February 6, 2019
We sense a theme here
Last night. Me: Wow, it was pretty hot out there today when we were walking around! Jim: Yep, it sure was! But tomorrow will be good because we are cycling along the ocean so we should have a bit of a breeze to cool us off. Me: Thank goodness! What time should we head out? Jim: We should be on the road by 9 I think. That will give us lots of time to get to our destination. Me: Yea, its only about 30 kms so it should be no problem.
Hahahahha! Are we funny or what? We got up early and had our yummy Casa breakfast, keeping some of the fruit and the buns to eat later when we took a break. We were, indeed, on the road by 9 and I can safely say that the road between Matanzas and Playa Camarioca is pretty much dead flat (just a little rise coming out of town). It was a good 6 km before we were actually away from the city on the Via Blanca and out in the country. The scenery was a little less exciting this morning – more flat and brushy than the lush greens from our last section, but hey, it was flat, so that’s good, right? Yep, for about 10 minutes. Our travelling speed on a flat road is usually about 12 mph and we maintained that for a short time and then that dreaded wind kicked in and tore into us, driving our speed down to 8 mph for most of the way. Ugh! Have I said how much I hate riding into the wind?
We stopped and put on our headsets and just ground out the kms very very slowly, stopping about halfway through when we had reached the ocean again to eat the fruit, drink our water and get out of the wind in shade of a tree on the beach.
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To make matters more interesting as we neared our destination, the wind began to swirl and come at us occasionally from the side, pushing us towards the other lane on the highway. These sudden gusts were exhausting and when we finally reached Playa Camarioca (thankfully at only 27 km) we quickly pulled off the highway to ride though the town.
It is a town that looks like it is divided into two sections. We came through the first and didn’t see any sign of Casas or a beach, but when we crossed over a little bridge we came to the part of town where all the tourists stay – lots of Casa signs and at the end of the road, a little beach. We had the name of a Casa owner, but it didn’t look like he had anything available when I checked online, and when we stopped in front of the place, there was no answer. However, the owner across the street had a friend who took us to her friend’s Casa – they are like that here. Someone will take you in hand and make sure you have a place to stay. Teresa unlocked the gate to the Casa and showed us the room they had to rent. It is small but adequate for our needs and best of all there is a little courtyard just outside the door with two rocking chairs where we can sit and get out of the sun. For a whopping $25, we decided to take it for one night and possibly two. We are unsure about whether we will push on to Varadero or not as the wind out here is just so intense. However, its only another 10 km to there, so we will see how we feel tomorrow or the next day.
Once our paperwork was done, Teresa very kindly walked us up the street to where a restaurant is located (unfortunately closed today, but open tomorrow) and then told us of another near the beach. She also showed us where we can find a store, so we are set – yay!
We walked over to the store for a few things and then returned to our little place to grab the swimsuits and check out the beach. It is a whole two blocks from us but it was plenty hot, so we were so happy to find little palapas (umbrellas made from palm fronds) on the beach. There were a number of people there already, but we managed to find an empty palapa and sat to enjoy the view, which, like every other beach here, is spectacular. We eventually laid back in the sand for a short snooze before getting up to check out the water. There are actually two beaches here that come together to form a crescent. On the outside the waves are pretty big, but the little cove is nicely protected. It looks like there might be some snorkelling for us here, so we will give that a try tomorrow. One thing we found very sad is the amount of broken glass in the sand. We have seen it at other beaches, too. Why oh why would anyone bring a glass bottle to the beach? I just don’t get the whole thing. It really bothered us, so as we returned to our palapa, we picked up what we found and later retrieved a plastic bag from the rocks to put it in. I wish everyone who frequented the beach would do the same, but that’s highly unlikely. Sometimes humans can just be pretty darned dumb!
Ok, rant over. We returned to our room to shower and wash out a few clothing items and are now relaxing in our wonderful shaded courtyard. Eventually we will wander over to their wifi park and then to find dinner, but for now, its time to relax and sign off!
Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 1,491 km (926 miles)
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