November 23, 2010
Mercedes.: Foot off the pedal, tomorrow back on.
Monday was spent updating the journal, it seems three pages a day is a fair workrate. That done, today was a relaxing day while preparing the bike for the week ahead which shall bring me back Uruguay way. As of now I'm thinking of entering the country at Paysandu, where namely I hop-over an earlier part of this journey. It will be nice to be back but only for a day.
There are two bike-shops in Mercedes but they only stock bits for cheap street-bikes, not very durable. I have not seen, especially on Sunday on the road into town when you'd expect to see, Lycra clad racing-cyclists on weekly club runs, furthermore in other cities in the region it's normal to see decent even expensive suspension mountainbikes but here I've not seen any. So pure and simple there is no market for quality bike bits here.
In the bike-shop I did visit, I could buy a tyre for the trailer, luckily I could buy decent enough pedals and other miscellaneous items, but, there was no chance of finding something like a 8 or 9 spd cassette and chain which will soon be necessary. Though the drivetrain, fingers crossed, will hold-out to Paysandu where there's two decent bikeshops that I know of from my last visit with this sort of stuff.
The pedals I bough for 30 pesos, 6 Euro, should solve the annoying crunch click sound on every cycle, as well as making the bike feel a little like new on the first day or two and I won't no longer be worried about the pedal seizing up somewhere far from anywhere. It is a pity I've binned a perfectly good other pedal. Or put another way, why weren't both pedals made with the same expected lifespan? Is there something in my pedaling style that wears out the right pedal while the left remains smooth?
I had intended to wash clothes today but it rained all afternoon. It was the same scenario in Puerto Iguazu were I left clothes washing to the day before departing and it rained. So the best I can do is rinse them in the morning and secure them to the back of the bike with bungee cord.
The word cosmopolitan could not be used to describe Mercedes. It's a sleepy Traditional place where the afternoon siesta is religiously observed. It's a place full of gaucho culture. The baggy trousers, bombachos, and big floppy beret are common dress. I've seen older men walk down the street in full gaucho attire. There's colourful poster adds in shop windows with pictures of Hereford and Angus cattle announcing veterinary or other cattle rearing services. It's not unlike rural Ireland on a much grander scale and with steaming humidity.
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