05/08/24 IDA Station JTS

May 8, 2024

15% grade at the top, it was a struggle even to push

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Riding my bike to an IDA station has been something I’ve wanted to do ever since I got interested in long distance touring some 17 years ago and today I finally did it.

It’s a mere 8 miles from Limonal to the station. I’d left my panniers at the hotel so I was hoping for an easy ride and it was, relatively speaking. But really, nothing is easy in this weather

I’d arranged with the caretaker to ensure the gate would be unlocked, but was early so I stopped in the town of Las Juntas to cool down and kill time. Mostly to cool down

Across the river (buzzards lurking in the bottom)

Past the statue. It’s all coming back to me, I know I’m on the right track

It’s starting to get steep and rocky and several people who passed me assumed I must be lost. There’s an “eco-hotel” nearby but not up this road. I’d considered staying there but the price was steeper than the hill to get there. I knew I was going in the right direction, this was all matching my memories exactly

This monster of a hill is a lot steeper than it looks in the picture. I was already hoofing it at this point

Here’s a shot of the above taken from the side, before it steepened

Hike-a-bike up an even steeper and very loose hill and I have arrived. I’m sure there was a hallelujah chorus at this point but I couldn’t hear it for the buzzing in my brain

I was trying to remember the lock combination when Jose Ángel arrived. He remembered me from my previous visit and was gratifyingly impressed to see me with a bicycle

It took a lot of tries to get a proper picture. Jose Ángel said he’d never taken a photograph before in his life… that’s something to think about.

Inside the recording building. The rack in the left is IDA equipment controlling the sensors and communications to the cloud. The rack on the right belongs to CTBTO (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization) who pull a copy of the data

It doesn’t look like much, but my professional career is buried in here

The seismometers are in an adjacent tunnel. It was originally used to store dynamite for use in the gold mine nearby, but the mine is played out and closed

Three sets of doors to get to the vault, to minimize the effects of weather on the sensors

The seismometers are under the insulating foam, digitizers and other equipment in the black case

This was taken when I was here in 2011, installing one of the sensors. These have since been replaced with more modern versions. The thing to note in here is how small my bald spot was

My visit is obvious to anyone paying attention to the data. The small wiggles in the middle are from a distant earthquake (likely the South Pacific), the large pulses are me in the vault. You can see I entered twice, the second time to ensure the bottom of the door was sealed with gravel to keep creatures from entering. The wiggles below the pulses are from an earthquake probably somewhere in Central America

I now need to think about where to go next. When I began this adventure I figured I’d get to Panama and the literal end of the road and from there transport myself to Cartagena and carry on south. But ever since I dropped down from the Guatemala highlands and into the hot and sticky air it’s been unmitigated misery. It’s only been the wish to reach JTS that has kept me going this far. I’ve got a few ideas and none of them involve Panama. Time for a beer and a think.

Today's ride: 16 miles (26 km)
Total: 3,973 miles (6,394 km)

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Karen PoretQuite an accomplished feat, David! Too bad the weather isn’t cooperating for a more enjoyable trip…
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3 months ago

Robert BryceGreat story Dave. Glad you made it!
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3 months ago