After a nice breakfast of juice, coffee and tasty rolls with jam and eggs, we were ready to attack the day. The group rolled out of the hotel at Latacunga at 8am to ride about 50kms to the lunch truck. The road was gently undulating for the first 30kms then the group splintered to pieces. Barry and I rode with Michelle, Jerg, Rien, Patrick and a couple of others I'll get to know as the tour progresses.
The final climb to the lunch stop was about 15kms long at a gradient of 8 degrees. At least it was hot like it was yesterday. The scenery was mountains all around us as far as the eye could see. We rode through a couple of towns which looked like they were about to fall down at any moment. Dogs, trucks, buses and taxis all had to be avoided as they made there way over the road without any concern for the impending cyclists.
As we crested the summit it was smooth sailing to the lunch stop. Once again our good friend Buck missed the lunch truck and rode on without any food supplies. With a nice lunch on the side of the road, Barry and I left and rode on at our own pace. We were now at around 2800 metres and we still had 30kms to go to reach the summit before the drop down into our destination for the day, Riobamba.
As soon as we reached the base of the climb Barry and I took turns in setting the pace. We managed to catch up to Buck who was travelling well considering he missed out on lunch. He's such an easy going chap and pleasant to hang with. I'm sure I'll get to meet more as we head south to the end of the world.
I set the first 30 minutes and then Barry took over. Barry was setting a very good pace and at times my legs were burning like hell. I had to take my share of the work regardless of how sore my legs were. If there is any consolation from the ride, it was the fact my legs didn't hurt 1/2 as much as they did yesterday.
We crested the summit at around 12.30 after 1 hour and 30 minutes of climbing to reach an altitude of 3611 metres above sea level. Now it was time to be rewarded for all the hard work of today with a 20km drop down into town. We roared down that mountain as fast as our bikes will allow us, reaching speeds in excess of 70kph. As we crested the summit our riding partner Rien caught up to us. We all got together and rode the final stretch into town to finish our 101 km ride at around 1.30pm.
In total we climbed 1720 metres over 101 kms. A tough day and loved every minute of it. We checked into our room and took my clothes off to have a nice hot shower only to find there was not hot water. Not happy at all. All I could have was a wash with a face towel. I'm sure a bit of spray will kill the odour for tomorrow.
After getting dressed I walked across the road and entered a tourist train station which provides train trips into the surrounding country side. Unfortunately we missed the train, but did get to see it arrive. It's like a bus with wheels and I think would be great fun for 1/2 a day, We hope to catch up with the train later on in the journey.
Now for the interesting part of the afternoon. Whilst sitting down in the train station two ladies came up to me and wanted to try their English with me. To cut the story short, they each took turns asking me questions and having me reply in perfect English. They were English students at the local university. For 30 minutes they filmed both interviews asking similar questions. I didn't mind as I remember my days at university and I needed as much help as possible to pass. The photo below are the 2 ladies who interviewed me.
Now I'm getting tired and I need to hit the sack. 9pm is bed time around this place. Tomorrow is more climbing and hopefully sunny weather. Due to the slow internet at the hotel, I'll post a more comprehensive story about the region in the next couple of days.
Until tomorrow, safe riding.
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