Antonio had the idea to weigh our bikes on one of those truck weigh stations on the PanA. Highway. Here is the result: together James and I including bikes weigh 250kg. James rode off the scale and left was 125kg. (me and my bike). Amazing how J. and I carry the same weight - I swear we didn't even try. I do have to admit that he is carrying the tent (me the pools though..) and two (yes two) sleeping bags. Together we have three...I am not sorry to say, because I KNOW it is going to get freezing ass cold up there in the Andes. A cold night spend before and/or after cycling a long hard distance is not my idea of a good trip. There is plenty of room for discomfort, but, as long as I can eliminate what I can control, I will do my best. (if anybody wants to know: I carry my Uggs as well!) The load of the bikes in numbers is what I expected - so, no surprise there but I was happy to learn James and I share the same burden. There is something to be said about momentum....we ride pretty darn fast down those roads and up the other side - rollers are fun! OK, we all were pretty pooped when we reached the town of Piendamo which is the turn off to Silvia. There was no discussion - the chicken bus didn't run, so we took a taxi to the little village. I know I wouldn't have made that 18km climb - all together 28km to Silvia at 5:30pm. I was SO DONE! The adventurous part was watching the guys tie the bikes onto the truck.....Everybody was pretty confident the bikes will stay put in the truck.
I didn't have much to say - just hoped for the best. It was dark and cold when we got to Silvia 2400m high in the Andes. (and this is just the beginning) Couldn't see the beautiful valley, just sensed it. It was there - the moon showed "his" (in German the moon is male, in spanish female) face to give us an idea of the beauty around us. Wow, the world we live in!! We pushed the bikes to the finca, were greeted by - as it turned out in the morning- the honey man. He gave us sweet, juicy mangos and honey for breakfast the next day. That night we had fish dinner at the plaza and went straight to bed afterwards. The night was so quiet - the full moon our witness. The next day started cold and clear and beautiful. The sun was up before us and it promised to get nice and hot. The ride out of the valley was even more amazing than I expected. Our bellies full of honey and mango - we had some cafe and pastries at the plaza I was in awe and stayed in it the whole ride back to Piendamo where we said our thanks and good byes to Erik and Antonio who rode back to Cali that day. James and I are off to Popayan.
