October 27, 1999
Day 5 Graneras, Campo Escuela Callejones: navigating "Mal" street
Navigating out of the city
We leave at about 8 o’clock. We have a city map that shows how to get to the pan-american highway, the main (and most times only) road headed south. No problems, and after about 5 km we reach the road, but discover it is way too busy to cycle and there is no shoulder. We try to follow a parallel side road, but sometimes get side tracked. Once a cab driver warns us not to go straight: it’s a “mal” neighborhood.
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As we get away from the city a shoulder appears and we take to the highway. Just as we get used to the narrow bumpy shoulder it disappears, what’s left is a coarse gravel roadbed. We continue on, the road is still too dangerous and the going is tough. Then we discover that the shoulder on the north lanes is continuous. We cross and ride going south.
In San Francisco de Motazal, we leave the interstate and end up on an unsealed parallel road to Graneros. Two kilometers before that town is Campo Escuela Callejones, a scout camp. One barrier is left, a river with no bridge. We put on our teva’s and wade our gear through. The camp is very nice and we camp amidst tall cedar trees, planted by Francisan monks. There are shelters with tables and fire pit. Unfortunately, no hot water for the showers this evening. The peace and quiet after a hectic, noise and dusty day is nice though.
Patrick needs to fix Rachel’s derailleur that won’t shift to the granny gear, and raise her seat a bit. When he retightens the bolt at the saddle stem it breaks. Patrick quickly rides to Graneros to find a new one in the local bike store.
He also picks up some wine to accompany the spaghetti dinner tonight. The weather today was cool, gray and windy.
Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 82 km (51 miles)
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