A Wayward Journey

 We slayed the monster - half of it anyway!  Probably the tail part… which means the head is still to come.

We packed up this morning not quite sure exactly what was coming - but knowing it would start immediately after the bridge 50 meters from our hotel. I jumped on my bike and set off…

…and my chain just rattled around.  Somehow, who-knows-how, my derailleur had broken.

Seeing as how we figured we wouldn’t be doing much besides climbing, John set my chain in my lowest gear and we were off.  I had only one gear - but in the end it didn’t matter much anyway.

Just as promised, THE CLIMB started immediately past the bridge - and what a climb it was!  Davy and I decided we would make it 5 km before taking a break - but that 5 km nearly broke us.  We made it that time though.

Once we set off again, we set our sights on 5 km once again.  500 meters later, were walking our bikes - with our sights set on 50 steps before stopping to catch our breath.  It was crazy!

The good news is that it was only really steep for a little while before leveling out somewhat and allowing us to pedal once again.

Sweat poured off our bodies as we struggled up the monster.  Slowly, ever so slowly, we made headway. And then - we found a swimming pool.  A waterfall-fed swimming pool, no less.  the boys immediately changed into their swim suits and dove in.  Ahhhh….

Finally - after climbing 2700 vertical feet, we arrived into Valdivia - and faced the climb to end all climbs.  Seriously - the hill into Central Park was steep.  Steep, steep, steep.  We didn’t even attempt pedaling that one - all four pushed our bikes and barely made it up.

Even so, our day was not over - we still had to unload the bikes, carry all our gear up to our 3rd floor room, and then haul the bikes and trailers up. No wonder I’m pretty darn tuckered out!

But we’re here in the Andes!  Our climb today has resulted in a delightful change in climate - I think I may even need my long-sleeve shirt tonight!  It feels great to have left the heat behind.  Yahoo!

PS: The plan for my bike is that I’ll take a bus into Medellin tomorrow to buy a new derailleur. With any luck, I’ll be back by tomorrow night and my bike will be good to go by the following day.

Kilometers today:  19

Kilometers to date:  15349