Cali

photos: mariachi band at kukaramakara, and the main plaza in cali.


great town, perfect climate! there's constantly the fresh smell of exotic fruits in the warm heavy air, but i can't stop sweating with this tropical heat. and i´m loving this about Cali. after the past few days of cold and rain i needed this.

found some great people here at The Iguana and have been swaping some amazing travel tales. just got back from a mexican dinner. this town is ritz: after 2-weeks of living in pueblos its a bit of a shock, overwhelming at first but i'm getting used to it. fixed my wheel today and caught some sights.

tomorrow i'm up at 0445 to meet a group of cyclists for a quick 100-km ride before work. before THEY work, before i siesta. i was at a bike shop around the corner inquiring about the possibilitiy of renting one of the owners used road bikes so that i could ride with some racer-types that go out every day here.... he kept saying "not possible in colombia" and i said that everything has a price. finally he says to me, you can't rent, but you can borrow! so i'm headed out tomorrow morning with he and his posse of about 50 others on a vintage 5 year old Giant OCR with 9spd ultegra... a fairly hot bike for here in colombia and tons faster than my rigged-out surly. we'll see if my legs are up for some fast riding after just 3-weeks on the bike this year. i've ridden with a few solo racers at various points in my travels, but this will be my first in a colombian peleton. this is one of the things i came here to experience.

might be sticking around here for a few more days. there´s a road race coming up right here in Cali... who knows, if it works out i might be getting in my first bike race of the season soon. hard to believe that just 3-weeks ago on sunday i was ski racing.

Popayan -- Cali

i´ve literally just arrived in the sprawling, messy, dirty but real and lovely town of Cali. i was told its not worth coming here, but that just represents a challenge and so i had to come see it. there are many racists here as everywhere, and Cali happens to have lots of blacks and natives so the people say its dangerous. its always dangerous "over there". its great to see the diversity once again.

when i started rolling south towards San Agustine from Bogota it was inevitable that i was going to have to take at least one bus journey to get me back up N if i wanted more time along the carribean, and so I was ready to exclaim that I had now taken a bus on every continent in the world. today, about 40-kms from Cali I suffered my second broken spoke in 3-days and although i fixed it well enough to hobble, the rain made it tempting to catch a bus from where i had performed the emergency operation on my wheel. but then i decided that a "hitch" would be more exciting and i´d at least give it a try. within 5-minutes i´d secured a ride right to the heart of Cali and more importantly, a good bikeshop. and during this ride i got to thinking: I have now sucessfully hitched a ride on every continent in the world!

found an net cafe here to find a cheap room. haven´t hung with travelers in awhile so any cheap hotel won´t do... i need a hostal. and as i rolled through town i noticed a ton of interesting restaurants and cafes, its a smorgasborg out there, and so tonight i look forward to something different than my standby, comidas corriente. i´m sure i´ll be craving that again by morning, but tonight something different.

and on the way here i discovered a new fruit concoction (the great thing about this country and so many others is that every time you descend into a new valley they have a different specialty) called... ahh, i forget what he said, but its a soupy fresh fruit cocktail that you can drink with a spoon... bananas, pina, mangos, grapes, all syruped in a pint glass and served up with a big ladle.

this connection is good here, so if i can get these new spokes to work on my wobbly wheel, then maybe i can get back here to post some pics.

last night i stayed with the Hare Krishnas. pujas, prasad and pan integral!

Coconuco -- Popayàn

Fixed wheel and hit the road. Descended into Popayan and spent a few hours exploring this neat town, but headed out in the afternoon and ended up staying with Hare Krishnas. Incredible hospitality and super interesting people. It was like a fruit plantation there and ate entire meals with nothing but copious quantities of exotic fruits, they baked great bread too.

Ride Stats: 68 kms, 3:10 hrs, super sunny (7920', 60 degs - 6400', 82 degs).

