One Year Ago Today
One year ago today, I did something that will forever change my life. It was one of the funnest, most adventurous, rewarding experiences of my life, if not the best ever. The trip was the beginning of my growth for 09! and it contniues to be a huge source of inspiration for me in my life today. AND, in 2010, as a result of some of my hard work, children in Guatemala will have a bigger, better school to learn in.
One Love!
MT
Riding Day 1 is complete!
A few quotes and things we heard today.
¨so where are you riding to¨
¨well I´m only riding to David(pronounced Dah'veed), but Aaron is riding all teh way to San Francisco¨
¨What. California¨
¨yes¨
¨damn, that sounds uphill¨ that couldnt me more right on
äaron- mike, if you´re gonna fall over, dont fall in the freeway
thank you for that piece of advice aaron.
WOW! So Aaron and I did the first day of our ride today. So much to cover here in this blog. First thing though, I didnt mean to send anyone the wrong message as far as the donations are concerned. By no means am I, or we, asking for a fifty dollar donation or more. Not at all. Anything, any little thing, would be greatly appreciated. 50 cents (of should I say fih'E Cent) one dollar, 2 dollars, whatever. Every little bit helps.
So with that off my chest, let me tell you a bit about the last few horus. I spent last night packing up all my gear into these three river rafting bags that I had gotten from Aarons dad down in Berkeley before I left. I had no idea whether I was going ot be able to secure them to the bike, or how it would work, but I ahd faith I´d figure something out. AS I packed, Aaron told me that I should put this here, and that there, and the weighted stuff on the bottom, etc. I had already almost finished whne he was telling me this, but not to worry. I just started pulling stuff out, and putting it on my bed, and starting over. When it was all said adn done, I had my three bags, all ready to go. I walked downstairs to my bike with the two bags that were going to go on the side of the rack, and a bag full of straps. Not really knowing exactly how to do anythign liek this, I did the best I could, and strapped those mofo´s on that damn bike. I secured the shit out o them, and when it was all said and done, those things were not moving. I DID IT! I was pumped. What was not so exciting was that I attempted briefly to ride the bike in that little area, and I almost ate shit like three times. The bags were pretty evenly balanced, but it was much more difficult to ride than I anticipated. I went up, and finished getting the third bag ready, and then went to sleep.
In the morning, it was all business. I got up right on time about 6am and Aaron and I were at it. He went in the kitchen and hooked up some pancakes for us, they feed us free pancakes at the hostel every morning, so that was good. I took a shower, and got in my gear and it started to hit me. I had to put on biker shorts, had to put on non-chafing lotion, a jersey, and my little tiny socks and shoes. What a sight. I cant even tell you how funny I felt, and how much funnier I looked. It was pretty comdedic. After breakfast, I went in the other room, stretched, and then it was time. We waited for our taxi cab for a bit, apparently there was traffic. Then we through our bikes up on teh roof of this tiny ass car. It was like a geo metro with a luggage rack on top. My bike went up there with the bags still strapped to the side of the rack, and they stayed on. Good sign! We threw Aarons bike up next, and away we went. It took us a while to get across the bridge, there was construction, and we didnt move for about 15-20 minutes. When we finally got off the bridge, the driver, who was a really nice dude, pulled over and dropped us off, right there on an exit ramp. It´d be like pulling over after the bay bridge or something, and dumping a couple dudes and there bikes on the side of the road. Cars, and huge semi trucks were flying by, and Aaron and I just looked at each other and were laughing.. nervously. The driver said good bye, adn was out of there. IT took us a few mintues to make the final preperation to the bikes, get our waters on there, and all that. Then we made a quick ride down this side street a couple times to get acclimated to the balance and all that. At this point, after the second one, I started getting really shaky. Like my blood sugar was dropping. I started eating a cliff bar, and I ate one of the GU packs that I bought. ITs for quick energy, and has electrolytes in it and stuff. I felt better almost instantly, and the fear that had started to build up quickly disapated. So that was that. We were ready. From there, we rode down the street, and got on the onramp, and began riding the ride. If you´d been following the blog, you´ll know there was some concern about the beginning of the rie, being windy, and little to now shoulder, and all that. They called it hte mountain of hte cobra, or something like that. Well, we did that. We rode along, as best we could, and made our way. People had been telling me that it was going to be flat most of the way, and well, shit, if what we just rode today was fricken flat, then I am not looking forward to the rest of the trip, when it startsto get hilly. We went up and down some pretty big hills, and at some points, we were actually on the road, because of a narrow bridge or whatever. Cars were wizzing by us, people at bus stops looked at us like we were crazy, and we just kept on going. At some points we´d stop, and drink water, or rest for a bit, but we kept on. In all I think we rode for about 3 hours, and got into the town that is our first stop a little after noon. We are now staying in La Chorrera, and we have completed our first day of riding. We found ourselves a hotel, it was in the Lonely Planet book Aaron had, and we showered adn changed, and went and got some food. We went to this little restaruant, cafeteria thing right down the street, adn for 2 dollars and 75 cents we at chicken, rice, veggie salad, beans, plantain, and a soda. IT was so good. I usually dont eat large meals, but I scarfed that shitdown. I was hungry as hell.
For the most part, I am pretty happy with the way my body held up for the first day of riding. My legs felt strong,and at certain ponits, they tired on the hills, but over all they are fine. After we finished eating, when I stood up I felt them a little b it, so I am sure tomorow and the next day it will really start setting in. We were lucky today also, as it was overcast most of the time, so the sun wasnt beating on us like I am sure it will at certain poitns during the ride. I am not srue what we´re going to do for the rest of the day, but I think I am going to take a nap. I love naps. I also loved riding today.
