Oh shit, different day! Earlier start today as Johanna was here to get us rolling on yoga…the 8am session came early as Esteban & I are still adjusting to the time change & both did not get full nite sleep. He knocked on my door and said it was yoga time…I could have sworn it was only like 6am…I was wrong. So we headed up to the nice heated yoga room and had a good session where she mainly worked on our stretching…as we are all pretty bad on the flexibility side. She got some laughs out of our moans, groans & lack of stretchability.
Breakfast at 9 and then we worked on basic mountain biking skills since Hoolie just threw us on the mountain the day before. 
Most fun part was a little game where she drew a circle in the dirt & Esteban, Robert, Hoolie & I tried to be the last ones in the circle or on our bikes. Hoolie pretty much dominated cuz he could just stand on his bike & not move or force us to put a foot down…I did knock him out once though. And Robert found a way to have a little crash on a downhill as Esteban was coming up which threw him off…shin bloodied again.
Lunch then off for an afternoon ride at about 2:30. Now this ride was difficult but in a different way from yesterday…it had difficult climbs but the difficulty were the suspension bridges, super-narrow trails along steep drops, super-narrow trails that were steep with tons of rocks, trees & sharp turns, streams & bogs. This is what riders call “technical”…its what I call ouch. I had the 1st fall of the day cruising along the 1-foot wide, rolling trail that cut across the side of a hill…so there was a steep slope to our right that you did not want to fall down. Well as I was cruising Robert had come to a stop at a log & I had to stop quickly & as I tried to lean left it was too late…I was headed right. My right foot reached for the ground but there was nothing but downslope below so as I began to tip I just jumped with both feet to the right and down the slope…instead of falling head-first. Luckily there were no big boulders or a cliff but just plenty of giant-thorn bushes & a big log going across about 10 feet down. I slid down & stayed under the log but my bike came crashing down over me, hitting the back of my head and over me, coming to a rest at my feet. I signaled & told Hoolie I was fine but I just needed him to hold 2 big branches with the thorns that were right between my legs so I could escape without further scratches. A bit freaky of a crash but I was fine.
Narrow trail near my 1st wreck..luckily not here as thats a 100+ ft cliff
We had to cross the river a couple times on these narrow, creaky, shaky, wooden suspension bridges. The 1st was not too much of a problem but the 2nd was only wide enough to give us 1 inch on either side of your handlebars. The railing is steel wire that can do some damage if you hit it…which we all did slightly but Esteban took the worst and raked up his forearm…I took a pic of course. Johanna clipped the side & it looked like she was going to be diverted off but came to a quick stop…and then noticed the jarring had turned her handlebars off-center.
about to cross a suspension bridge
Narrow much?
Next to crash was Esteban who couldnt quite get thru a steep, tight turn with a bunch of loose rocks. He opened up the cut elbow again. I felt bad for him so I decided to go down again. Again on a very steep, very tight, very narrow section with a couple quick turns with roots & boulders everywhere. As I was going down I just jumped off again while I had the chance & stopped before some big rocks & a little dropoff…so no damage. Esteban had to one up me and again on a similar section he slowed just behind me to go over a big root & went flying forward & down…mild scrapes, he’s fine…he was actually laughing as he was falling.
Finally we came thru some sections that were more wide open in grass fields along the river or dirt sections thru the trees. The most interesting parts were dodging giant cow patties everywhere and the 10-20 foot sections of bog that ran down the hill into the river. So we got muddy.
Johanna & Steve on an easy but fun grass trail
Finally we came to one last bridge, crossed with no problems & were met by Marc who was waiting at a nice spot on the river with hot coffee & tea and some snacks & a fire. He had driven up in his Unimog, this big Mercedez 4-wheel all purpose truck that looks like a Nazi tank. We washed the mud off our legs & shoes in the Rio Azul & then loaded up the bikes in the trailer of the truck & headed back to the lodge. We climbed up away from the river, across a neighbor’s farm, past Hoolie’s primary school & stopped near the lodge where someone has a tiny open-air bar in their pasture. We waved to the 2 guys drinking their beers, wished we would have brought pesos to join them for one & jumped on our bikes to ride back the last part. This was a fun downhill road filled with rocks & turns…and I was witness to Hoolie joining the Crash Cause as he flew by me, couldnt slow enough on a turn & went flying in the dirt but bounce up quickly. We all gave him a heckle, he blamed his brakes not working.
Hoolie, Johanna, me, Esteban & Robert in the Unimog
The last little part was awesome…we had a choice to cross the suspension bridge again or to cross the Rio Azul where the road goes across to get to the lodge. River crossing it was. We had done it in the 4v4 truck & obviously the Unimog does it. It was only about a foot deep & 35 yards across but filled with rocks & boulders. Hoolie & Johanna make it, Robert, Esteban & I only got part of the way. The problem was to stay left in a line where it was flatter & you avoid the bigger rocks. So Esteban & I gave it another shot & made it all the way…I got video of him doing it (i’ll post later).
Esteban river crossing attempt 1...not quite
Then it was cold plunge, sauna & hot tub time before a 30-minute yoga/stretching session…again a bunch of groans, creaks & laughs got Johanna laughing at us. Dinner was beef stew & salad with dessert…and of course we were all famished & devoured quickly…especially Hoolie who had seconds, then part of Esteban’s seconds & was eying my seconds.
Here is hoping to a good nights sleep after another hard day.
Unimog comin at you!