Isnos -- Coconuco

Photos:
--End of pave just 5-km outside of Isnos.
--The plateau: over 20 rough kilometers at over 10,000'.
--"Danger, Mines".
--Piste-off Surly.
--One of many interesting forest types.
--Lush forests equal slush roads.
--A Colombian cyclists staple: Panela! Its pure cane sugar in a rock hard, brick-sized loaf.

If yesterdays ride was a challenge, todays ride was a beast! Over 7-hours of ride time and over 4000' of elevation gain, but it was constantly rolling, always up or down. I was told the road was rough and there was no food along the way, but the people make bold claims all the time: wherever there is a road there is people, and wherever there are people there are roadside foodstalls; and they claim all the roads are bad. This time they were right. Much of the time I could do no better than 5-8 kph and not because of the steep grade but because of the rocks, ruts and holes. About 4 hours into the ride it started raining -- pouring! -- and as I climbed higher the rain turned so cold. I went from shirtless to wearing all my clothes under my rain jacket and still cold. Fortunately the road didn't wash away or turn to muck, but it was daunting nontheless, and the only food I ate once i hit the road was panela and protein powder with water. The panela was given to me by Bomberos who said it was the food of cyclists in Colombia and was all I needed: mucho fuerte! I thought that I would have to bivy this night because I just couldn´t see making it to the nearest town, but at some point I decided I´d continue no matter what for fear of freezing and starving. If I stopped and slept I'd surely bonk in my sleep.

The scenery was amazing and despite my predictament I seemed to stop every kilometer to photograph and gawk in awe at the vistas. It was incredible high altitude jungle/desert... it was as if the vegetation couldn't get enough oxygen to grow too large despite the copious amounts of water and rich soil. It was dreamlike and sureal, like something out of a Maurice Sendak story. Finally dropped into the dumpy Coconuco, found an even dingier hotel and took a shower with freezing cold water. Broke a spoke this day and had no spare, but saved the repair until the following morning and had dreams that night about which way to turn the nipples to tighten the spokes: I´ve never been great at truing wheels, but getting ahead of myself the next day I wrapped the spoke around a neighboring spoke and trued it up. It got me down the mountain but more wheel problems would lurk ahead. Stay tuned...


Ride Stats: 92-kms, 7:20 hrs (6050', 70degs -- 10,400' -- 7920', 60degs). Sunny and warm turning to light tropical rain then freezing downpour. (Highpoint was 10,000'+ plateau rolling across this incredible high altitude ecosystem of desert and jungle-like vegetation.)

San Agustin -- Isnos

The ride was short and sweeet: didn't get out of San Agustine until almost 3pm because of the rains and laziness. i knew i was up for one good climb, but not two! plunged 1500' down into a gorge, crossed a river and in about 3 über steep kilometers was back up on the plateau. but only to do it all over again at the next river. rough roads, but my kind of riding. came across a landslide that stranded two "chibas" (remote-bound buses without doors so the passengers can bail incase of rollover; reminiscent of "romancing the stone") but was able to push through the none too happy band of strandees. i didn't expect to make Isnos either, expected to camp, but as the sun was setting i got a glimpse of the village nestled down valley and was super motivated for a shower and some street food on the plaza.


Ride Stats: 38-km, 3:10-hrs (5800', 80degs -- 6050', 70degs). Epic ride starting at 3pm: two huge descents and corresponding climbs back up, each over 1200' in short steep switchback descents and ascents.

San Agustine

Toured the archeological sites and splurged on a guide. The dude was amazing as well as amusing, spoke 7 languages (so he claims, but his english was excellent) and made looking at ruins a truly educational experience.

Finally, some good coffee where coffee is grown. Hard to get anything but nescafe in this country!

