Cerro Negro 4260m

Last Sunday, with Maria and Carla in Cali, Ramon and I joined his classmate Daniela, my former student Martin, and their father Jose, for a short scramble up Cerro Negro, a 2 hour drive south from Quito.
The beaten path is not the route up, but rather a big, slick bum ride down on the long, slippery grass! An unexpected treat! The Andean counterpart of the boot skiing scree ride down in the Canadian Rockies. Ramon, Martin, Daniela Jose and Daniela on their way up. Spot Jose's truck wayyyyyy down there. Up throught the long paja...andean paramo grass. Such precision signposting, although the sign we needed most was missing and did a bit of backtracking as a result. Up into the clouds... Martin tackles the unexpectedly steep crux. Looking back down the crux to Jose, Ramon and Daniela....awaiting their turns. Scrambling with ski googles.... Snuggling up to keep warm on the summit. The gang on the false summit. The ridge down and up to the true summit was too exposed for the wee ones to tackle. Mojanda lakes above Otavalo. Ramon's too cold to stick out his tongue. Ramon heading back down....ready for a big bum slide. Martin is the main star in this slide, roll, tumble down the mountain....with many squeals of delight! They all climbed part way back up many times and Martin was lucky enough to find his dad's glove.

Races...road and XC....during the last year

Photos of printed photos, by a pro photographer who comes to most races. Maria has been very busy with her passion. She usually wins the master's (over 40) catagory and wins the odd small race. Ecuador races pay well, better than Canada even! Nothing like getting paid to do what you love! As I post this....she is running a track race in Cali, Colombia. All in the family....both Carla, in her pjs!, and Ramon, both got out and ran about 1km each. Sparks, ticker tape trophy and cash.... The guy she's with is Rolando Vera....who was Ecuador's top runner years ago...won the LA marathon and other big races. Hand over heart for the Ecuadorian national Anthem....Is she humming the Canadian or Colombian national anthem?

Cununyacu 4

Lastest photos of family life, here in Ecuador. (Blogspot has revamped their site....can't seem to get the words below the pics in one piece...anyone else having probs with this?) Carla and Ramon got out and ran 1km each in this 10km race! They'll be pushing papa pretty darn soon! Off to school! Learning to rollerblade English graffiti........... Experimenting with different riding set-ups. Ramon's a bit big for this seat! This works much better. She's still a bit too short for the tag a long. Lunch with Sisa!....in the yard. Carla in the front yard...new landlord needs to cut the grass more often. Trampoline time at a friend's house. Cousins....Ramon, Tio Pato, Dario More cousins....Tia Elcy, Elcita, Carla, Sarah, Ramon Cass on the summit of Illalo. This world cyclist has the best blog I know of: His photograhpy and writing are the best! Follow him as he heads south to Bolivia and then back to the states for the birth of his first child...a boy! It was a real pleasure to have finally met him, having followed his travels on and off since 2006. http://whileoutriding.com/2012/06/ His trusty steed....a Surly Troll with 29 inch tires. Note how he he distributes the weight/gear on the frame. This is allows him to store the non essentials somewhere and hit single track for multiple day tours, as he loves to do. View out the kitchen window.