Don't stop now - Colombia!

OXFAM appeal - remember, if you help me to reach my target of £2000 by March 28th, my 40th birthday, I will put in £200 of my travel funds. With pleasure! Three weeks to go and I still need more donations to make this happen. Please follow the link or put 'JustGiving Daniel Moden' into a search engine to help.
Donations will help the growing famine crisis in South Sudan. The first 10 minutes of this news programme will inform you of the current situation there: South Sudan

 Friday morning, 7:30am. I had a little job to do... My flight from Panama left at 5am so I'd decided to cut my losses and just stay overnight at the airport. I only got two hours sleep so rebuilding the bike was a bit of a challenge. 

 Friday morning, 9:00am. Nevertheless, the bike came together in the end and I was ready to ride into Bogotá. I'd arranged to meet my Warm Showers host, Jorge, at 7pm, so just ten hours to kill! Already flagging, I wasn't sure I was going to last.  

 Bogotá's forward thinking mayor, Penalosa, has done a lot to promote cycling in the city and the cycle lanes, in the suburbs at least, were just incredible. Also, as you can see in the picture, the city has a network of Trans Milenio buses that have fast boarding stations and dedicated lanes.      

 Plaza de Bolivar, Bogotá city centire. In truth it became a bit of a trial to get here. In the inner city districts the cycle lanes petered out and I had to fight it out with the traffic. Then, passing a particularly seedy inner city district, a street dog took exception to my presence and sunk its jaws into my leg! Not a serous bite but I realised I had to stop when blood started soaking through my trousers. Nerves now seriously frayed I had a mild panic about rabies and frantically searched online for the probability of having contracted rabies. Low it seems, more likely to get it from a bat. Though I was exhausted I was pretty confident I hadn't confused a bat for a dog, Bats don't bark. 

 Friday 7pm. A slightly fraught first day in South America but I'd survived it. How glad I was to meet my Warm Showers host Jorge, an environmental lawyer and university teacher. Friday night in Bogotá - sit down, quick chat, food, one beer then straight to bed. I was absolutely wrecked.

Next day was spent hanging out with Jorge, riding around town, drinking coffee and eating. I don't want to make Mr Rowe and Mr Rickard jealous but it really was the beginning of a new bromance. I got on with Jorge so well and found we had so many shared values. He too loves travelling as something that is fun but more importantly as a way of learning and connecting with the wider world, he too is passionate about his job but knows you have to make time and space in your life for other pursuits to achieve your potential as a person, and he too loves music. Some recommendations I can pass on from Jorge - Sidestepper, Palenke Soultribe and Pernet. Great music all weekend long!

 After resting up on Saturday, Sunday started early (up at 5:40am!) for a hike up Montserrate, a mountain above Bogotá with a church on the summit.    

 Jorge selfie with me and his friend Lorena in the background. Despite our early start the mountain was already thronging with people, the hike is something of a Bogotá tradition. 

 It was great to exert myself physically without being on the bike for a change.        

 We earned this! Breakfast in a traditional town centre cafe - tamales and hot chocolate. Great food and great company, the weekend in Bogotá will be a golden memory, another golden memory from the trip.  

 Bit weird taking photos of someone's apartment but I just want to remember the refuge of Jorge's flat where I recharged my batteries. Many peaceful hours spent heat reading, chatting, listening to music, drinking delicious coffee. 

   Riding out of Bogotá. My smile belies the maelstrom of emotions churning around my poor mixed up head! Someone recently messaged me to say how impressed they are that I always take the trip in my stride. I really don't! One of the biggest challenges for me is to constantly summon up the self belief that I can keep going. At this point I was tremendously excited to be starting the South American leg of my trip but absolutely daunted by the thought of tackling the Andes (where I'm headed). At times it's been sheer bloody mindedness that has kept me going, not belief or confidence.

 On a lighter note, this is the first time I've seen a bike lane at a toll station. Oh how I remember the days of sneaking round the side of Mexican toll booths, praying that I wouldn't be stopped in my illegal path.  

 Riding on from Bogotá I got into my stride again and, as is nearly always the case, it felt wonderful to be riding again. Especially when you see  these downhill signs.  

 Lunch- soup, main and fresh fruit juice at 8000 pesos - £2.30 just doesn't seem right.  

 Erosion. 

 Confident that I am going to part with £200 at the end of the month, I'm already making efforts to cut my daily budget. If you take accommodation out of the equation you half your budget. 

So, can I camp here please? Of course, put people on the spot and human nature, inherently good, will shine through. So I was granted camp space and welcomed.   

 As the evening wore on the winds picked up, a spectacular lightning show began and rain threatened. The friendly couple who had agreed to let me camp told me I'd better take the tent down. "You can sleep inside, I've prepared a bed for you. Oh, and dinner's nearly ready." My jaw dropped. They were clearly not wealthy people but what they had they shared. Once I got over my ridiculous English guilt at accepting hospitality, asking 'are you sure?' and thanking them repeatedly, I settled into a comfortable evening and rested well. 

This photo is early the next morning as I set off at 7am.   

 Another early morning shot. 

