life @ 13
Sunday, February 08, 2009
new wars, new enemies
the lows are OK
i'm sure everyone has this expererience at some point. when one or two things stop going your way, it's usually not a big deal, and you keep going and wait for them to pass. but if enough things happen and you reach the critical mass of bullshit, i think it's only natural to fall down a little
and fall i did. if we ever got into a deep conversation about cycling saftey, i would certainly point out that since i, personally, have made pretty much every mistake there is to be made on a bicycle, i am better off than most because i am pretty well aware of just about everything that can go wrong. but i found a new one (or a new combination).....a fairly rapidly-deflating front tire, moving at low speed, distracted by the little village i just entered, sand, and a turn. in my experience, most cycling accidents involve the bike sliding out from under you. this time, i'm moving pretty slowly, and the road rash was pretty minor. take out any one of those above circumstances, and only my feet touch the ground.
the bad news was the fall wasn't the bottom. i was up and running soon enough, the only real problem was that one of the scrapes was on my palm which did not make for much riding comfort (i'm really missing the bike shorts now, too). the next day, even though i could tell that my body had finally turned the corner and was going to start accepting and processing food in a more normal way, and i had done 1200m of climbing at an average 5% grade on a shitty road, and had met a couple good characters along the way (someone forced me to take $1), and had figured out how to deal with the endless dogs (bark loudly and carry a big stick), the real enemy appeared. the fucking clouds and rain.
i'm sure at the time i came up with numerous justifications for this, but i think in the end it was worth bruising my pride to keep the depression away...i took the bus out of the clouds. no big deal, really.
the good news is that i'm already regrouping. the bike has been slowly eating away at its chain, hopefully this will be fixed. i'm going to get rid of some stuff i'm not using...always feels good to be travelling light. i will get some bike shorts no matter what the cost. i met a dutch cyclist going the other direction on the way to cuenca...been riding with the same stuff for 25 years and had a really good spirit. somehow, i'm enjoying the constant bombardment of water balloons.
ecuador, in its humble way, is slowly growing on me, although i have to admit i miss the electricity of colombia. i have almost completely fixed my riding position on my little bike. my body is finally hungry like it's supposed to be.
pictures soon
the lows are OK
i'm sure everyone has this expererience at some point. when one or two things stop going your way, it's usually not a big deal, and you keep going and wait for them to pass. but if enough things happen and you reach the critical mass of bullshit, i think it's only natural to fall down a little
and fall i did. if we ever got into a deep conversation about cycling saftey, i would certainly point out that since i, personally, have made pretty much every mistake there is to be made on a bicycle, i am better off than most because i am pretty well aware of just about everything that can go wrong. but i found a new one (or a new combination).....a fairly rapidly-deflating front tire, moving at low speed, distracted by the little village i just entered, sand, and a turn. in my experience, most cycling accidents involve the bike sliding out from under you. this time, i'm moving pretty slowly, and the road rash was pretty minor. take out any one of those above circumstances, and only my feet touch the ground.
the bad news was the fall wasn't the bottom. i was up and running soon enough, the only real problem was that one of the scrapes was on my palm which did not make for much riding comfort (i'm really missing the bike shorts now, too). the next day, even though i could tell that my body had finally turned the corner and was going to start accepting and processing food in a more normal way, and i had done 1200m of climbing at an average 5% grade on a shitty road, and had met a couple good characters along the way (someone forced me to take $1), and had figured out how to deal with the endless dogs (bark loudly and carry a big stick), the real enemy appeared. the fucking clouds and rain.
i'm sure at the time i came up with numerous justifications for this, but i think in the end it was worth bruising my pride to keep the depression away...i took the bus out of the clouds. no big deal, really.
the good news is that i'm already regrouping. the bike has been slowly eating away at its chain, hopefully this will be fixed. i'm going to get rid of some stuff i'm not using...always feels good to be travelling light. i will get some bike shorts no matter what the cost. i met a dutch cyclist going the other direction on the way to cuenca...been riding with the same stuff for 25 years and had a really good spirit. somehow, i'm enjoying the constant bombardment of water balloons.
ecuador, in its humble way, is slowly growing on me, although i have to admit i miss the electricity of colombia. i have almost completely fixed my riding position on my little bike. my body is finally hungry like it's supposed to be.
pictures soon
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