323 kms in one day

Report at the bottom.

The computer time at the bottom flashes when it goes over 10 hours. So that should read 15:41. The average speed of 21.8 stopped at 10 hours too.

Warming up after the rain, in roadside shrine.

Same as above

Strange tree plantation

10km from Esmeraldas....not lookin' too bad for wear.

Esmeraldas river the next day. This is Ecuador's oil port. Lot's of tankers waiting their turn, to keep the wheels of our global economy greased. At least until empire collapse, climate change, overpopulation etc take care of that.

A self-indulgent blog entry here. I had thought about breaking my previous record for kms cycled in one day, which was 277km. So at midnight Friday, I set out under a full moon. Gradual uphill of 800m? vertical over 50km to the top of the pass. Then downhill in the rain for 20min and a total of about 75 "free" kms DH. Through Santo Domingo and Quininde, past the pineapples, cocoa, palm oil trees to Esmeraldas on the coast at 6:30pm....sunset. Whew...just made it. 323kms 15:40 peddaling time. 18.5 hours total for an average of just under 20 kph. Took the first hotel with a chinese food restraunt beside it and flopped out till 6 am. Then rode to the beach...a further 4 km and rode around town. Got on the 8:20 bus and 6 hours later I was dropped off just below Quito and whizzed downhill for 35km to get home by 4pm Sunday. I feel great today. It's the bus that killed me. The seats are made for little people and someone had pissed on my seat, which I didn't notice for about an hour (cycle short padding gradually soaked it up) and as the bus was packed, there was no other seat. yuk. So it only takes the bus 1/3 of the time it takes me to get to the Pacific.