Arrived in Bogota

The last 55km into Bogota were ALL downhill, and I am still at an elevation of 2600m!  That does not happen in Ontario.

I am staying with Sebastian and his family for the time I am here, which makes thing very tranquillo. Sunday is famous in Bogota because on top of the 300km of bike paths the city shuts down some of the main highways for bicycle use only.

A long time buddy of mine will be flying in on Tuesday. Otherwise I have not spoken english or seen anyone with a hair color other than Black since Kurt left a week ago!

Barbosa Colombia, 180km north of Bogota

Buenas from Barbosa,

Last night I camped with Riccardo who makes and sells his own cheese and sausages, near Socorro.  It was my best meal since I have been here and we had a great time chatting.   From his door I had a steep 5km climb (or it seemed tough at that elevation) and then I descended for 65 of the next 70 kilometers.  The amazing thing about that was there were still deep deep valleys below me.  I crossed a river and have been climbing since.  The locals tell me that I have a ‘large pico’ ahead…
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750km north of Bogota

Hey,

I am in the first internet cafe I´ve seen since leaving Cartagena and cannot upload photos here…  Though we have passed larger towns, we stuck to the route.

The first day and a half of travel we were actually heading north east along the Caribbean coast away from our destination.  Outside of larger towns are some serious slums.
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Cartagena

After a long night of packing Neil (thanks Neil) woke up at 2am for the drive to Logan airport. It was cold and rainy… fast forward to 12:30 and hello Cartagena Columbia with heat and humidity. During our flight we were given many warnings, including with out a return flight we would never clear customs. Customs clearing took 90 seconds. Re assembling- packing the bikes took 90 minutes. Getting money from an ATM 90 more minutes.

The correct warnings was that there would be no holds street fighting… Donkey cart vs. Dogs vs. pedestrians. vs. bikes vs. many many taxi´s literally on the street. Everyone ignoring all types of signage, and two honks means look out we are coming. But everyone is double honking, yelling, cahos. Everying down to a donky pulling cart we saw in the first 500m from the airport.
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Bruce Trail Hike – Part 1 Queenstown Heights – Kelso

Back before I was born, in answer to the US Appalachian trail a huge team of volunteers in Southern Ontario pitched in to create the Bruce Trail.  My father spent one of his University summers as part of the volunteer team working on the trail.  Today it reaches some 700km across the southern width of Ontario following the Niagara Escarpment.  Growing up I have day hiked the trail in many different parts, some times not realizing until I had seen the white flashes painted on trees.

This spring after the snow melted, and before the bugs came out I decided how much of the trail I could hike.
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Bacheolor party = excuse to bike tour and…

My favorite Cousin, X-opher, had his Bachelor party down in Newport Beach over the weekend.  To get there I had the choice of a 150mile drive on the interstates, and through LA traffic (At 3:30am on our way home there was a traffic jam… there is always something there).  I certainly didn’t feel like driving both ways through LA traffic, and taking the train round trip seemed expensive.  The next most logical step was bicycling 240 miles around LA.  There were not convenient mid route stops, so I opted to borrow a Ibex trailer, and camping gear from Sam, screwed around packing and ended up leaving at the crack of 10 am.
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Parents Adventure update

1st.  My parents are off hiking the Camino de Santiago.  Which is a super pilgrimage, and while I wish that I was along.  To make me more envious, despite their lack of computer affection I’ve received two updates from them.  They have flown

Mom’s report #1 April 23:

We are here and about to start from ST Jean Pied de Port in a few minutes.  Went some 38 hours from Tues am without sleep.  Up at 6:30am Thick fog both in my head and outside.  Beautiful mountain vistas from our hostel in the citadel last night.  Such history everywhere you look!!  Buen Camino!
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the bike tour: Nashua NH via Adarondaks

SO I finished the muskoka tri, hung out 5h for awards (plaque and socks) drove home slept 2h, ate supper, and jumped into the subie for the 5h drive to Ogdensburg NY and the start of my bike tour. I cracked after 4h and put the tent up behind a church and slept.  (yes this is a slightly old post, but I have posted the pic’s up on-line).

Plus I just got a holla from Kurt and Jen’s 2WD Euro Tour. They’re over in in Norway still at the start of a multi month, multi country euro tour.
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