Day 7 of riding Las Lajas to David 80 km

So it was our last day of riding together, we got up early, had a taxi there at 730am to take us to the main highway, so we didnt have to ride our bikes all the way down that gravel road again. We had our stuff ready to go. It was 80km, and we werent exactly sure how the terrain was, but as usual, just got up, got everything ready, ate our breakfast, got some coffee, and away we went. That days riding was probably the most frustrating of all the days, and most challenging. Wihtin the first 20 minutes of riding, I felt my bike being really squirrly, and it felt like I had a flat, or the weight of my bags wasnt right or something. So we stopped, check the tires, and did some inspection. What I realized was that my rack had come undone. One of the bolts that connected to the frame, it was stripped, and couldnt be tightened, or put back in. It was broken. hmmmm. tap the temple, think think think. What the fuck are we gonna do. Cab??? no fuck that we´re not gonna cab. hmmm. Well, how about using some of these river rafting straps, and McGyver that shit on there. TA DAH!!! So thats exactly what we did. Aaron and I worked together to hold the frame in place, and used two of the little straps to strap the shit out of that think onto the bike. Just take it easy we said, and keep an eye on it. So once we did that away we went. The terrain was doable, lots of hills and what not, but nothing horrendous, nothing like some of the previous days. Today our obstacle was the wind. It was gusting at some high speeds, and at certain points, it would be blowing from one way, then then the opposite way, then a big rig would go by and create this swirling effect. I almost blew over at a couple different points. At one point, I Was riding down hill, and still had it in the hardest gear and had to pedal because the wind was so strong. At one point, with the wind blowing me towards the road, and me trying to lean into it so I didnt go in the road, cause a big rig was coming, it stopped, the rig flew by kind of close, and it forced me to run over an old piece of tire that was on the side of the road. FUCK!!!! I shouted, dammit. If you know anything about old ass used blown out tires on the side of the road you know that they have wires sticking out of them. I didnt realize it for a while, but I got aflat. My tire was slowly deflating, and it was making it that much harder to ride. Especially in the wind. Wow. We pressed on, and every so often I would stop and fill up my tire. We werent making very good time, but we were steadily moving forward. We stopped and got some lucnh, and continued on our way. About 5km from where we were going, I had to stop and change my tire. I just couldnt ride on it anymore with little to know air in it. We pulled out the tube with the patch, and put that one in, and away we went. That one wasnt wokring out so well either, as it started to get low again. We were in town, on the edge of it, but in town. We saw a gas station, and again pulled over, and decided to try and fill it up, or use another tube. This time, I over inflated the tube and boom, shhhhhhhhhhhh there goes all the air in that tire. hahaha. Damn, Aaron isnt the only one that does that. I am soo frustrated, but take a deep breath, and start to think. CAb? we´re here already, its not like we didnt make it. We rode here, jsut get a quick cab ride to the hostel. Fuck that. I pull out the other tube, replace it, and fill it up. At this ponit, I think have fixed 6 flats over 6 days, and was becoming a pro. I felt like a NASCAR team at tha tstatiopn swapping that shit out. I get it in, on, nad fill it up, and away we go. I dont have much time before its gonna need more air, so we gotta hurry. We finally make it, after riding throuhg town, and trying to figure out where this place is cause they dont have any street signs, and get the bikes put away and start bringing our gear in. I AM BEAT. The last day, and it was just so frustrating. Getting there, getting to David, and finishing my portion of hte ride, I didnt feel all that great about it because of hte nature of the ride. IT took me a minute or actually a little bit. Aaron and I were walking to go get some food, and I looked to him and am like I am in a shitty ass mood. Waht the fuck is that all about? Up until this point, I had been upbeat, and feeling great and all that about all the varying circumstances and everything. He was like, I dont know man, lets just get some food, and chill out, and youll feel better. So we did. I got some grub, and almost immediately I started feeling better, settling down, and starting to be back in the moment and loving life. We had some dinner, went and got some ice cream, and had our two final cigars. The victory cigars if you will. After doing some internet cafe-ing WE found a billiards place, played a couple of games, sat out on the patio, smoked our cigars, and talked about the week fo riding, and the weeks coming up and of all the support, and donations weve received so far. We had just ridden across the majority of Panama. In 7 days. wow.
We had our cigars, made our way back to the hostel, and after a little reading, went to sleep.
IT was monday after all, and no place was open, none that we wknew of anyway.