Day 8 Oña, day 9 Loja, rest day in Loja. Line in the sand.

Day 8 Oña (pronounced on ya), line in the sand

On leaving Cuenca which I quite liked, we had a big day ahead. 109km with 1817 metres (6000 feet) of climbing. Some of which had up to 11% slope.

You may have noticed that I don't mention the exploits of my fellow riders too often. This is mostly because I ride at my own pace, and currently at the back. So I don't see too much of the goings on such as who uses strategy and that sort of thing. I do however hear some good stories. I'm just not much good on passing on stories second hand. I do mention people however, and if you're curious to see who they are, and perhaps follow a link to their own site if they have one, you can find it here.

I don't mind riding solo, it gives room for my mind to wander and take in my surroundings. Very enjoyable. I'm also used to living by myself, so this it also gives me a moment to take a break from the busy activity of sharing space with 26 other people. Activities such as contributing to group decisions such as when and where to eat etc, is something I'm not used to. I'm used to: I have to do something, go find it, do it. Done. My pace doesn't match anyone's either. I'm quick on the downhills where mass vs area presented to the air counts, and slow on the uphills. So really I can only ride with people on the flats, with is an extremely rare thing so far.

So the day starts with 30km of first getting out of Cuenca, then going through gently undulating countryside.

Morning chill out

The climbs began after the morning's meditation of countryside coasting. Some very steep and long climbs. Once again I had to get a few hundred metres then stop to catch my breath. This was beginning to be a good day however, even on the 11% slopes I rode them. Not walked. This is a big step compared to how I started over a week ago.

By around 2pm I had reached the lunch truck. Way behind the rest of the riders. I didn't care, I still felt good. I hadn't hit the wall (run out of energy, with nothing left) like I had done previously after a tough morning. I was gently encouraged to join the truck given I still had roughly 50km to go, and 4 hours of daylight left. I decided this day however, I was capable of completing the day. So after lunch, I went on.

There was a HUGE downhill that went on and on. I went from having cold strong winds at the peak of the mountain I'd climbed up near the layer of clouds, down to the bottom of a valley with warmth and gentle winds.

I sent an SMS ahead at around 4:30pm and I was on the final climb for the day, 10km from the hotel, and began to climb. More 6-9% slopes. My legs were roasted by this stage, so there was a good portion of hike a bike. There were perhaps 6 kids not from our group also on the climb, and they weren't so keen for me to get too far past them. So it was a game of leap frog all the way up. I was cutting it fine however, towards the top, the sun was touching the horizon. I didn't miss the fact that the mountains at sunset are good to see, with the way the shadows moved across the valleys. By the time I reached town, it was beginning to get dark.

I received a very warm welcome. Didier was on the corner beside the flag marking the turnoff to the side street. He said they were almost getting worried. Almost. He then pointed to a bunch of people waving on a balcony of a building a little up a small hill, they were some of the other riders welcoming my arrival at the night's hostel. A nice touch. When I stopped at the hostel, I received a good many congratulations. Colin mentioned to me that sometimes a person should draw a line in the sand, and go for it. It was my day to do that. Not a bad place to do it either, finishing in a place pronounced as "on ya", which for us Australians is short for "good on you". A first full ride of one of the longer and tougher days.

At this point I had the unique occasion of putting my bike in a shed, beside some coffins. Whether they were occupied or not I couldn't be sure, but I didn't smell anything unusual. Before you think it, I didn't stink to mask the smell. The air is very dry, so it's a challenge to get sweaty and smelly. Well, unless you have something that stops the shirt breathing like a backpack, which I carry, but that's a minor detail. It just means any stink I allegedly may or may not have trails behind me, which I can't detect. Much like the vapour trail skunk Pepe le Pew leaves trailing behind him in the cartoons when he hops along.

Finishing off the day, an enjoyable dinner for $2 at a place run by who Malcolm called Ecuador's spice girls. 4 elderly ladies who have run the place since who knows when. Well, I don't know when. This visit by bike dreams however finds there's only 1 of these ladies left. The 3rd of them had passed away 8 days earlier. It was Fred's birthday, so out comes a cake that Kirsten had put together. How she did it whilst on the move like we are each day, I'm quite impressed. Good cake.

Day 9, Loja. Discretion

Another big day. One of the toughest. 110km, with 2471 metres (8100 feet) of climbing.

This time I did listen to advice backed by experience, and sat out the first half of the day. So that made my day roughly 50km and 800 metres of climbing.

The morning starts with 2 large climbs, with subsequent descents. It can play with a person's mind putting all that work into gaining the altitude, only to lose it, then climb it again. Some people tried it the other way round by riding from the beginning, and later found themselves riding the truck into the town, and missing the easier 2nd half of the day. Then of course there's the majority who through various levels of ability made it through the entire day.

Whilst riding in the truck, for the first time I was able to see how each of my fellow riders get along as we passed them, and in what order. The truck also stopped for 15 minutes at a local market, where there's mostly traditional dress of of wearing mostly black, both men and women. They're rather shy and not too keen on photos. People such as Yolande and Malcolm would make great paparazzi photographers, very good at shooting from the hip. Just remember to turn off the flash perhaps?

After a quick lunch, those of us who were in the truck started off. Starting with 10km of downhill. I had to try to stop grinning, as my wide smiling mouth was catching bugs and causing me to slow down from catching all the air. I was in the front! Until the climb that is. Climbing is what makes me the slowest. More specifically that I have to catch my breath. I'm losing around 2 or 3 hours per day in total just in rest stops. Usually between 20 seconds or a minute in length, yet there's many of them. They'll decrease as we continue.

On the final downhill I caught Ilkka from Finland. A quietly spoken and likeable guy. We ride into Loja, and combine our efforts navigating. It worked out well, and didn't find ourselves geographically embarrassed. A nice hotel waiting for us at the end. Of course after storing the bikes, there's soup and this time even brown bread rather than the easier to find white bread. Always a great way to finish off.

So the luxuries in life so far count as

1. Hot showers, usually they're lukewarm or cold
2. Brown bread. Only seen it once so far.
3. Working WiFi in hotels. When there's all of us people trying to use the internet, it usually crashes. Also the closer you are to the WiFi router, the better chances you have in keeping the connection. In the old days people huddled around a fireplace and talked to each other, now people huddle around a WiFi router and chat to the other side of the world.

Rest day in Loja

Wasn't too inclined to explore. Lee, James and myself have established where a good bakery/cafe, and where a good restaurant is with grilled steak and chicken. We did see some other places, but wow were they filthy. Couldn't shake the feeling that there's some unexpected extra flavours to be had in the food there!

On the Sunday night we did walk around a little, but it was a ghost town. Monday morning however, very busy.

Lee and myself did find a place to get the knots massaged out at a health shop. I felt so much better afterwards. Not so sore and tight in the leg muscles. My masseuse mentioned to Lee afterwards she was rather tired. Not surprising after the sudden change my muscles recently had been put through.

So the next few days shall prove interesting. The next day is 96km, yet 2273 metres of climbing, we'll have our first bush camp this week, 7 days of riding until the next rest day, and we also cross the border into Peru. 

Ecuador has been good to us. We've been lucky with the weather having clear days, being able to see the volcanoes rather than just cloud, the friendly people, the food, and already some historical sites. Reading through the well prepared guide we've all received, we have so much more to look forward to.

I'll get back to getting more photos on here as well. Hate to say it, the scenery and the towns are beginning to feel normal! Yet each place has its character.