Chat Zone for The Big Big Trip Journal!

[cwskas]

Strava shows the elevation profile, doesn't it?

the Chicamocha Canyon.....
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FYL91rVorQP24zHx8

an album of the figary
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vXLMy9BR79fcz4nW8

Willie

 

[cwskas]

The greatest bike in the world? 25 years old, 21 speed.

Looks pretty good to be so old . . . and covered so many miles!

A dog year is equivalent to 7 human years I've heard. I wonder what 25 bicycle years equates to? 🤔

Enjoyed the writeup and pictures of Rionegro.

Willie

 

[HobbesOnTour]

A dog year is equivalent to 7 human years I've heard. I wonder what 25 bicycle years equates to? 🤔

Roccado says he feels old enough thank you very much without anyone trying to make him older!

I always mention his age when chatting to people and they are usually shocked. I imagine a lot of people think that if I'm this far from home I must have a super dooper new bike.
I have a super dooper bike, just not new!

 

[Andy in Germany]

Roccado says he feels old enough thank you very much without anyone trying to make him older!

I always mention his age when chatting to people and they are usually shocked. I imagine a lot of people think that if I'm this far from home I must have a super dooper new bike.
I have a super dooper bike, just not new!

This was one motivation for my touring bike conversion: to show that you don't have to have the latest high-end bike for it to be reliable and enjoyable to ride.

 

[CharlesF]

@HobbesOnTour A question; a admonishment and 2 comments:

Question - what is in the breakfast empanadas?

Admonishment - remember you’re NOT a Tourist but Explorer or Adventurer. A tourist has a fixed itinerary and wears long socks with sandals!

Comment - the church interior is absolutely stunning; ideal blend of ancient and modern.

Comment - when this is over, it will be sacrilege if there isn’t a book full of pictures and your diary.

 

[Alex321]

I think it's really great that you can take the time to properly experience the places, rather than just rushing onwards.

There was a definite feel from some of your earlier posts, when you were pushing the distances each day, that you were spending a lot of time concerned about reaching your intended destination at a reasonable time, and probably not getting nearly as much enjoyment from the trip as these shorter days are giving you.

As you say in your latest post, if you have the time available, use it to make the most of your experience.

 

[cwskas]

when this is over, it will be sacrilege if there isn’t a book full of pictures and your diary.

I agree!

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Question - what is in the breakfast empanadas?

Empanadas? There are lots of them! Truthfully, I haven't quite figured them all out yet.
Some will have minced beef, others chicken and rice (and sometimes sweetcorn). Others will have egg and cheese. All good, all a good dose of calories I invariably buy them from ladies and have a bit of a chat. Truthfully, the ingredients are less important than the chats and interactions.😊

I may also sometimes use empanada in the general sense - every pastry has its own name and it's hard to keep track of them all. They do a delicious puff pastry filled with chicken too!

Admonishment - remember you’re NOT a Tourist but Explorer or Adventurer. A tourist has a fixed itinerary and wears long socks with sandals!

I accept my admonishment contritely😊

Comment - the church interior is absolutely stunning; ideal blend of ancient and modern.

That church was beyond special. The feeling of being in a special place, the sense of calm has to be experienced. Neither words nor pictures (and I am especially proud of that shot!) can possibly do it justice.

Comment - when this is over, it will be sacrilege if there isn’t a book full of pictures and your diary.

The pictures are nothing special and similar and better can be seen in blogs and vlogs all over the internet.
I don't think I could ever let an editor at my scribblings I can be (or maybe used to be is more accurate) a bit of a control freak.

I've had an idea for a book for a few years and this isn't it. This is for the older, decrepit, scared-of-my-own-shadow me and anyone who wants to follow along.
If it demystifies touring, if it gives someone the idea to throw their leg over a bike and head off themselves then all the better!

Thanks for commenting!

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I think it's really great that you can take the time to properly experience the places, rather than just rushing onwards.

There was a definite feel from some of your earlier posts, when you were pushing the distances each day, that you were spending a lot of time concerned about reaching your intended destination at a reasonable time, and probably not getting nearly as much enjoyment from the trip as these shorter days are giving you.

As you say in your latest post, if you have the time available, use it to make the most of your experience.

I'm not sure of when exactly earlier?
Certainly Cartagena to Santa Marta had me on edge but that was because of previous bike tourist incidents.

Crossing into México I was on edge due to all the warnings I had been reading.

I recall in the US there not being many options for food, water or camping requiring long days.

I find it takes a little time for a new country to "settle down" in my mind. Not just the "Is it safe? Am I going to be mugged?" but the "Are there places to get food or water regularly?" or "Are there places to stay?". Once I have an idea of those, things settle down.

Costa Rica had very few places to safely stop on the side of the road - a real shame. Panama had lots but it was very unpleasant (traffic buzzed me) and usually there was feck all of interest to look at.
Coombia? It's Goldilocks territory! Lots and lots to see, to absorb, lots and lots of places to do it and (every day) more and more friendly people who don't bother me at all. It's just right!

