Kiwigal999's travel blogs:
|
|
  | |  |
The mountain bike ride from hell.. Volcano Maderas
Entry 10 of 30 | show all | print this entry |
Karen wisely decided to go for a walk around the island visiting the local organic farm.
Justine and I decided to hire some mountain bikes and do the 38 km cycle around the Maderas Volcano. We decided that we could probably cycle 10km an hour and it should take us about 5 hours given some breaks. What we didnt realise was how hard it was going to be. It started well with a nice sandy road, undulating slightly and a few rocks but still quite nice. This lasted about 5kms and then it turned into a rocky highway, there were parts that were just volcanic rocks and we had to get off and walk our bikes both up and down hills, going down was scariest as my brakes really didnt work very well and i just kept picking up speed. Not a fun thing when trying to dodge the big rocks, puddle and holes in the 'road'. Having seen some of the local walking their bikes down the hills we decided there was no shame in doing the same thing.
Basically you just had to pick your way through rocks and decide which was going to be the less painful route. it always helped when a local rode past but soon enough they zoomed off. They didnt seem to notice the heat!
Initially we werent sure about going through some of the puddles as they were the width of the road and it was impossible to see the depth of them but we followed a few locals through puddles and decided they were harmless..... oh no they werent and Justine fearless rode into the middle of one and started to sink in the mud, no time for worrying about dirtying her shoes, she abandoned bike and got back to dry land. I nearly joined her as my brakes were as reliable as ever!
She fished her bike out and we went around the edge of that one. By now, we had been cycling for about 3 hours but with her usual accurate navigation skills Justine determined that we werent even half way around. We asked a couple of gals passing by and sure enough we were just under half way around and getting low on water. the map showed the next third of the road was 'not suitable for vehicles' and there was no water facilities for the next 10 kms.
Given we were already a few kms into the 'not suitable for vehicles' section of road we decided to head back. Just as well as now it was midday and the sun was very hot and soon I was getting quite dehydrated, dreaming of a large coke bottle. It was slow going as I was thirsty and knackered, we were hoping that a bus or truck would come past but no such luck for an hour so on we went.
Back on nicer but still rocky terrain, we stopped for break and a bus came pass but it was full, a truck also came pass but that was also full. We decided to head on and 20 metres later we came across a roadside cafe... we immediately stopped and downed two cokes each and brought a large bottle of water, never has a coke tasted so good. and what an amazing change, i was full of energy and ready to go on., only 6 kms to go home and the last three were on good roads.
So we were out in 35 deg heat on our bikes for 7 hours and whilst some of it was really nice, some of it was just painful.
so the lessons learnt,
- mountain biking on volcanic roads is a nightmare, dont do it
- take loads more water
- bike seats need more padding
- bikes need brakes
- bikes need more than 3 gears
- when the map says not suitable for vehicles, it means bikes as well!
- coke is good!
- motorcycling is better
Needless to say we spent the rest of the day hiding in the shade and dipping in the lake (to wash off all the mud!
Life is still good but the butt hurts a lot!
Latest Comments (2)
|
what's new? (reply)
Dec 24, 2007 07:36 EST by pblancha
goodness what a meal to make over a simple cycle 'round the block! Good to hear your news, but what's new?
Crimbo tomorrow, have a good one wherever you are now
|
|
|
My bum's sore just reading this entry (reply)
Dec 23, 2007 15:36 EST by shartupp
Holy cow - what a ride!!!!!
Its Christmas Eve Day over here - and we haven't heard from you guys in a while.... Hope all is well and that you are continuing to have a fantastic adventure in South America.
..............Merry Christmas........
|
 Post a new comment |
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries by kiwigal999, from Nicaragua or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
Send a message
2 votes 
