Despite our best efforts to “really get up and after ‘em, tomorrow,” we have found many more reasons to keep our slow pace as we meander through Colombia.
In the last 5 days we probably visited 12 bike shops as we searched for the perfect replacement tire. We have not found our dream tire, and instead decided to carry a spare (an added weight that we are not taking lightly, ha). It’s not exactly inline with our usual packing routine, but it does provide significant peace of mind.
Beyond our hunt for tires, we have chosen to trade in some kilometers for vertical meters as we continue to travel through mountainous terrain. One day, we rode all the way up to 4,100 m along the route to Nevado Ruiz. It was a stunning climb and a really fun road, but we finished the day tired and ended early in a small town about 1/3 through our descent. When a local business owner offered to let us camp on an empty lot he owned on the outskirts of town, we accepted thinking we would take advantage of the cool night air to enjoy a night in our tent.
While we found the location to be extremely peaceful, we hardly slept at all. An impressive little downpour started quickly after we set up our tent; then, after a few hours of filling the tent with farts, Mark scrambled out to emergency poop: code brown. The rain, and Mark’s diarrhea, continued off and on for the rest of the night.
The next morning we packed up and hurried into town to get to a bathroom. We lingered in town for a while, waiting to see how Mark’s stomach would handle some food and drink. Finding he had made it over an hour without pooping, we decided to ride a bit despite his fatigue, since it was almost entirely downhill ahead of us.
We arrived in the small town of Cambao in the middle of the afternoon and after doing some map checking, decided it would be best to pay for a room with a bathroom here rather than risking another rainy night pooping in a field.
We spent the afternoon relaxing and fielding the normal menagerie of questions and conversations we frequently encounter as two gringos in a small town on a clown bike: would you like to buy —?, where are you from, where are you going?, can you keep pedaling when the other one rests?, and lots of folks ready to practice their English greetings “hello!”, “good afternoon”, “goodbye.”
Often we only think of bike touring as the beautiful places, interesting conversations, and fun riding, but obviously it’s much more than that. It can be a challenge for us to reconcile the vision of our bike tour and the reality we are facing right now. However, we are learning to adjust our expectations and despite the challenges still feel like we’re where we want to be doing what we want to be doing.
Mark’s Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/markandnic
Google Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8sK1ryrupSjneZ9BA
Thanks for reading! -Nic