June 22, 2022
June 22: Cartagena to San Juan Nepomuceno
I woke up feeling pretty good, so Brian and I tentatively agreed to ride a half day after visiting a bike shop and wrapping up errands in town. I grabbed a hearty breakfast of huevos colombianos and another cup of excellent Colombian coffee.We reconvened and left the hostel for Bocagrande to withdraw cash for the road and to stop at the shop that gave Brian our route for the next week. Gabriel, the owner, was an awesome guy that runs this shop as a passion project. His energy was contagious.
We finally headed out at 12pm, which turned out to be about the worst possible time to leave given the heat and the traffic. I also had my first encounter with my nemesis, the Dodge Ram. Followers of my other blogs will know I loathe Dodge Rams, as they are consistently the worst drivers. I saw this one approach in my rearview mirror and immediately I had to laugh as I hadn't seen one up to this point. Luckily it turned out to be fine, and 9 would just have to wait for my stereotypical Dodge Ram encounter further down the road. The outskirts of Cartagena were chaotic, much like Panama City. But after approximately 15km of urban cycling the traffic slowed down and we had a large shoulder on which to ride.
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The scenery was bucolic, but the stifling heat made it tough to enjoy. We stopped at a gas station about halfway into our day just to decompress and cool down. It helped, but I was still feeling wiped out despite drinking over 4 liters of water and three gatorades.
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Still though we continued on, now intending on riding a full day. The traffic picked up noticeably when the road narrowed, but again soon decreased as we began climbing the hills around San Cayetano. Our late start from Cartagena was starting to worry us as the sun slipped behind the mountains and it began to darken. We had apprximately 24km to go and were both feeling exhausted, but resupply points were limited we had to carry on.
After about 20km of riding and right after sunset we passed a roadside hospedaje that we decided to stop at. We took an air conditioned room, washed up, and ate at the restaurant downstairs. Given the solid day we had today, we would likely try to do a shorter day tomorrow. We don't want to over-exert ourselves this early on, and today certainly did.
Today's ride: 102 km (63 miles)
Total: 248 km (154 miles)
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