Timana -- San Agustine

i'm in the deep south, at least as deep as i'm going to get this trip. i'm further south than i had planned at the expense of more andes-time in the north, but i don't regret a moment.

san agustine is a tourist town and i was finally looking forward to the flood of tourists that i'd imagined... a sort of kao san road, piccadilly circus, or thamel of the hilly colombian south. i was looking forward to speaking in my native tongue for the first time in over a week. its an important archeological area with dozens of colonies of rock carvings dating back to like mayan times.... civilizations. tomorrow i may get out on a horse or maybe i'll save the money and take my iron horse instead.

i was told i had 7-kms to go and was just cruising along through beautiful canyons and expecting at worst a short "kicker" into town, because thats the way it seems to be here... every town is perched. but people all along the way have been oohing and aahing that i was riding a bike to san agustine, and i have a colombian guide book solely in spanish that gives good riding distance and elevation information that shows huge climbs in places there we only minor ones. disappointed, no. just pleasantly surprised because i've found plenty of off-piste climbs with which to punish myself (more on that when i do some catching up). so 5 kms from town the road turned up, and up, and it just kept going right on into the center of town... it was of epic steepness, and the slight tailwind didn't do a thing to help except create a windless pocket around me so that the sun and heat slow roasted me. 1500' in those 5 k. but the scenery: waterfalls, jungle turning to dry prairie as i ascended, and the magdelena river boiling below, a river i've been following for over 800 kms and had crossed many times as it slowly wound its fat self north... now here i was nearing its source.

but no tourists. not even at the hostel that i booked into as its only guest. finally, here, at this internet cafe with rasta music flowing did i find them... and some friends i'd made in bogota.

last night i tented-it in the wilds for the first time this trip. pulled into Timana late (as i've come to expect from myself), and i went straight for a jugaria for my favorite: a guanabana smoothy (accent on the second a). then inquired about hotels and decided i couldn't affort 12.000 pesos ($6), so i decided i'd suffer some and camp. but first, to eat. used the bathroom of the restaurant and took my towel and a change of clothes, so the showerhead provided the perfect 1 min shower i needed to feel nice for the evening. a plato colombiano: rice, potatoes, carne, fried plantains, frijoles along with fresh juice and a bowl of soup all for 3.000 pesos... $1.50. i can afford that, and did... for lunch earlier. its always hard hitting the road for a tent spot when your full of food and contentment, and its dark and ... Timana had nice vibes and i'd have preferred to kick-it in the plaza for the evening, but adventure isn't always for the faint at heart. and the road wasn't kind: it was pitch black and the road went up. i climbed up slowly thinking i'd find a good spot any minute but it was more like 30 before i MADE a place to tent, dammit. worked out great despite its proximity to "people", and despite all the early risers there was no one who harrassed me all morning as in india and in other such parts of my traveling realms (i almost expect entire villages to wake me up each morning and smother me with unwanted attention... i can wake up grumpy). this morning i was packed and on the road by 7:30 ready for a short ride with lots of climbing. you know most of the rest.


ride stats: 58-km, 3:05 hrs. Timana: 3300' elevation, 85 degs, SA: 5500', 74 deg.

Gigante -- Timana

(written 3/22) I was at another Cuerpo de Bomberos (firestation) last night and they'd given me a room with a bunk, so there was no tent hassel this time and so i was rolling early. but i went out via the plaza (every town has a plaza as its heart with church and jardin) to see this giant tree, la ciedra, which the fireman raved about, and so i got stuck at a cafe just enjoying. another late start afterall.

by the way, I was informed by some traveling friends who've spent literally years in south america that they stayed with bomberos while in colombia (pierre and janick, google "ring of fire, cycling tour"), and so i first gave it a try in Girardot but they denied me because i wasn't a fireman (but neither are p&j so i kept at it), but it worked out because i stayed in the home of some locals that night and had a neat experience.

back to the day: i decided to take an alternate route because i know i'd be two more days to San Agustine anyway, and thought i should get back off the main road for another day. no one tried to shy me away from this route as they would if it were remotely steep, so i thought it might just dip into the hills and traverse. oh no! i went straight up for 15-kms, and then when i got to my destination town and had eaten my pastiles (amazing things, huge fried momo-like things with everything in them:rice potato meat and hard boiled egg) the road continued up even more, above 5200' from Gigante at 3200'. ouch. then the pavement ended and i had 20km on tough but sweet dirt tracks for another 20km through some insane jungle and remote pueblos. i was an alien, and one kid i chatted with for some time said that no american nor european has ever been to his town. i doubt that, but probably not too many. this little detour completely worked me over but i made up for it with a huge lunch and some great chillaxin in an intermediate town.

