Day 5... Detours and Doubts

The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew, and live through it” – Doug Bradbury

I woke up this morning, not with my alarm, but at 0400 by the bloody cockral... No it wasnt content to sound the Alarm once... or even once an hour... more like every ten bloody minutes. Now I'm opposed to animal cruelty but I would have happily wrung its neck and served it up as fried chicken at that point. I had had a pretty good sleep otherwise, comfy bed, not cold and exhausted from yesterday's exertions.

Given that I was awake so bloody early, I tried to finish the blog from the day before and checked my dynamo and front skewer. After the loosenings of yesterday, they seemed to be fixed and I packed up slowly.

A knock at the door and I opened it to Carlotta who had come to say goodbye. 

It was weird. Neither of us spoke each others language well/barely/at all but we had connected. I gave her a hug and again tried to express my thanks.

She took my face in her hands in an exceedingly touching gesture and wished me well for the journey onwards... and walked off (to work??) As she left, I realised that I wanted to give her the money I had been planning to give them, and called after her. In my hand I held $30. I had agonized over the amount. I wanted to give them a lot (for them) but not an exceedingly large amount as to make her embarrassed or unwilling to accept. I wanted to give her $100 but knew that that would be way to much in her eyes. So given that hotels had charged $20 a night and food was 2 or 3 dollars a meal... I gave her enough at that rate plus a bit more.

She looked at me, tears in her eyes...

too much she said but I shook my head and explained that it was for the room and the food and her hospitality. She gave me another hug and went off into the dawn.

More goodbyes and hugs and a prayer offered up for me to go with god... I don't believe but the sentiment touched me. And off I went... soul uplifted from meeting these people. 

And then back on the road. Now I had to take a slight detour from the route. As mentioned in the day 3 blog, the area around Buenos Aires had had some trouble with illegal mining and it was recommended to avoid for the time being. Despite feeling nothing but safe here, I felt it best to follow the advice although it seemed like cheating a bit. I had struggled out in the mountains to do any kind of decent mileage. On the Tour Divide I was doing at least 80 miles a day some days. The difference here was the quality of the dirt roads and the extreme gradient combining at altitude.... I was on a bit of a downer and my headspace has not been good.

This morning however I was confronted by a flat gravel road by the river to start with. Of course the cycling gods wouldn't have made it that easy. Instead of cobbles, I now had washboard. Basically where the gravel has formed in ridges to make for very uncomfortable riding. Despite that it was a nice change not to be heading up, and the scenery was enough to distract. I ended up on the road which led to Ibarra and then Otovalo, a possible goal for today given the fact that I would be riding on tarmac it seemed feasible.

The sun was already out and burning hot. Yup I did put on suncream!

The first part of the ride was essentially downhill and I meandered past several small communities and a few shops which I didnt stop at because I was wanting to keep going. I felt like I had enough liquid to keep me going.

This was all feeling like a bit of a cop out. Smooth tarmac, downhill....
Don't worry, that soon changed. As the road hit the river and crossed it, the first pass of the day loomed large. On tarmac it was possible to cycle but so steep, I had to stop every so often to catch my breath. Fortunately I was now at around 5000ft so breathing was much easier. It just kept going up!! It didn't take me as long as ig would of done had it been off road but time was ticking by... I neared the 'top' where it flattened out and was greeted by a plain of sorts with some flat land... the first I had seen since arriving here!! 

It was still tough, and when I turned round to look back, I realised why... it was still going uphill!!! Despite this, the respite meant I could look around a bit more. I noticed some different birds, one with a lovely red plume. I haven't seen much wildlife here, living or dead on the road. A few small furry creatures darting into bushes was the sum total of the wildlife so far... and a dead cockroach!