One Love!
MT
Riding Day 1 is complete!
A few quotes and things we heard today.
¨so where are you riding to¨
¨well I´m only riding to David(pronounced Dah'veed), but Aaron is riding all teh way to San Francisco¨
¨What. California¨
¨yes¨
¨damn, that sounds uphill¨ that couldnt me more right on
äaron- mike, if you´re gonna fall over, dont fall in the freeway
thank you for that piece of advice aaron.
WOW! So Aaron and I did the first day of our ride today. So much to cover here in this blog. First thing though, I didnt mean to send anyone the wrong message as far as the donations are concerned. By no means am I, or we, asking for a fifty dollar donation or more. Not at all. Anything, any little thing, would be greatly appreciated. 50 cents (of should I say fih'E Cent) one dollar, 2 dollars, whatever. Every little bit helps.
So with that off my chest, let me tell you a bit about the last few horus. I spent last night packing up all my gear into these three river rafting bags that I had gotten from Aarons dad down in Berkeley before I left. I had no idea whether I was going ot be able to secure them to the bike, or how it would work, but I ahd faith I´d figure something out. AS I packed, Aaron told me that I should put this here, and that there, and the weighted stuff on the bottom, etc. I had already almost finished whne he was telling me this, but not to worry. I just started pulling stuff out, and putting it on my bed, and starting over. When it was all said adn done, I had my three bags, all ready to go. I walked downstairs to my bike with the two bags that were going to go on the side of the rack, and a bag full of straps. Not really knowing exactly how to do anythign liek this, I did the best I could, and strapped those mofo´s on that damn bike. I secured the shit out o them, and when it was all said and done, those things were not moving. I DID IT! I was pumped. What was not so exciting was that I attempted briefly to ride the bike in that little area, and I almost ate shit like three times. The bags were pretty evenly balanced, but it was much more difficult to ride than I anticipated. I went up, and finished getting the third bag ready, and then went to sleep.
In the morning, it was all business. I got up right on time about 6am and Aaron and I were at it. He went in the kitchen and hooked up some pancakes for us, they feed us free pancakes at the hostel every morning, so that was good. I took a shower, and got in my gear and it started to hit me. I had to put on biker shorts, had to put on non-chafing lotion, a jersey, and my little tiny socks and shoes. What a sight. I cant even tell you how funny I felt, and how much funnier I looked. It was pretty comdedic. After breakfast, I went in the other room, stretched, and then it was time. We waited for our taxi cab for a bit, apparently there was traffic. Then we through our bikes up on teh roof of this tiny ass car. It was like a geo metro with a luggage rack on top. My bike went up there with the bags still strapped to the side of the rack, and they stayed on. Good sign! We threw Aarons bike up next, and away we went. It took us a while to get across the bridge, there was construction, and we didnt move for about 15-20 minutes. When we finally got off the bridge, the driver, who was a really nice dude, pulled over and dropped us off, right there on an exit ramp. It´d be like pulling over after the bay bridge or something, and dumping a couple dudes and there bikes on the side of the road. Cars, and huge semi trucks were flying by, and Aaron and I just looked at each other and were laughing.. nervously. The driver said good bye, adn was out of there. IT took us a few mintues to make the final preperation to the bikes, get our waters on there, and all that. Then we made a quick ride down this side street a couple times to get acclimated to the balance and all that. At this point, after the second one, I started getting really shaky. Like my blood sugar was dropping. I started eating a cliff bar, and I ate one of the GU packs that I bought. ITs for quick energy, and has electrolytes in it and stuff. I felt better almost instantly, and the fear that had started to build up quickly disapated. So that was that. We were ready. From there, we rode down the street, and got on the onramp, and began riding the ride. If you´d been following the blog, you´ll know there was some concern about the beginning of the rie, being windy, and little to now shoulder, and all that. They called it hte mountain of hte cobra, or something like that. Well, we did that. We rode along, as best we could, and made our way. People had been telling me that it was going to be flat most of the way, and well, shit, if what we just rode today was fricken flat, then I am not looking forward to the rest of the trip, when it startsto get hilly. We went up and down some pretty big hills, and at some points, we were actually on the road, because of a narrow bridge or whatever. Cars were wizzing by us, people at bus stops looked at us like we were crazy, and we just kept on going. At some points we´d stop, and drink water, or rest for a bit, but we kept on. In all I think we rode for about 3 hours, and got into the town that is our first stop a little after noon. We are now staying in La Chorrera, and we have completed our first day of riding. We found ourselves a hotel, it was in the Lonely Planet book Aaron had, and we showered adn changed, and went and got some food. We went to this little restaruant, cafeteria thing right down the street, adn for 2 dollars and 75 cents we at chicken, rice, veggie salad, beans, plantain, and a soda. IT was so good. I usually dont eat large meals, but I scarfed that shitdown. I was hungry as hell.
For the most part, I am pretty happy with the way my body held up for the first day of riding. My legs felt strong,and at certain ponits, they tired on the hills, but over all they are fine. After we finished eating, when I stood up I felt them a little b it, so I am sure tomorow and the next day it will really start setting in. We were lucky today also, as it was overcast most of the time, so the sun wasnt beating on us like I am sure it will at certain poitns during the ride. I am not srue what we´re going to do for the rest of the day, but I think I am going to take a nap. I love naps. I also loved riding today.
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