head out this spring so must finish off old business first -- completing documenting this segment. Thanks for following along. It was a fantastic adventure. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
