This is a relatively short account of another bike trip. This is the loop that I rode today.

Transcription

1 Viaje a Avianca June 4, 2016 This is a relatively short account of another bike trip. This is the loop that I rode today. I followed the dark purple line through Cauca to the Reten (I've done this many times). The first part used to be a hot, dusty, bumpy road through large plantations of palm trees. It s rainy season now, so exit dust, enter mud and puddles. Temperatures have dropped a few degrees when it is cloudy, but humidity is several ticks higher. The highlight of this route is the cable and board pedestrian bridge over Río Aracataca. [Link Photo Here]. The river divides Aracataca from Reten, and the Reten side is smoother, shadier and there s very little traffic. The purple line ends in Reten where I often stop at a bakery, but not today. This was just the warm up. I crossed Reten s Main Street and onto the red line, heading west-south-west toward Avianca. I thought it would be boring, flat, possibly some cows. It turned out to be a lot of fun. After a few blocks of torn-up dirt road, I found myself on a brand new, smooth Placa Huella road. This style of road has gained popularity in rural parts of Colombia, particularly in the mountains. I was surprised to see a good one in a flat area where asphalt might have been much less costly. The road is built of cement and rocks and designed to sustain heavy loads. As there is no frost heave 1

2 in the tropics, the major threat to such a ridged road construction is undermining from water. This road looks well designed and drained, but I ve passed a few in the mountains that were coming apart almost immediately as water pulled the dirt out from under them. Newer designs are wider, emphasize better drainage, cost much more to build and hopefully last proportionately longer. This road is a newer design. The cement road continued to a river crossing. The one-lane bridge was holding up under a pretty heavy flow in the river. I was lucky that a truck came along behind me. It helps frame the size of the bridge. Placa Huella Road Construction in Reten Three wheel moto-taxi on the road Narrow bridge in Reten Truck crossing the bridge After crossing the bridge I came head to head with three cowboys moving a big heard of cattle. You have to wonder what to do in these cases. Many of the cows have horns, they take up the road, the shoulders and ditches. In this case I hugged a barbed wire fence while the cows passed by. A motorcycle came up behind them and simply waded through the center. Fortunately cows are mostly docile and uninterested in hurting people. You can just pick out the motorcycle by the yellow shirted rider. Yellow shirts are everywhere in Colombia on days where there are big soccer matches. The cowboys made a point of asking for a special photo. 2

3 After passing the herd I continued onto some of the worst roads I have encountered. The land is flat as a board and water has flooded in several places. Though the water receded, but roads are deep ruts, puddles rocks. Fortunately the motorcycles mark the best route through bad roads. Conditions deteriorated until the road I wanted to take was overtaken by water and there was no obvious way to continue. I back tracked a little and took an alternative route north that looped back to the west and south. It too was bad, but not entirely blocked. Unfortunately I neglected to photograph any of these sections. Even with all the mud and water, the route continued to be wonderfully scenic with open vistas of grassy fields, flooded rivers and streams, birds, cattle, rice paddy, shade trees. At one point I passed a flock of huge birds that appeared to be vultures or buzzards. Sorry, no pictures. 3

4 Grazing field with cattle Nice stretch of dirt road Seasonal bog Sign promoting a government program My goal was to reach the small village of Avianca for lunch. I was packing two liters of water and a ripe plantain. I didn t really expect to find lunch, but was optimistic there would be a small store selling bread. The road to Avianca is a spur from the route I was on. The highlight of that spur was a herd of goats are resting under the shade of a tree. The shade happened to be in the middle of the dirt road, but they moved for me. Then I crossed a plank bridge that looked pretty shaky for trucks, but great for bicycles. Avianca, like most small villages, has more pigs wandering the streets than people or dogs. The school is part of the digital network, as evidenced by a red public telephone on a post at the entrance. It was a quiet Saturday, and it turned out the two of three shops were closed. The third was open, I got my bread and water and had a nice chat with the store owner before heading back on the spur to the road. 4

5 Avianca s Digital Phone Main Street, Avianca From this point onward we re on the light purple road to Fundación. This is an area of large farms dedicated to raising cattle. The scale of production is pretty big and farms widely dispersed, so there aren t any more towns after Avianca. It s not unusual to travel dirt roads that are public right-of-way, but may be treated by the farms as private. Gates are built across the roads to keep cattle from wandering off. Some gates include signs that at least suggest no trespassing, but the road is an important connector between towns. I passed trough gates on this trip too. The first was open as the farmers were negotiating a huge backhoe into a field. The next was closed, but was not posted so I let myself through. The third was closed, but a crew was loading saw boards onto a truck. The young man recognized me from teaching at the community college where he is a part time student. Wood is relatively pricy here. Houses are made from cement, block, brick, corrugated metal and cement board. Wood is primarily used for doors, roof supports and furniture. On the map I was passing through La Maria. Google grabs names out of thin air. Nobody knew about La Maria, but as it turns out I passed Finca La Maria on the road. Fortunately most places that Google Maps show there is a road there is actually a road, but not always. Loading boards into truck Finca Maria 5

6 After passing Finca La Maria I went under a big power line, and shortly after that reached the mostly paved road that connects several smaller towns including Salamina (on the banks of the Magdalena River), Pivijay (pronounced PVHi), Media Luna and Fundación. Another side note on infrastructure. In this part of Colombia most of the transmission and three phase power lines are set well back from the highways, sometimes more than 100 yards. This complicates maintenance, but the practice of putting powering lines along roads and highways in the US condemns us to cluttered, ugly vistas blocked by tangles of wires, transformers, and unnecessary street lighting. By contrast, many of the roads I travel in Colombia look like parkways in the US. Because there are no utility poles and lines, trees are allowed to form a canopy over the highways, reducing temperatures and calming drivers. I was concerned that my longish haul along the highway would be dangerous, but the entire 17 km (10 miles) I was passed by about 10 cars. Most of the time I was alone, or the occasional motorcycle passed. I was low on water and energy, but decided to press on as long as possible. The road rolled up and down with slight curves, fields of cattle, a landscape recently transformed from parched to verdant. Since at this point I was heading straight east, the giant peaks of the Sierra Nevada loomed large. Fundación is about 10 miles short of the mountains. Entrance from highway back to Avianca, with transmission line in the distance Long empty highway to Fundación Just before reaching Fundación I reached a sort of gateway-park. It was perfect for a stop, drink of water and my last bit of bread. It was a small, well tended park unusual for this region. It featured labels on plants, bucket seats and a big billboard of a sign. The neighbors came over to chat. From the park I continued into the mayhem of Fundación s Main Street. Even on a quiet Saturday, Fundación is crazy with motorcycles, buses, cars, donkey carts and bicycles. 6

7 Big sign for cute little park Cute little park Transformation from rural highway to Main Street, Fundación Map of my bigger bike rides surrounding Aracataca, Colombia My mission, after covering about 50 km, or 30 miles, was to buy wax paper in Fundación at Olimpica grocery store. All they had for sale were aluminum foil and saran wrap. I bought some aluminum foil. I bought a small bag of chocolate milk, a few more pieces of bread and started down the road to Aracataca. The last 10 km / 6 mile stretch from Fundación to Aracataca was actually pretty hard since my legs were getting sore. I was pleased overall with the trip. I expected it to be relatively boring, flat and uneventful. But, like most of my trips, the road to Avianca was full of surprises. 7