February 28, Retiro, Colombia

 Despited the lack of sleep, the incessant church bell ringing had Mike and me wide awake at 6 am. A hot shower would have been nice, but there was only a cold water option so the morning got off to a chilly
start.

Mike made a pot of coffee which hit the spot. We had some time before meeting with Manolo so we decide to check out the neighborhood. The town square  and it's imposing church were just a block away. The proximity was no surprise thanks to the sounds of ringing bells still ricocheting in my ears. We ran into Pepino and sat outside a nice little cafe. More coffee and some pastries and we were feeling pretty good. Unfortuantely the cafe didn't take plastic, and not yet having any Colombian pesos, Pepino took up the tab. Another mental note to square things out in the future.

Stepping out of our rooms and looking down towards the square

View up the street from ourAirBnB

Walking towards the main square in El Retiro

Lots of activity already

Looking down the street, quite a hill

There's the church

Most surprising to me was to see a young man down below pulling the ropes to clang the bells.

Back in our rooms getting ready to test ride our loaner bikes

Driving down to Manolo's house

I was pleasantly surprised to see the bike that was picked out for me. A titanium Light Speed, 2x10 with Campy Record shifters. Sizing was almost perfect, just had ot tilt the Brooks saddle up a bit. Mike was riding a Colombian brand steel bike. Not the lightest bike but certainly the one with the nicest paint job.

 

Juan Jose (the ride organizer) ready to take us on bike fitting ride

I was expecting a short 5-10 mile, jet lag recovery ride, just long enough to get a feel for our bikes. Juan Jose asked if we wanted a flat route or hilly route. The concensus was flat. 

Juan Jose, me, Mike, Manolo, and Orlando getting ready to go

The flat ride started with a 15% grade to get out of the neighborhood. I almost tipped over. The ride was beautiiful but far from flat. 27 miles with 1,642 feet of climbing.

Top of hill on our first climb

Still all smiles

Beautiful roads with smooth pavement 

Making room for a bus on our journey back to our AirBnB

Our route on day -2

Elevation profile

After our ride, Mike and I headed back to our apartment. Jose would be arriving later that afternoon. 15 minutes after we entered our apartment, a huge rainstorm hit.The water running down the street combined with the rat-tat-tat sound of rain hitting a corrugated roof, brought back distant memories of Barranquilla where I would make boats out of newspapers and send them sailing down the street

Glad we missed the rain!

After a cold shower, Mike and I headed out to find a restaurant that Juan Jose had recommended. We walked up and down the street and never found the place. Little by little, places were closing up so we wallked into a restaurant that looked inviting. The service and food was great. It turned out that we actually were at the restaurant Juan Jose had recommended!

M and M restaurant..

$7 lunch, including soup and juice

After this late lunch, I stopped for a minute to record the ringing church bells 

Once back at our apartment, I decided to swap out the saddle on my bike for the one I brought. Of course, all the bolts and spacers fell and scattered but eventually I got it all put together. We must have gone out somewhere for dinner but all I can remember is hitting the sack knowing that our second (day-1) ride was starting at 8 am.