Once again the road plummeted down to the river and I was then confronted by another climb of epic proportions. As I prepared to take on this climb, 3 lycra clad cyclists came whizzing past in the opposite direction, nodding at me as they flew past in style. They looked like they had barely broken a sweat!! At that point I hated them.. envied them their altitude acclimatised lungs and their light unencumbered bikes.. I was suffering big time. I shoul add that despite suncream, I was still getting a bit burnt and despite a liberal spray of deet, I was getting bitten to buggery AGAIN! The flies were literally taking chunks out of me!

It was in this state that I took in this next pass... surely after this one, it would be downhill all the way to Ibarra???
I was clearly hallucinating because in this country, nothing is 'all downhill' but the hope kept me grinding away up this pass.

Once I eventually reached the top, I did have a bit of downhill to a small village which purported to have a restaurant and a shop, both of which I eventually found. Food here is simple and extremely cheap so another bowl of soup and then some chicken and rice. Somewhat satisfied and water bottle refilled, I set out again into the blazing sun.  Of course more uphill awaited...

From Salinas, I joined the main Pan American Highway and essentially was following that all the way to Otovalo... but by now I was already knackered and my aims for the day had been contracted somewhat... Depending on how long it took me, Ibarra might well have to be my stopping place!

The main road had heavier traffic but still not M25 level by any stretch of the imagination. The lorries were pretty considerate with many of them beeping or waving as they went past.

The road ran gradually up but it was nice to be able to cycle at a reasonable pace for a change. So much of this ride has been at snails pace, its totally frustrating!

As the road wound on, I looked at my map.... squiggles can only mean one thing... another pass... and sure enough the climbing began. I looked up to try and discern where the road went... my fear was right up and over.... maybe it just went round the corner and through a cutting??? Nope of course not!!! Up and over of course. The traffic was building up... the fumes from the lorries at times suffocating and on one of the many stops, to add insult to injury, the three lycra clad cyclists sped past one again.   Clearly having done out and back at breakneck speed! Great. Headspace totally fcuked.... flies biting like crazy... still ridiculously hot and my 3rd big pass in a day of up.  It was not going well. Still at least I could still turn the pedals and not push most of the way.

I was reminded of other times where I have been confronted by passes to climb... New Mexico... New Zealand.... essentially I had no choice but to turn the pedals, heartily wishing that someone would stop and offer me a lift.... and then they did. A gentleman with a pick up truck stopped and offered to put the bike in the back.... the temptation was enormous ...

..... I didn't accept the lift, though I was cursing myself 10 seconds after he left. ..

It wasnt that far to the top and I dragged my sunburnt bitten body up the final few hundred metres. As I stopped at the top, a car came past and a boy stuck his thumb up at me to say well done. It did make me smile but I wasn't infused with the feeling of success that days like this usually bring. It had been a hard day..  and it still wasnt quite done. All thoughts of Otovalo were out of the picture... I still had to make it to Ibarra... which I did... just!! I bypassed the first hotel I saw to try and get a mile or two more in... which I then regretted!! As I was going along I heard rubbing from my seat pack.... What now???

I stopped and perused the problem... the strap had snapped meaning the pack rested on the wheel... not good... not good at all. I f8gured I could rig a temporary solution with a zip tie and unpacked my repair kit.... only to find that the chain oil had leaked over everything. Really???? Talk about hitting someone when they are down!!!

I rigged a repair to the seat pack with a zip tie and resolved to sort out the other issue later. I was now done in...

I found a hotel and counted the cost of the day...

One broken seat pack...
Bites all over my legs and arms...
sunburn... (least of the problem)
and lips so swollen I looked like I had had collagen injections... seriously!!!

A variety of creams came out as I sat and calculated distance and days.
It was still theoretically possible to reach Vilcabamba.... but I was trying not to worry about that too much.
Onr pedal turn at a time and I would end up where I ended up!!
I can only do what my body and the terrain allows me.

So I have planned a short day to Otovalo tomorrow as I have to try and repair the seat pack enough to be able to continue.

Thank you for all your comments and messages, they are helping to keep turning the pedals xx