Well, this post is coming a bit late, but we felt it would still be worthwhile to give a review of our first month of touring: stats, reflections, and thoughts going forward. And some photo highlights from January.
The start of the trip, setting off from Tarija
First, a few basic stats about January:
# of days of riding: 21
Total kilometers: 1,083
Most km in a day: 101 (8 hours)
Least km in a day: 20.1 (3 hours)
Longest day: 8 hours (not including breaks)
Shortest day: 2 hours 40 min
Maximum speed: ~65kmh
An unexpected 1000+ m descent
# of days with climbs*: 8
(*On the summer cycling trip that Postyn led, his kids came up with the following definition of a climb: to be a climb, an ascent must include at least 2 of these 3 characteristics: lasts longer than an hour, has switchbacks, has grades higher than 10%. We have modified this to suit the terrain of our journey. For us, a climb must last longer than an hour and include 1 of these 3 characteristics: be dirt, have switchbacks, have grades higher than 10%. Or, if it includes all 3 of these things, it can be shorter than an hour and still count.)
Total money spent: $385 (not counting the new tent)
Food spending: $7/day
Reflections:
January was a tough month for us in many ways. It began with a baptism of fire: we had a massive climb on each of our first 6 days, 3 of which were longer 1,000m. Then, on the 5th day, we lost our tent! This totally changed our outlook on the future of the trip, as we realized how greatly unforeseen circumstances could affect our plans. We could not ride the route we had planned, we had to put our bikes on buses, which is never very fun, we learned how unsettling it is to ride without the liberty and security of knowing that you can stop and pitch your tent pretty much whenever you need to. And then, when we finally had the new tent and were raring to go, we contracted salmonella and, in my case, a parasite! This made our trip through Chile one of the most challenging stretches of riding we've ever faced, one that was eventually cut short because of our lack of strength.
The true extent of Lucy's exhaustion, collapsed next to her bike while Adie finds a campsite
Thankfully, through all of this, we have received the help and support from many wonderful people, both friends and strangers. There was the family that gave us a room to sleep in and warm soup to eat after our crazy unsuccessful search for the tent, the cyclist/bike mechanic in Tupiza who helped solve a number of bike issues, Janet and Rolando in Oruro, who took us in at 2am after losing our tent and again for 10 days when we were sick. Heidi, the SIT program director, who brought the new tent back from the US for us, Oscar and his mom, who also was willing to bring the tent to us, and many others.
The highest point either of us have ever been, with or without bikes, 4650m (15,000+ ft)
I guess what I'm trying to express is how blessed we've been with kindness and generosity throughout this first, very eventful month. Every interaction that we have on the road is rewarding, whether it is a quick chat with someone that we pass, someone offering us a room or a space to camp for the night, someone providing us with delicious food, even all the kids who giggle and stare (well, most of the adults do that too). Even though most of our conversations include the basic questions of where are you going to/coming from?, don't you get tired?, where do you sleep?, each one is unique and special. I love when a shopkeeper or food vendor is shy and reserved at first but eventually starts asking questions and becomes wide-eyed at how crazy we are! Most of the conversations revolve around us, but it's fascinating when people start to talk about their own lives, such as a man we met on a motorcycle who told us how much he loved working in the US but how he can't go back because President Morales has made it too hard to get a visa. These interactions liven up our daily routines and make the trip much more fulfilling. Sure, the views are fantastic, but I want to get to know the people who inhabit them, not just pass right through. Luckily, people have been very open and curious, allowing us to share about ourselves and learn a little bit about them.
Thoughts going forward:
During our loop to Chile, we thought a lot about the struggles we were experiencing and how to improve our quality of life. For one, we decided that the work-to-reward ratio was not favoring the reward side and that we needed to change that. One easy way to do that will be to rest if we get sick again! And, more generally, to take care of our bodies better. We need to remember that we're people before cyclists, that living comes first. If cycling is taking so much of a toll on us that we're not enjoying it, than the trip is not worth it. Another way we can improve our quality of life is by splurging a bit more. We spent less than $200 each in January; a steal by most bike touring standards. So we've decided that we need to buy more and better food whenever possible, stay in hostels when we feel like it, and buy something nice for ourselves once in a while. If spending money on something is going to make our lives more enjoyable, it's probably worth it! This mainly applies in the food department, because we have been eating pretty crappily thus far. Granted, this was mainly due to the dearth of options on the altiplano, but, even so, we should be buying the best brand of crackers we can find! Our food spending was so minimal that we can definitely afford to indulge a bit more.
If you count the hours, driven by exhaustion, cold and wind, we spent more hours in the tent than out of it.
Overall, we hit some low points, but we're not ready to call it quits yet. We're still holding out hope that this bike tour can actually be fun, if we stay healthy and find the right strategies for maximizing our enjoyment. And fun can be 1,000+meter climbs, if there's ice cream at the top! (We're still searching for that hill.)
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