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.