 

[CharlesF]

Empanadas?

The pictures are nothing special and similar and better can be seen in blogs and vlogs all over the internet.
I don't think I could ever let an editor at my scribblings I can be (or maybe used to be is more accurate) a bit of a control freak.

It’s the combination of the pictures and diary that makes it compelling; but I hadn’t thought of an interfering editor!

I asked about the empanadas because I only know them filled with mince and I guessed there were more varieties.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

This was one motivation for my touring bike conversion: to show that you don't have to have the latest high-end bike for it to be reliable and enjoyable to ride.

The way I look at it is that 25 years ago people were cycling around the world on what they had available then.
If anything it's easier now. My components are cheaper, simpler and currently easier to get.

It is, I think, a part of the "consumerist" model - having to have the bestest, newest etc.

The problem with that is people thinking that good enough is not going to cut it.
I once saw a woman picking up a €4k touring bike (Santos, Rohloff, racks, dynohub) and she was going to use it for doing messages!

We see regularly on the Touring forum folk coming in looking for the perfect touring bike and never hear tell of a tour. Whatever holds them back it's normally not the bike.

This is a cycling forum, we discuss the latest models etc. There are literally millions of people cycling bikes all over the world who never look at a cycling forum

 

[cwskas]

I feel very comfy in Colombia! . . . If someone had said to me a few years ago that I'd bounce into a Colombian village on a bike, knowing nothing about it, having no accommodation lined up and that I would feel totally at ease I'd have had serious doubts. . . . I may well be the world's worst tourist but I'm starting to get the hang of this travelling thing.

We get good at what we practice!

Then I came to a Police Checkpoint. I slowed down but I've never been stopped here in Colombia. This time I was. . . ."Where are you going?" can be tricky to answer. Do they mean today, in their country or further afield?
Before I could answer he barked again "Bogotá?".
I shook my head and said I was heading for Oiba but my final destination was Argentina - El fin del Mundo.
"Aaahhhhhhh!", he says, a great big smile breaking across his face "To Patagonia!"
Then he was calling over to his colleague to tell him where I was off to and after lots of fistbumps I was on my way!

That must have been cool - fistbumps all around!

No-one will ever want to ride with me in pretty places - we'll make no progress! Stop. Take a photo. Ride 100 meters rinse and repeat. (Earlier it had been 200 meters!)

I took 305 photos today to Oiba! . . . All those blogs I used to read? I'm living them now!

And those of us who can keep up get to read your travelogue and enjoy your pictures! And who knows how many others will later find this thread and benefit from your "adventure"!

This church needs more time! . . . I've been in some amazing Churches and Cathedrals in my time, my all time favourite a little stone and wood small, rural church along the Camino Frances route in Northern Spain. . . . This reminded me so much of it, but on a much bigger scale. What was especially intriguing was the expert blending of the old and the new. . . . I stopped taking photos in churches some time ago but I couldn't resist talking one here. A special place.

What a very fine church and well captured!

. . . . the scenery deserves to be appreciated properly and so many small places are really quite interesting. I have the great gift of time - I'd be a fool not to use it!

Well said!

Willie

 

[HobbesOnTour]

And those of us who can keep up get to read your travelogue and enjoy your pictures! And who knows how many others will later find this thread and benefit from your "adventure"!

Thanks for the kind words, Willie. I really do like that shot of the church!

iOverlander is full of reports of corrupt cops pulling folk over and "on the spot" fines - all through Latin America.
I'm sure it happens but thus far I've had no experience. At worst, I'm ignored.
At best I get an escort! Ah, Honduras!

Perhaps it's the bike and the assumption I don't have two coins to rub together or maybe it's just that people see a traveller on a bike as "different". Good different. It's something that pretty much most people can aspire to and achieve pretty easily.

You'd know more than most about my stopping for photos

 

[cwskas]

Having a wander today it hit me that I'm really not doing justice to these little towns, pictorially.

I've decided to throw up some extra photos (when merited) to give you all a better idea of what I'm seeing.

Thank you for the additional photos! Are you going to post an album?

A view of the magical church from the front door towards the altar. . . . The Church towers over every other building . . . A truly special building.

What an interesting and beautiful church.

Unless I'm greatly mistaken the dedication reads something like " A monument to the illustrious people who, through their efforts raised the profile of our town".

A+ for you. That is very close, but better IMO, than what Google translate came up with. "Monument to the illustrious people who with their work magnified the name of our municipality"

Willie

 

[cwskas]

Your trip thus far through Santander department has really peaked my curiosity. So I did some searching on the history, in particular the indigenous peoples. I found a couple of YouTube videos quite interesting. They are in Spanish, but YouTube can translate on the fly into English when captions are available. Some of the translations seemed pretty funny (perhaps missing nuance) but I found it satisfactory for my purpose.

Los Guanes - Una Etnia De Santander 3:37 no captions

La Cultura Guane en el Cañón del Chicamocha 19:47 captions

There were more, but I did not watch any others yet.

Willie