 The hospitality of the last few days is starting to sink in and I have a wonderful feeling about Colombia. This 1000m climb felt like nothing, I was just brimming with positive energy. These are days of my life!

 Coffee stop. Can't get much more local than this produce, grown across the road. 

 Not sure what to say about this photo. 

 And finally, I'm staying in Honda tonight, another Warm Showers host. Incredible house situated in the heart of the colonial district.

So, new continent, new challenges but what a cracking start to South America. I have a 3000m climb ahead of me tomorrow so I'd better get an early night. 

With no other means of making contact  I'll use the blog to say thank you so much to Tom Haxton for your kind donation. I remember well meeting you at Red Rock Lake and for you to sponsor me on the basis of such a brief meeting, so long ago is inspiring and motivating (inherent good nature of people).I will fly up the 3000m tomorrow!

Panamá - el camino de los Bomberos

OXFAM UPDATE - the spectre of starvation is looming in Yemen, Nigeria and Somalia, and famine has been declared in South Sudan. To put this crisis into perspective, this is the first famine since 2011 when more than a quarter of a million people died in Somalia. The time to donate is NOW, charities need to have the financial support in place so they can act in a proactive not reactive way.
MY PLEDGE - later this month, 28th March, I will hit the big four zero, yes, 40 years old (and still going on bike rides!). If I hit my target of £2000 by that date I will donate £200 of my own travel money to OXFAM. This is quite a chunk of budget but it's just money, it won't make or break the trip. So I need your help, please make a donation if you can and let's try to avert a growing crisis.

 On with the blog and here is the customary border crossing picture as I entered country #10, Panama. A couple of miles down the road, examining my Central America map, I was beaming with pride to have ridden in all the countries that make up this region. Then it dawned on me, examining my mental map of the world, that I must have ridden in all mainland North American countries. That felt like quite an achievement in seven months!   

 It's always  nice to have a homestay lined up for your first night in a new country but the guy I stayed with was perhaps the most highly strung 22 year old I've ever met! He had simple and reasonable house rules but oh how he kept making reference to them! And, looking over my beautiful Oxford Bike Works steed, which usually has people swooning, he was dismissive and curt. He told me absolutely straight faced that it was 'probably' overpriced, my wheels, one of the bike's outstanding features, were nothing special and that the steel frame was too heavy. Oh dear.                           

 Nevertheless, I'm not really complaining, he was quite amusing in an odd way and unhesitatingly offered me an extra nights stay if I wanted a rest.

So, escap... riding on early next morning I headed east on one of the final legs towards Panama City. Riding the highway with no helmet? For the next 150 miles or so, one or other of the carriageways was closed for repairs and no one batted an eyelid as I took the closed lane. Very liberating, especially in this heat.

 This has been a long time coming but staying with the Bomberos - firefighters - is a cycle tourist tradition in Latin America so this, my first night at a Bomberos, was a rite of passage. Ushered in with the minimum of fuss, my humble lodgings was...

 ...among banana trees...

   ...camping out back in a gazebo with running water, a hammock and electricity. I felt very safe, was just off the highway ready to attack what I thought was going to be my final hilly stretch in Central America.    

 Early morning view from the closed highway. The road from San Felix to Santiago was indeed quite hilly and when the 76 miles were up I was really tired. Blistering midday heat takes its toll. However, I was quietly elated to make it to Santiago. After five days in a row averaging over 70 miles I was just two long rides away from Panama City with my flight still nine days away. To all intents and purposes I'd made it and vowed to take the next few days easy with lots of short steps to my final destination.                     

  I love McDonalds. What other restaurant chain offers free unlimited Wifi, accessible from outside the building without the need to sample their cheap yet overpriced, horribly overprocessed 'food'. I always stop to steal some free data.     

 This pie chart gives me a lot of pleasure. Before I started my trip I'd hoped that travelling by bike might afford me the opportunity to get closer to local people but I couldn't have envisaged that nearly 40% of the time I'd be staying in homes. I suspect that, as I head up into the Andes, this percentage may go down as I'll be forced to camp more. Regardless, the memories of staying with people on this trip will last a lifetime. 

  I felt I was onto a good thing with the Bomberos so, next day on from Santiago, my first 'small step' took me three and a half hours and 40 miles up the road to Nata and knocking on the door of the next fire station.   

   You couldn't meet a more welcoming, unassuming firefighter than Roberto. All smiles as again I was ushered in to the firefighters fold. This time I was invited to bunk on the floor of an upstairs room. Again access to electricity and running water and this time, a shower too. If you're reading this Roberto muchas gracias por todo!             

  Fire truck graveyard. Is that a fire in the background? 

I was also able to pick up a free Wifi connection while staying here and, tiring of the monotony of the highway, was able to track down a potential escape route on Google Maps that would take me through the mountains.        

 Yet another  swelteringly hot day. This roadside vendor flagged me down and gave me a huge chunk of watermelon for the journey. Random acts of kindness like this can put a whole new spin on what might be a tough day. It's exactly the same as receiving a donation for OXFAM, you feel like someone is thinking of you, looking out for you and it gives a massive boost. Please donate!   