i'm sure it seems as though i've just been riding, moving all the time, but i'll fill you in on something: this traveling stuff isn't ALL work. its possible for chillaxin to coexist with adventure even though the best adventure generally involves a bit of suffering. there is so much silence and space out here on the road. i'm a cowboy riding along with the locusts and the pajarros as my song, vultures floating lazy on the hot air, and i taking long midday siestas for beers on the porches of small town haciendas with rough, machette totin, hard drinking colombianos or on the verandas of cafes being served by latino beauties the fresh blended smoothies that i order one after the other which are made from fruits you've never heard of and couldn't pronounce anyway. its a good life out here: hard work to keep pushing on, but it beats the seat of a bus.

Ride Stats: 108-kms, 6:20 hours. Gigante 3200', Tres Esquinas 5200', Timana 3400'.

Trivia: did you know Shakira is from Colombia. Barranquilla.

Tello -- Gigante

trying to get some pics up from San Agustine, but the connection is demasiado despacio, sooooo slow!

party pics from the feria in Tello... can you say RRRUMMMMMBAA!

--an incredible latino orchestra played all night and shook booty from 10-5am!
--dooglah shakin it up on stage: lured up on mainstage again and made a "premio" for free shirt.
--knockin back the bravas and telling tall travel tales (in san agustine).

Feria de Tello: Layover Day 2

more pics from the fiesta:

(coming later...)




but did you know that Colombia is the second biggest mint for US $ in the world?

Feria de Tello: Layover Day

I hate to jump the gun because there is still time for an abduction or trip ruining theft, but these people are amazing! truly some of the best people to travel amongst than i have ever experienced. i expected kind, open, warm and hospitable, and they are all that, but i did not expect tranquillo... my single biggest fear of traveling in latin america was the fear of machismos. no pasa nada! they are inquisitive and talkative, but they have a sense of personal space and i´m unmolested until i break the ice. its partly because they´re not used to tourists or travelers and so i pass through the radar. reassessing the dangers still my biggest danger is the opportunist.

so much has happened since i rode out of bogota that its a blur. i don´t think i´ve ever passed through such a diversity of landscapes and variety of people in all my travels.

Day 1- over an hour to get through town and it was a crazy bout of rush hour, but at about 25-kms i was in the clear. looking forward to the big descent into the abyss of heat and sun. it had been chilly in bogota, its the general climate there at 8500´, and so i was part longing and part dreading the weather that was awaiting me below. but before the plunge i had a 5-km surprise, straight up. i felt as though i were climbing the rim of a crater to extract myself and that i was dropping into a cauldron. at this final summit a ¨parador ciclistas¨ awaited me, and two caballeros who greated me with ¨bienvenidos a colombia!¨, and even though i´d been in colombia for almost a week i was now entering ¨colombia¨.

i passed through eco-zones faster than i could recognize them and rode the breaks to slow my descent. its easy to drop at over 100´per minute (says my watch), and so in 10-mins i could descend 1000´and miss so much. i rode the breaks and rubbernecked. i went so slow and stopped so much that it got dark before i could plan my arrival in a village or find a camp spot. it had been raining most of the way -- no shit, i was in dense ass jungle ever since plunging from the desert summit, but now i had to spend my first day on the road riding in the dark. i came to the pueblo of La Mesa and got a room for more than i´d wanted, but i didn´t even consider the options. it was $5, what the hell.... i was wet and cold and had a bed and a shower. ahhh, there´s another great thing that i missed about traveling in tropical climes: cold showers are always so invigorating no matter how hot its been!

it rained so hard while eating dinner that night along the main street that everyone pulled off and it became a virtual river spilling over its 4¨curbs. 75-kms, 4-hours, 4000´descent.

