life @ 13
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
south of the equator, and then some
sometimes i wonder if travelling like this is entirely selfish -- it's a feeling that's hard to resist after spending most of your life in school or working. maybe it's because most of us are so used to being in some kind of structured environment, working as a group toward some kind of progress or goal. when you're travelling there is no such goal -- all your time is clearly your own and your time is entirely what you make of it.
but the past week helped remind me that, quite possibly, it's the other way around, that not only does travelling tend to augment the individual, but it's a pretty damn good way to enhance the group as a whole.
anyway, the past week or so was well spent. for me, it was lots of good food, good sleep, good spanish practice, and more than a little glimpse into an entirely different culture. in exchange, i made lots of food for lots of people, helped watch and entertain 5 kids, did some typical household and bike repairs, played some violin (so far nobody i've met has heard a solo violin), and provided the best glimpse i could (in broken spanish) into life in the US.
i can't remember too much detail off the top of my head, but when i update the pictures later today or tomorrow i'll give some narrative in the captions
to quito was a good long day, over 100k and 2100m of climbing. we started as 4: me, julian, claudio, and enrique (the father). enrique rode with us up the first pass, from 2500m in octavalo to 3100 at the top...pretty impressive for someone who usually just bikes around a farm. claudio wasn't feeling great so at the top of the pass he let me and julian go ahead. the road descended down to 2000m, up to 2300, down to 2000 again, then up to 2850 into the Big City (as always, there are dips in the climbs). we ran into the owner of a bar we visited twice in octavalo along the way. with a week off, it took the heart and lungs an hour or two to get back into the swing of things, but once they did the body was in full force, flying up the climbs a good 1.5-2 km/h faster than usual -- aided by spectacularly temperate weather and cloud cover all day.
still not entirely sure how long i'm going to stay in quito...might be just a couple days or i might stay through the weekend. as i'm sure you've noticed, there hasn't been a whole lot of biking recently....but we here have decided that if all you care about is the biking, you might as well just stay at home, away from the microbes. (PS despite some opposition to them, i must admit that modern antibiotics are pretty damn close to a miracle drug)
sometimes i wonder if travelling like this is entirely selfish -- it's a feeling that's hard to resist after spending most of your life in school or working. maybe it's because most of us are so used to being in some kind of structured environment, working as a group toward some kind of progress or goal. when you're travelling there is no such goal -- all your time is clearly your own and your time is entirely what you make of it.
but the past week helped remind me that, quite possibly, it's the other way around, that not only does travelling tend to augment the individual, but it's a pretty damn good way to enhance the group as a whole.
anyway, the past week or so was well spent. for me, it was lots of good food, good sleep, good spanish practice, and more than a little glimpse into an entirely different culture. in exchange, i made lots of food for lots of people, helped watch and entertain 5 kids, did some typical household and bike repairs, played some violin (so far nobody i've met has heard a solo violin), and provided the best glimpse i could (in broken spanish) into life in the US.
i can't remember too much detail off the top of my head, but when i update the pictures later today or tomorrow i'll give some narrative in the captions
to quito was a good long day, over 100k and 2100m of climbing. we started as 4: me, julian, claudio, and enrique (the father). enrique rode with us up the first pass, from 2500m in octavalo to 3100 at the top...pretty impressive for someone who usually just bikes around a farm. claudio wasn't feeling great so at the top of the pass he let me and julian go ahead. the road descended down to 2000m, up to 2300, down to 2000 again, then up to 2850 into the Big City (as always, there are dips in the climbs). we ran into the owner of a bar we visited twice in octavalo along the way. with a week off, it took the heart and lungs an hour or two to get back into the swing of things, but once they did the body was in full force, flying up the climbs a good 1.5-2 km/h faster than usual -- aided by spectacularly temperate weather and cloud cover all day.
still not entirely sure how long i'm going to stay in quito...might be just a couple days or i might stay through the weekend. as i'm sure you've noticed, there hasn't been a whole lot of biking recently....but we here have decided that if all you care about is the biking, you might as well just stay at home, away from the microbes. (PS despite some opposition to them, i must admit that modern antibiotics are pretty damn close to a miracle drug)
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