It was raining hard so I didn't want to risk taking my phone out to take photos very often. The road had a steady upward pitch and there was a torrent of water coming down the road toward me.
The birds were chirping up a storm. The was the normal display of flowers, including these less common ones.
It doesn't take mastery of the Spanish language to understand that it is probably best to not cross over the fence around this property.
There were quite a few very nice homes along the road as I made my way up the hill. The road gradually got narrower and the large homes gave way to native homes. Much smaller, but still undoubtedly filled with love.
As I neard 5000 ft in elevation my RWGPS app told me it was time to turn right. I had climbed 934 ft in the 3.2 miles to reach this point. I wasn't sure what the road would be like going down but had hoped it would be paved. Alas, as I began it looked like this.
As it started down, it got worse.
It got steeper, and while it was no longer raining hard, it was still raining, making dirt and rocks alike very slick. I rode slowly down the hill with the back wheel skidding most of the time. When the front wheel started slipping too, it was time for me to walk. At times the slope would flatten out a bit but even then it was challenging riding for this non mountain biker.
At one point I was riding between two coffee "fincas".
I came to a spot where I could see the town below me. So close, but so far away
I was walking the bike down one of the steeper sections when I met 7 school kids coming up. School was over for the day, and just like our parents, these kids walk to and from. They were wearing school uniforms (blue skirts for the girls, blue pants for the boys, and white shirts for both. No raincoats or umbrellas observed. The group as about evenly split, with some saying "hola" and some recognizing me as a gringo said "hello". I didn't want to embarrass them by asking to take a photo.
I was still among coffee plants. It is just amazing how they can care for and harvest these plants on land this steep. If you stood on the hillside and stretched out your arm, you'd be touching dirt.
The road was steep, and even 4x4's were rolling rocks to get up it. You might imagine my surprise when I came to what appears to be a driveway to a nicer home, though I could never see the house. I can't imagine having a driveway like this, with the only access being a 4x4 road, at best.
Before things started look vaguely familiar. It looked very much like the area I had biked into last year, only to turn around when it got too ugly to ride a bike.
Sure enough, I came around a sharp bend and found this sight.
I was in this area several times last year. Dinner with a friend, who I returned to see this year, and a lot of times on a bike as I explored the town.
I made a few turns and just that quick I reached my destination.
I finished up with 989 ft of climbing, and 7.3 miles. I didn't measure the amount of rain that fell while I was riding, but it was considerable!
........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......0.................0..................7....................0............7
Jan.........0.................. 0..................0.....................0..............0
Feb.........0..................0..................0.....................0...............0
March.......0.................0................0.....................0...............0
April.......0.................0..................0......................0...............0
May.........0..................0................48....................0..............48
YTD..........0...............0.................48.....................0..............48
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