We met for breakfast at 7 when they started serving. I never quite understood why a country that only has 12 hours of daylight would start the day that late. By the time we ate and did the final pack up we were on the road at 8:40. We thought this would be a shorter day so we didn't rush out.
As soon as we started riding we were on a 12km climb. Nothing too crazy, mostly 3 to 6% grades. At the top we met up at a juice stand and I had some fresh squeezed orange juice. It was good.
Coming down the other side was fast with a few ups to keep you working. At a turn off to Chinchina, I mislead everyone toward Chinchina. Bob was last and pointed out the route carried on on the main road. Oops.
As we went around Chinchina I missed another turn at a roundabout. Pulling over immediately we found some local help. We think she is an engineer or project manager for the freeway construction. My route called for us to take the old road and the turn we missed out is on the new road. Our new friend recommended the new road so we went with that.
The new road was 2 lanes in each direction but had little shoulder. This is a more engineered road. This should make for an easier ride. We immediately started climbing. 16km and over 900 meters of climbing with an average grade of 6.5%. That's a pretty big climb with a lot of 7-9%. I max out my gears at 5% so this was going to be tough for me.
The guys spent a lot of time waiting for me. About halfway up we stopped for a long lunch. Lunch was good and the view was pretty amazing.
Back on the road, I struggled with the extended steep parts. I did some walking. Google Maps said the walking time from the restaurant was only about 2 and a half hours. Not even sure I beat that time. It just kept going up!
The climb went all the way to the bull ring in Manizales. I hadn't looked up any hotels in Manizales as I didn't think we would stay there so there was a lot of confusion. My brain was too scrambled to be much use. Eventually I found the Hotel Manizales Colonial which is nice enough. An old style Colombian hotel with all the rooms opening to the center area. We have a sole window that looks at the reception desk.
For dinner we went to a fish restaurant and ordered a bunch of dishes family style. We did a pretty good job on it but we were stuffed. Looking at the bill now I realize it was only $35 for all that food.
We cut the day short because it was pretty clear I did didn't have any more climb in me and all the stops ate up the day. We have adjusted the route to get me through and it involves some cheating. Through the remaining mountain section we will take two days instead of one. Since the towns are at the top of all of the climbs if I'm struggling they will send a taxi down to get me.
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