July 10, 2022
July 10: Salento to Toche
I awoke around 5:45am in a haze, hearing a distant chant that became ever-clearer as I rubbed my dreary eyes awake. It was the main cathedral in town playing a recording of "Ave Maria," likely as a way to remind folks that it was, in fact, Sunday in a highly Catholic Latin American country. I went back to sleep for a short amount of time, awakening again at 6:30 so that we could get an early start on our day. We had a 4,000ft climb right off the bat to conquer, and there was a high likelihood of rain.
We felt extraordinarily fresh on the climb out of town. It was a steady grade and the weather was cool, and we were accompanied for much of the ride by a cycling club based out of Cali. The climb passed by in no time at all.
There was something so peculiar about seeing pine trees intermixed with palm and eucalyptus trees, although they all thinned out as we crested 11,000 feet. It was cold, and as we reached the summit a steady rain began to fall. It was time to dust off my Kermit green rain suite and dawn it for the coming descent. We stopped at a roadside stand for a hot cup of aguapanela before beginning our first of two descents into Toche.
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The road connecting Salento with Toche was closed to all but cyclists and daring motorcyclists due to two large landslides that required careful portage. As a result, we enjoyed the remainder of our afternoon on this absolutely spectacular stretch of road, with only the passing farmer or motorcyclist as company. Well, and cows. So many cows. As a result of the road closure, it seemed as though every cow in Central Colombia was allowed to wander the roadway. The rainfall, combined with the unavoidable mud and plethora of cow patties, meant that we were absolutely filthy by the time we finished our descent into Toche. Luckily the rainfall slowly dissipated as we made our way deeper into the valley, but still, it's a good thing Cycleblaze doesn't have smell-o-vision. The roadway was often a nasty slurry.
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When we reached Toche we contemplated pushing on to the hot springs at El Machín. However, we came across a quaint hospedaje with hot water, wifi, and a hose we could use to clean our bikes. We jumped on the opportunity to stay in this delightfully rural town. Plus, we would still pass the hot springs tomorrow morning on our way to Ibagué. Doesn't sound like a half bad way to start a day of biking!
After cleaning off ourselves and our bikes we went down a block for a homemade dinner and arepas rellenas. Toche is at the intersection of three dirt roads, but is still two hours from the closest town of considerable size (Cajamarca). With the road to Salento closed to cars, the town is even more isolated. In many ways it reminded me of the small towns I'd visited in the mountains of central Mexico when living in the country five years ago.
Our days have recently been short in distance, but that is because of the elevation gain we constantly have. Today was over 5,200ft. As we make our way towards Ibagué and further south the terrain will flatten out considerably and we will be able to make up some lost mileage. I depart from Quito early on August 3rd so I am always conscientious of the progress we are making and have to make. Still though, these short punchy days in the mountains have been some of the funnest riding I have ever done, and I will gladly take more of them any opportunity I may get.
Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 1,234 km (766 miles)
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