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.)