June 27: Puerto Valdivia to El Descanso

June 27, 2022

What today lacked in distance it sure made up for in climbing. 7,000ft of it, to be exact. It was relentless.

We left Puerto Valdivia after a filling stop at the panadería, fueled up for the climb we had heard so much about.

A horse that was tied up outside of the panadería.

The scenery leaving Puerto Valdivia. Lush doesn't even begin to do it justice.

The climb began immediately after the bridge that crossed the Río Cauca, and boy was it steep. I figured it would be rather punchy at the beginning before easing up, but I was off. Way off. It only got steeper the further we climbed, a road designed by some twisted engineer with a distaste for cyclists. Some sections necessitated us to dismount and walk our bikes, which was actually a welcome change as it got us using different muscles. While the physical effort was intense, the reward was well worth it. The view was unreal.

We would soon be above the clouds and damp as you would expect.

We pedaled away slowly, stopping briefly to get a smoothie from a lovely roadside stand and for lunch at the halfway point for the day. We then hopped back on our bikes expecting a similarly grueling experience, and we were mostly correct. The biggest difference came several kilometers down the road when the rain began to fall and fog set in. This weather would accompany us for the next three hours as we again struggled up the extraordinarily steep grades and slick roads.

At times the fog was so dense you couldn't see more than 20-25 feet.

One of many roadside cascadas. The road was slick with algae for much of the afternoon.

The traffic was consistent throughout the day. We definitely relied on our lights for safety, particularly for the buses that would whip around and overtake anyone and anything whenever they so pleased.

After what felt like forever, we reached the culmination of our climb and enjoyed a short downhill to El Descanso, a roadside stop where we snagged a hotel room. Dogo, the owner of the establishment, was an incredibly gracious host, and his thick Antioquia accent was fun to listen to. We washed up and for the first time were shivering, now that we were above the lowlands. I pulled out my fleece and pants and called it an early night after enjoying dinner downstairs. A rewarding day, but certainly challenging. We need to do laundry but may just have to wait until Medellín to do so, as we will be taking several days off to rest and reconvene before heading out with Girish into the Andes.

Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 692 km (430 miles)

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