The ride began with some uphill battles I stopped to tell Kevin my brakes were rubbing and he brought me back to earth… we just hadn’t biked in a while and hiked yesterday and his load felt heavier than ever as well. So in reality my bike just felt heavy and my brakes were fine. Eventually the uphills turned back into the panamerican highway with a nice shoulder unlike Guatemala and we got to slowly decline. We were making record speed. We barely paused except for a quick sip of water and to check the map for no reason other than to check off the kilometers and make sure we hadn’t passed our destination. I got into a groove and made it to bridge and stopped for water. I looked back and Kevin was nowhere to be found. This reoccurring theme drives me wild. An ambulance passed and I thought the worst and told myself to get out of my head he was just being slow. I didn’t want to ride back up the hill to go see him probably just taking a pee break without yelling for me to stop. I waited and waited until waiting wasn’t an option even though I didn’t want to leave the shade. I walked back with my bike cursing the fact that he hadn’t brought a working cell phone and he did not yell for me to stop. All of a sudden he came riding down with black fingers this equals bike problems and a smile on his face. Happy to hear it wasn’t his brake rather his chain popped off and his purple bike no longer had a protective cover it once did. Why he kept the cover and carried it in his front basket to show me I will never know because sometimes he does weird things like that.
We kept biking and I know we both saw the delicious sign for a cafe meal at the same time and were thinking ok we stop there for lunch and then go see if our warm shower host is home. A worker at the gas station gave us a warm welcome asked questions and then told us he would watch our bikes. We walked inside and the food looked delicious. We ordered ate and then treated ourselves since we weren’t going to spend much money today being hosted and premaking food. Instead of sharing we splurged and both got what we wanted. I got a frozen coffee and Kevin got a piece of pie with a new fruit, Hugo or something and both were delicious. At one point Kevin said you must feel safe here because I had mentioned the bikes and we didn’t even lock them up. We laughed and said what we always say if they are gone someone needed them more and we were meant to be done biking. We talked how I loved El Salvador and would ultimately tell people if they were to visit one country in Central America go to El Salvador. Their motto here is don’t skip El Salvador because they know they have had a bad reputation. We had one last hill and I tried to grab a truck to pull me up and eventually he just stopped and gave us a ride into town. He talked to Kevin the entire ride about the country and people then we parted ways and met Gaucho and his family. They felt like home.
Gaucho is an ultra runner and his wife Ale also runs and is a teacher. They have a three year old son Dante whom was adorable and I think enjoyed our company because it was Saturday so we were going to have a pajama party that evening Gaucho said he was going for a run that evening and I was nervous to go since I hadn’t ran in what felt like years and eventually I got the confidence to join him and a friend Juan Pablo. 21 km up and down hills I watched them quickly inch away and be nowhere in sight around curves and I kept putting one foot in front of the other telling myself ai could do it. I felt depleted yet I knew I could make it up the inclines, which lasted 7km at least, even if I had to walk. The declines were just as bad although the two gazelles didn’t get as far ahead. They were great running company as they waited at the top of each hill or came smiling and running back for me asking you ok? My response was often I may be slow but I’m going to make it. They would say we know and head back off in the distance toward the sunset. We passed the most beautiful coffee farm, view points, and an event center which I told Kevin we were going to get married. He just laughed it off saying no schatz and then looked it up on the internet. After what Gaucho and Juan Pablo named hill number 3 I was barely moving up the hills. I felt bad as I did not want to ruin their long Saturday run. They said we only had about 8km left. I was torn, I had past the half way make and still I had finally hit a mental barrier. That morning we swam and then biked and now my mini triathlon needed to come to and end. We hitchhiked a ride with a boy’s soccer team in the back of a truck. We were dripping sweat all over them and they were kind enough not to care. Gaucho told me in the truck that the previous bride they tried to wave down wouldn’t stop for the two men and it wasn’t till I appeared that people started to pay attention to them. One last uphill they said then we finish. We got water it was gone in a second and then slow and steady it went. Then down the hill and back to Juan Pablo’s we went, the starting and ending point. When we arrived his wife and him brought out poweraid which again was gone before they even opened theirs. He brought me a shirt from El Salvador and his running team and hugged goodbye. I told him if he ever runs a race in the US or Europe I would love to host his family or go watch if I am near because this year he trains for the Tokyo Marathon.
Gaucho and I returned to the house and Kevin was finishing up his work and they had ordered papusas. My cold shower felt like heaven and I was beyond proud of myself for sucking it up and enjoying the local experience with two kind gentlemen. That’s why I love the running community, they are everywhere and you need little to nothing to enjoy the activity. My cold shower felt like heaven then we ate and enjoyed some delicious hot cinnamon artesian chocolate drink and went to bed.
Then it began a dog barking for hours which kept us awake and I felt like shit. I was hot I was cold I was miserable. I woke up and something felt off. I went to table for breakfast and had a few slices of papaya and a little of the eggs Kevin prepared and some coffee. Then I layed back down. I layed on the hard tile floor without my sleeping mats and tried to muster the power to do something that day. It was a workout day but I just couldn’t. I didn’t want coffee, food, or to move. Eventually I started feeling like my body from the inside out was on fire. Kevin was sadly not empathetic like his usual self. I think he just thought I was tired fr running the day before. I couldn’t stay off the toilet and I also didn’t want to drink water. My lower intestines felt pressure and although I was hot I felt freezing and had goose bumps. I put on a sweatshirt and a sleeping bag and went back to sleep for the entire day I layed on the hard ground going in and out of sleep and just laying there thinking I wish I could get moving and do things and on the other hand I had no desire. So I did nothing. I lied there hoping tomorrow would be better, tomorrow I would be able to bike to the beach and head further south. And then tomorrow came and we were headed to El Tunco…..
BrokeonBike 