Day 52 - Why is this so hard?
January 6 - Pucon and around
Morning routine. Rinse and repeat. We wanted to go out for lunch and couldn’t get our minds off the vegetarian place, so we returned there and each ordered the same thing…so good!
We rented bikes from one of the dozens of shops nearby, opting for the place with helmets, bike locks, and a repair kit. Every shop only had mountain bikes, which I thought was too much for what we'd be doing....boy was I wrong.
We weren’t entirely sure of our destination – we figured we’d see where we’d get in the four hours we had the bikes. I wanted to bike through a village nearby of the Mapachu tribe – there is a potent spice mix I was interested in picking up. We also had a destination in mind of a neighboring town, which is on a lake (Lago Carburgua). On the way, there would be a series of waterfalls, each of the trail in different directions. We had asked which was the best, assuming we wouldn’t have time or need to visit all. Los Ojos del Carburga was recommended. We figured we could hit the village, the falls, and probably make it to the town, and back in four hours.
As I struggled to stay upright on the the bike while pedaling on the soft gravel, I began doubting everything I ever knew. My thoughts were humbling, "I thought I was a decent biker. I biked relatively regularly when we left Seattle. What's wrong with me? Am I out of shape? Why is this so hard?" I'll chalk it up to heat + hills + gravel... Poor Evan would look over his shoulder and see me 200 meters behind, either walking my bike up a big incline, or focusing so hard it looked like I was going to pass out.
We got a little lost and missed the village completely. We found the waterfall, which was a spectacle, with an ice cream shop and restaurant in the parking lot. The park was a maze of wooden boardwalks and tree rooted trails. There were families walking in their flip flops and platform sandals, carrying ice cream cones while they stumbled down the paths to the viewpoints. We made our way to the falls with patient smiles on our faces, got a few views, then got out of there. The falls were beautiful and the water crystal blue. We got back on our bikes, and decided to head towards the town far enough to get to tar roads, but decided we didn't have time for the town. The ride back was better but still exhausting. We got off our bikes and were thrilled to be done. We cooked something for dinner, but can’t remember what….
Morning routine. Rinse and repeat. We wanted to go out for lunch and couldn’t get our minds off the vegetarian place, so we returned there and each ordered the same thing…so good!
We rented bikes from one of the dozens of shops nearby, opting for the place with helmets, bike locks, and a repair kit. Every shop only had mountain bikes, which I thought was too much for what we'd be doing....boy was I wrong.
We weren’t entirely sure of our destination – we figured we’d see where we’d get in the four hours we had the bikes. I wanted to bike through a village nearby of the Mapachu tribe – there is a potent spice mix I was interested in picking up. We also had a destination in mind of a neighboring town, which is on a lake (Lago Carburgua). On the way, there would be a series of waterfalls, each of the trail in different directions. We had asked which was the best, assuming we wouldn’t have time or need to visit all. Los Ojos del Carburga was recommended. We figured we could hit the village, the falls, and probably make it to the town, and back in four hours.
As I struggled to stay upright on the the bike while pedaling on the soft gravel, I began doubting everything I ever knew. My thoughts were humbling, "I thought I was a decent biker. I biked relatively regularly when we left Seattle. What's wrong with me? Am I out of shape? Why is this so hard?" I'll chalk it up to heat + hills + gravel... Poor Evan would look over his shoulder and see me 200 meters behind, either walking my bike up a big incline, or focusing so hard it looked like I was going to pass out.
Comments
Post a Comment