Day 2- Mira, there´s no way i can catch up now and give a blow by blow, it´d probably bore us both to death to do so in one sitting, so we´ll both take a break and i´ll get back to the party thats going on outside. alright, i´ll tell you about the latest:

two nights ago i camped in the back yard of un estacion de los bomberos (firestation) in a very small town 3-days out of bogota. they told me about a desert nearby and so the next morning i headed off in that direction. two boys lead me out on their bikes and they guided me into an adventure i had quite expected. the firemen made it sound like a paved road and so were it not for these kids i would have certainly turned back, and so we went out through marshland and mud until we finally came to the river. one boy whistled across the river and eventually the boatman came across and picked me up (have you ever read siddharta?). there were two crossings to get to the main banks and i came to one of the oldest towns in all of colombia: villavieja. this was the gateway town to El Desierto. super interesting town, and after a memorable morning there i finally wandered out into the desert. crappy roads but so amazing... it was utah-esque and i spent the entire day out there. trying to get out was another matter because i expected paved road and instead had 15-kms and 2-hours riding and pushing. i came to the crest of this hill and expected futility, another glimpse across a valley of nothing but desert or jungle and a rode cuttting through it, but no... a village! i made it out just in time for a meal before nightfall. i always ending riding in the dark. the trend continued because i was told of a feria in the next town, 15km away and just had to come see. i got here in the dark and the celebrations had just kicked off.

i ended up going out with a bigwig who was the only other guest staying at my hotel (hotels are just peoples houses out here in the small towns) and he took me up on the mainstage and i made one of opening remarks of the weekend festival. we went to a cockfight, hung out in the disco tent, but we were back at the hotel, dead, by 930 and the party really got going at 10 and lasted all night. i heard the last of the fireworks at 5am this morning. and this is a small town, mind you.

by rough calculation i´m about 450 riding kilometers from bogota... completely amazing place and not the least fear of danger. its reputation probably makes it safer as these people don´t know how to react to a gringo when they see one.

tomorrow i´m off further south, to san augustine which should take me a few days through more jungleish stuff... its been mostly desert for a few days now. the plan is then to popoyan, then back northwards into coffee country.

con mucho amore from tello, colombia!

Aipe -- Tello

Ride Stats: 59-kms, 4:50-hrs (1500', 90-degs).

El Dia de los Bicicletas

another big day today on the bike. sunday is the day of the bike here in bogota as many of the streets are completely closed to all motorized vehicles and so bikes and rollerblades and joggers take them back! but i didn´t even go into the city today, and instead hit the hills and did an epic ride out over a pass and to a town i was told i shouldn´t miss. 110 kms today and two buggers of a climb. at the top of the pass i came across seemingly hundreds of cyclists, they were everywhere, and it was quite a festive mood.

ready to split, but...

trying to get out of town today but was denied at the US embassy because of their wacky hours, so i thought it important enough to stick around to register my passport... at the insistence of my abduction coordinator. took the opportunity to hit the streets of la candelaria district to do some touristy things for once. nice to have a day off the bike.

some neat nooks and crannies with amazing little euro style cafes, and the refreshing things is that it is not meant for tourists but the locals. tourism hasn´t had much impact on this place, yet, and its always a good thing. why is it that we destroy the things we love: tourism really can have such negative impacts upon a place, not to mention how cynical the people can become towards foreigners once they get used to you. colombia is naive in that sense, and the people hardly notice you since you are so unexpected. i expect that with increased tourism here what we enjoy about this place, what we come here to find, we ourselves have destroyed.

did i mention the recent elections in colombia and its effects? oh, the effects were tremendous! no alcohol was served or sold for 3-days leading up to the election. this was hard on many travelers but they seemed to find ways. i had expected to mellow things out for a few days around the hostel, but herman, the owner of the platypus, had supplies to last 2-days, so it became an oasis in a desert of beerlessness, and so it got pretty wild around here. the elections went smoothly although 7 or 8 politicians were reportly killed in a southern district of the country. turns out i'm headed that way, but it won´t be a problem. the excitement is over, but unfortunately the national elections come about one week after i leave and so the tension will probably continue to rebuild until that time which means more road blocks and more security by the national police.

can´t get pics to post!

