Given our past experiences with afternoon rain showers, Brian and I decided to get an earlier start to the day to try and escape the worst of the inevitable deluges. We were packed and ready to go by 8, a whole two hours earlier than our past two mornings. However, as we readied to go our wonderful host Dago insisted we stay for a hot cup of coffee, arepas, eggs, and locally-made cheese. We are at nearly 9,000ft now and the morning was quite chilly, so such an offer was too difficult to turn down. Dago was one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met. His mannerisms and thick, sing-songy Antioquia accent made me feel as though I was in an opera. 

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We left El Descanso shortly after 8:30, enjoying a quick downhill before settling into our first of two climbs for the day. Today would still have over 4,000ft of climbing which, after yesterday's suffer-fest, would be another formidable challenge. Luckily, the gradient was much more manageable and we soon summited and descended past Yarumal, only to begin our second ascent into El Llano. The scenery on both climbs was wonderful, like something out of Lord of the Rings.

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Upon summiting our second climb we got a hearty meal of chicharrón and potato soup, during which time a cold rain and lightning began to set in. We decided to forgo our rain jackets and instead purchased the ponchos that all of the local motorcyclists have been using. They turned out to work much better than our more expensive gear!

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We pedaled a few kilometers before choosing to wait out the passing storm under the awning of a hotel. We had a wonderful conversation with Rosalva, a worker at the hotel who gave us hot coffee and tea as we waited out the storm. The kindness of folks continues to have no bounds.

After the passing of the storm we finished out our ride with a rolling descent into Santa Rosa de Osos, a delightful town that is nearing the outskirts of Medellín. Besides the passing rain shower we managed to stay fairly dry, but we still laid out all of our gear in the hotel room to aid in drying. Laundry will be priority número uno when we roll up in to Medellín...tomorrow! For now, a hearty dinner and sleep are sounding mighty fine.