A blue Monday

But the blue was in the sky!

It was a beautiful day for a bike ride, if not windy.  It had been blowing about 25 mph all night, and continued into the day.  I am not sure of the weather patterns in Panama and didn't know what that wind might have in store for me. I consulted several weather websites, and all suggested a dry day, so I mapped a route.  Interesting that RidewithGPS does such a great job at home, but here it lacks a little.  The roads shown in map view did not align with satellite view, and after I got out on the bike, it seems that neither of those were what was on the ground.  No problem, when offered a choice, I chose the paved road.  I climbed nearly 2000 ft in the first 4 miles. :-O

11,400 ft Volcan Baru, Panama's highest mountain.

A gravel road goes to the summit of Volcan Baru.  I may make it up there this trip, but not in shape to do it yet!

As I neared 5000 ft elevation I found coffee plants still blooming.

As I pedaled along (sometimes VERY slowly as I'd climb pitches to 19%!) I'd spot numerous plants that we grow as house plants at home, here growing wild outdoors. 

Pink Polka Dot Plant

Red Heliconia 

After about 7 miles of grueling up and down, mostly up, the road tipped down sharply.  I rolled quickly, tempering my speed with the brakes.  I'm on an unfamiliar bike with knobby tires.  Not the best recipe for attempting record times on descents.  Today's goal was to arrive at the bottom in one piece, with no blood on the outside.

I was surprised to find that I rolled into town just about where I had planned to when I mapped it, but I'm pretty sure between the beginning and the end, I was doing a little free style.

All's well that ends well.

8.7 miles
2224 ft of elevation gain

and carried a few pounds of groceries in my flimsy backpack the last mile UP!

PS  It began raining 2 hours after I got off the bike, WIN!

........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......0.................0.................9....................0..............9
Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26
Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7
March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5
April.......0.................0...............29.....................0...............29
YTD.........38...............0................29.....................0.............67