Yesterday (July 16), our first day biking South was safe and beautiful. We biked within view of the Lake at times on a good-surfaced slightly uphill road with a steady and at times stuff headwind. For much of the day, we were uplifted and buoyed along by the songs being sing by 19s of churches as we passed. As it was the first day, there were lessons learned regarding how to keep in communication when there is limited reception and how to coordinate meeting up at the end of the ride. Will include pictures from the lake, the dry riverbeds due to the drought in this northern region, and some shots on the road and at rest stops where Deb and I draw draw quite a crowd of interested bystanders and one or two unique characters (Ex: a man who was very drunk and determined to get more money for more drink and who wanted in Deb’s pictures, including the one at the fry shop along the road when we ordered some fried pork pieces which were really good and a tasty treat we’ve never had before).
TODAY (July 17): a very tough 100km ride ahead of us (probably the toughest of the trip), ascending a large mountain on an entirely torn-up road surface of pot holes and loose gravel and stones from the pot holes, with cars and trucks zig zagging from one side of the narrow road to the other to avoid said potholes. Once we get to the top, the next 20-30kms will be going up and down steep hills along one of the ridges in the midst of other surrounding mountains. The final kilometers may be delightfully descending, though this may be more hopeful thinking than reality — we’ll have to wait and ride. Should be exhausting and stunningly beautiful as this Northern region is covered with millions of trees (unlike the central and southern regions that are more densely populated and without registration programs that would work when do many people need the fuel or the income from trees.
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11Terry M. Goldstein, Janet Ellis Hines and 9 others
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