Ciclorutas

last night i was up late again chatting in the platypus lobby with travelers from the world over and drinking Brava´s from the hostel fridge, and so I got a late start on the day. made my own juego de mango-papaya-plantain (and protein powder) for breakfast... there is a serious juice culture here in colombia, how could there not be, there are tropical fruits on every corner, and i hear that on the carribean side of things its even more insane... que bueno!

legs were heavy and knackered this morning but eager to ride and explore other parts of bogota. through the yuppie parts, zona rosa and zona-t, and found the most incredible bike path that lead clear across town and dumped me out on autopista norte which pretty much sucked, so i took the first exit that i could (10-kms later), doublebacked on a small hardly used road which took me back into town. 4-hours on the bike. as usual, stopped mid-ride for fried plantain and arepa (corn tortilla thing con queso) at a roadside tent.

after the first days of afternoon rains the skies have cleared and the sun overly intense. the heat and sun in the lower parts of the country kind of worry me, but i look forward to adjusting my days around this. the heat is tough, but i have many fond memories of wicked heat in india with early morning sessions, midday roadside siestas and swims in ponds, then riding well into darkness. i{m wondering what kind of rituals and interactions with the people i'll have here in colombia?

apparently even my companions here at the hostel who´ve traveled throughout colombia think i´m crazy. this surprises me because all that i´ve spoken with here feel that colombia is not as dangerous as venezuela nor brazil, so i have to account these fears on the fact that most are afraid of being alone in the arms of the people. most backpackers travel exclusively from city to city, hostel to hostel, with only the occasional foray into the small towns and villages, and usually with a companion. after setting out into so many other daunting journeys that were unknown and considered dangerous (across tibet, through the poorest regions of india to name a few) i feel as though i know what to expect: hospitable people who will be surprised and excited, honored i{m told, to find a foreigner traveling through their country -- b/c most are aware of the worlds impression of colombia. i´ve learned the phrases regarding pitching my tent on their property and asking for the safest routes, and i expect to spend some nights camping on police and firestation grounds. i also expect hotels in the villages to be cheap, and i'm sure i'll take advantage of this.

lots of shakin

today was huge! it was one of those days when impressions and expectations merge and a feeling crystallizes of the future, and what this place is all about.

i come to colombia with a healthy dose of apprehension, mostly driven by the compassionate and sensible advice from friends (are you f-in crazy!?), but today i think i discovered a more approximate sense of the dangers that truly exist here, and so i will set out into the open arms of colombia and the hands of some of the most wonderful people. they seem interested, engaged, and stoked that i am here to meet them. sure, there are leftest guerillas, drug lords and narcos, but i think my biggest threat comes from the common and universal opportunist. yet i continue to embark upon my travels with a heightened sense of awareness and a desire to go without a certain brand of adventure. and if your thoughts turn to abductions i´ll have you know that i´ve already set aside a plan in just this instance, and so if i should fail to write for a spell (4-5 weeks), or if you receive a ransom note from my abductees, you might contact my Abduction Plan Manager at kristengavin@hotmail.com.

yesterday i piddled about town on my bike for almost 4-hours, but today i set out in earnest. hit the roads early, relatively, and headed the long way through city traffic (these people are near as chaotic nor machismo as i´d been lead to believe, in fact, they are quite lawful) to the northern hills of town that lead me up, up, up and over to a little villa called la calera. i hit some backroads beyond this for my daily dose of ¨enshallah¨, and found myself in remote colombia: the farming poor... reminded me again of nepal without the wicked terracing. the climb out of town was big, about 12 kilometers of winding and relentless steeps, and the drop down the backside from the crest was another 8 which i retraced later in the day after some off-piste adventure and lunch. 5-hours of big rides. crossed paths with some real cyclistas... hopefully i´ll be hooking up with some team action soon.

