Alpha got in at 1am (so I heard the next morning). His bike had to be built and the box shipped so Mike and Alpha were not on the road before 9:30. Bob left a little after 6am to get a head start. My plan was to Uber up the mountain and get out 15km from the top and ride the rest.
After getting Alpha's bike together which turned out to be a little tricky, I started lugging the bike container to the local Deprisa while they rode all geared up for the big climb. After a block I realized the container might roll well in an airport but not along the irregular streets and sidewalks of Colombia. I called an Uber. We drove around in circles for a bit and finally found it nowhere near where both Google and Uber thought it was.
Container shipped. I said goodbye and went back to the hotel and got myself ready. Out the front door of the hotel I ordered an Uber. He had a bike rack and off we went. The wrong direction because he didn't look at his route but I straightened him out. Then he tried to take the non-toll road because he didn't or couldn't pay the toll. I said I would pay the tolls and we had some trouble getting on the freeway. He was a pretty skilled driver in town but didn't seem to have much (or any) toll road experience.
On the road we passed Mike and Alpha about the 12km mark and they looked strong. I took some pictures out of the window.
As we got near my drop off point which was about an hour's drive, it was getting steeper and steeper. I was having concerns that I could ride 15km of this. Then I saw Bob walking uphill pushing his bike. We stopped. He was spent. We put his bike on the rack and at that point I decided I would go all the way to the top. As we drove up the steep road kept getting steeper. My decision to stay in the car was the right one.
At the top we had a snack at a little snack shop, put on our jackets and headed down. 8km down we stopped for food. Great sopa. The chorizo, rice and beans was good too.
Continuing down I was passing trucks and a few cars. It got warmer and then the valley opened up to show the town of Calarca and the city of Armenia. Between Calarca and Armenia there is a steep down to the river and up from the river.
We found a nice hotel - San Jeronimo - dumped our stuff and still in cycling kit went next door for a jugo mora con leche and a Sundae. I tried to order the smallest ice cream and picked something out of the kids section. It was huge.
Mike and Alpha were making good time up the mountain. We could follow their progress with location sharing.
They did really well on the climb. I think it may be a harder climb than Alto de Letras. There is more crazy steep stuff on the last 20 km. Both are around 4% average. Letras is more consistently 4% +/- 1. Alto de la Linea has more downhill and more 1 and 2% sections. At the top there are much longer sections of 8,9,14%.
After everybody cleaned up we went for dinner at a Spanish place called D'Maria a cab ride away. Dinner was pretty good.
I hope I have better legs tomorrow. I am having serious concerns about my riding ability. I can't seem to generate any power.
No comments:
Post a Comment