for $1.50 i picked up multiple kilos of tropical fruits including papaya, mango, orange, plantain, and one generous aguacate. threw some of each in the hostels blender along with a couple generous heaps of protein powder (vanilla, cocaine looking powder that i snuck in from the US) and at the bequest of friends M&C i had one of the most amazing homemade shakes.

along my route i was reminded of so many places i´ve been, once again. being back out at large in the world one can´t help being reminded of places traveled. the look of things, the smells, the sounds, the tastes, the trees and hills and lay of light...

there was recurring roadsign along the way today that read: "protejalo... puede ser su hijo" with a bike symbol next to it. translation: "protect him: he could be your son".

amen.

Bogotá, COLOMBIA

the sights and sounds during the first 24-hours always make such an impression. a cool rain blew in from the forest hills this morning and the exotic smells of amazonia were amazing... the trees hang heavy along the avenues which makes it hard to believe we´re at over 8000 feet. but i could feel it in my lungs during my rides today. the city isn´t as big nor dirty nor traffic ridden or crazy as i expected, but i suspect it has something to do with having ridden and traveled in asian cities.

i´m having a hard time pegging this place: the inner city streets remind me of the low slung villas of central mexico but the outlaying barrios perched along the mountain forests remind me of the decay of the himalayan cities, with their unfinished and eroding cement houses, and i´m wanting to find nuggets of spain here but i´m not quite finding the quality... in the architecture, food, cafes and tavernas.

manu chao is in the house! i caught his last of 2-shows in bogota tonight, que suerte!

already thinking about hitting the road, not finding much in this town yet to keep me around but i´ll give it another couple of days. wish i could post some pics but i don´t see a USB port here... i´ll dig around more tomorrow. ciao!

Renton USA -- Airport -- Renton USA: Es la Vida!

sitting here in the confines of the Peterson's home i'm thankful that i was denied departure from my homeland as opposed to entry into Colombia. There's nothing worse than being turned away from a border entry and having nowhere to go: yes, i've been there before (pakistan-india ordeal), and although its a good story its not one i choose to relive. and thats the way of adventure in general: the best stories are made from the most epic of ordeals, and although they giveth thee loads of character its not something you often cherish "during the fact".

there's a new law on the books, apparently, that tattered passports aren't valid. so the cold-blooded ticket lady at the Continental check-in desk calmly told me that i'd have to get a new passport before i could leave the country. i also remained calm knowing through much experience that she would come around: she'd say something like "okay, but just this time though", and i'd be on the plane and off to south america to deal with my passport another time. but no, she never waivered. she sent me back home unpacking. i had to call mar and christ to come back and get me, and they took it easier than i did. hurrah for great friends.

si, es la vida!

i've got an appointment this afternoon at the passport agency where i'm told i can get it all done today, and so i'm booked on the same flight for tomorrow.... arriving in Bogota same time, same flight, just different day. tonight i get to eat asian and hit a comedy show with the Peterson's and then hopefully some serious sleep. after last nights epic missions of preparation i'm most stoked on that prospect... i'm tired of traveling tired!

Snoqualmie USA: Final Rites/Race of Winter

I arrived at the startline with a pair of borrowed boots and skis that I'd never been on, and about 1-minute to spare before the start of the Kongersberger 50km freestyle race (thats cross-country skiing in the skate discipline, for any non-skiers tuning in). No warmup, but I was on the Madshus reps skis so I knew I'd at least have a decent wax.

I hope I have time later to include a more thorough race report here, it was eventful, but unfortunately now's not the time. In summary though, I ended up finishing in a good 6th place after feeling like I couldn't possibly even finish, a result that I'm pretty proud of. It was a PVR sort of race (personal victory result) in which I was encouraged by those little victories throughout, and not my final placing. Cross-country is not like a bike race where you feel as though you always have at least a remote shot at the podium and so you are let down by just about anything else. At the start of yesterdays ski race I would have been uber happy about a top 10-12th place finish.

I can tell I'm going to be sore after this one! Guess I don't have to worry about recovering for my next ski... probably won't be until next November!

d's race report:
As i hurried up towards the hut to register and gear-up a mere 20-minutes from the race start, I came across Madshus rep Peter Hale who asked me how things were going: i mentioned my lack of wax on the skis, and within 5-minutes I was set up in the latest hot-off-the-press Madshus race boots and was shoved off to register while Peter waxed up a set of Hypersonic's for me. Peter handed me the skis on my way to the start line with barely minutes to spare. As we 50+ racers stood ready at the start line the announcer discussed the race particulars and I re-adjusted my boot laces. with 1-minute to go I still had both boots open and was lacing them up, and Peter was trying to help me as I nervously fuddled with the laces in my ski gloves. i zipped up the last boot and slipped my glove into my pole strap just as the announcer counted down from 3-2-1... we were off!

Pic: This pic must have been snapped seconds before the race: thats me on the far left in the seond row, and thats Peter bending down to rebuckle my boot with less than 5-seconds to go.

I hadn't warmed up but the incredible wax on the skis had my gliding right up into the racers in front of me: i'd never had too good a wax before! i was able to double-pole in the tracks the first 3-km while everyone else skated and jockeyed for position, and this helped me to warm up enough by the time we hit the hills.

The race was five 10-km loops. It was a large 20+ lead pack for the first two laps and it was paired down to just 8 of us sometime during lap 3. at one point i looked back and was surprised to see nobody, and then i prepared for the attacks which i expected to soon come. Sure enough, midway through lap 3 i noticed a good sized gap opening up between the two guys in front of me but i expected it to be quickly closed. then i heard the gasp which meant this guy was cooked, but by the time i got around him the gap had grown. i spent half a lap chasing the duo ahead of me and watched as the lead group of 4 quickly pulled away.

in lap 4 i caught the two before me and led one of them into the final climbs. it was between the two of us for 5th and 6th and i did the bulk of the leading up the climbs, but he jumped me on a hill and it was then i realized that it would be hard to pass him for the finish. after a sharp corner 100-yards from the line i made a move to the inside but he cut me off, so I moved outside and he drifted out... my ski simultaneously caught a track and his ski and i went down, easily giving him the vee and i limped in slowly in 6th place.

Olympia USA

on friday i boogied down to olympia to get some help on the bike. BA mechanic chris trued the wheels and helped get the rest to tip top. DQ drove up from portland to give me back my bike bag he used for his Hawaii tours and talked me into an evening ride. then he talked me into sticking around for a race the next day at nearby Mason Lk. bad idea, i thought, but went along anyway.

i ended up not racing but only because i haven't yet renewed my racing license, and its a good thing i didn't race because i definately didn't have the legs to even sit on. i put in 45-miles latching onto various fields of racers (cat4's, women, mastersA/B) and felt worked enough as it was, and wonder now if my overdoing it might force me to miss tomorrows ski race. i headed up here to snoqualmie to chillax with the chilluns for an evening and had a wonderful almost-last meal with sister and co.

another early morning tomorrow for the race. i'm most worried about doing 50km in this warm weather with no fresh wax, no flouro's, and on my cold weather skis.

Chiwawa: Failing Winter

The door is all but closed behind me here at the cabin and the car is packed while a steady rain falls on the snow outside. This says "spring" to me, which is good for my psyche because I've been feeling pretty regretful about leaving here when winter is still in full swing. There is still so much good skiing to be had, a few more races in the legs, and backcountry skiing is just getting good. But no looking back and no regrets -- hell, no complaints! -- I'm off to the tropics. Done with skis for the season, its back on the bike.

Last night I shaved my legs, the first commitment to cycling that I make every year about this time. But this time my sleek, chicken feeling legs won't be hidden under jeans and tights for another couple months... they'll be diggin on that warm tropical sun. First few days of riding with shaved legs are like skinny dippin. Freedom!

This is my final weekend in Seattle and I'm finalizing the bike and seeing friends. A friend is anxious to hear about my plans. Plans?