 Once more into the mountains.   

 Passing quiet villages.   

  Down and out! So much for taking my foot off the pedal and coasting into Panama City, this was tough riding! For the first time on the whole trip I believe, I was forced to get off and push on a paved road. The incline was brutal and sweat was dripping off me as I strained every sinew to make it up the slopes. I can't tell you how utterly beaten I felt in this moment!          

 Guess where I stayed in El Valle! Bomberos again, camped out back again. Welcomed in by the boss and we had a great chat about Trump, corruption, The Falklands War, Western Imperialism, you know, just keep it light and easy!          

 Wow, the 40 mile ride up to El Valle really took its toll so the next day I just didn't have the energy to move on. The problem was that, overnight, the firefighting crew had changed so I didn't really know who the new boss was to ask for an extra nights stay. And everyone looked so busy (and nonplussed by my presence). So in the end I wondered if I could guarantee an extra nights stay by just kind of not leaving. What were they going to do, uproot my tent and cast me out into the street?         

 Riding on from El Valle I could have cruised downhill to take the highway again or seek to quench my thirst for adventure and follow an intriguing looking path deeper into the mountains. 99 times out of 100 I've got to take the hard way, I promise to rest well in my grave!   

 The path turned out to be quite a challenging dirt track, spectacularly undulating, wonderfully rutted in places and some great river fording. Tough going but great fun. In the first four hours I covered a mighty 14 miles! It would have been quicker to run and, in fact, I met two guys running from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast, 120 km. I asked them how many days, they replied, one, we're doing it all today!     

Must be a sign that I am destined to run an ultramarathon...

  It may be overpriced with average wheels and too heavy, but yes, my bike walks on water. River crossings were good opportunities to dunk my head and cool off a little.

By the way, if you want a sturdy, reasonably priced touring bike with wheels hang built in Watlington no less, contact Oxford Bike Works. The adventurer Anna McNuff who spoke at Icknield Community College this time last year, is currently cycling through South America on one.     

 Rural scenes.   

 Again punishing inclines necessitated getting off and pushing. Doesn't seem quite so unreasonable when you're on dirt tracks where traction is compromised. However, when you realise you're pushing with all your strength just to keep the bike stationary you begin to feel a little hopeless! As you can see, on the hardest slopes I had to dump my panniers first, push the bike up then walk down to retrieve the panniers. 

This actually helped to break up the ride a little especially as riding and pushing use different muscle sets. However, by the fifth and final time I had to recover my panniers from the bottom of a hill I'd really had enough! Soon the path reverted to tarmac and things got relatively easier. 

  Surprise, surprise, I ended this tough, tough day camping at the Bomberos (in La Chorrera). As I've mentioned before, the sheer elation of completing a challenging ride cuts through the tiredness and

I felt on top of the world. Just 35 miles to Panama City now...       

 Riding on the next day I had planned  to make one final stop at a Bomberos station just outside Panama City but, to my astonishment, I was turned away. The novice firefighter holding the fort alone felt he didn't have the authority to grant me permission to stay. What could I do? It only felt right to accept this refusal of hospitality as I would accept an offer of hospitality, with humility and grace. 

On a trip like this I always need to be ready to change plans so this was more good practice. Now just 10 miles short of Panama City I decided to just get the job done, let's complete the ride today. This picture is me crossing The Bridge of the Americas over the mighty Panama Canal.  

 I entered the city through the casco viejo, old town, with the skyscraper district in the distance. 

 My reward for completing the North American leg of the journey. When people ask me what I miss from home then of course, it's people - family, friends, colleagues and I really do miss working with young people - students!

But things, I can do without, there are lots of things here. Except ale. I do sometimes miss British ale. Sound like a 40 year old already...

 I really don't know what to make of Panama City, it's a true anomaly bearing no relation to the Central

America that has preceded it. My eyes are constantly attracted upwards towards the sleek lines and glistening mirror windows of the skyscrapers above. There seems to be such a concentration of wealth here while the rest of the region seems by comparison poor. I would love to know whose mother money is here and on what basis!

Taxman by The Beatles has been on loop in my mind for the last few days.      

  Skyscraper district from the seafront.

 I've chanced upon a gem of a hostel, Zebulo Hostel, the red building crouched below and crowded out by the surrounding high rises. 

 Who's in my hammock? I've spent a lot of time suspended in the last few days, come on I've earned it. Lots of good music on the hostel stereo, Devendrá Banhart is a new find for me. 

 It nags away at the back of my mind, should I be trying harder to

improve my Spanish on this trip? All too often I just can't find the time or don't have the energy when I do have the time. Anyway, I had a little look at the imperfect subjunctive yesterday, I know how to treat myself.    

Si tuviera más tiempo (y ganas) estudiaría más. 

 15 years ago I remember arriving in Shanghai and then Hong Kong in quick succession after two months travelling through rural China. Arriving in Panama City from rural Central America has a similar disorientating effect.

 It's not all skyscrapers, the old town is UNESCO World Heritage for its colonial architecture. 

 Scene at the hostel this morning, a task I wasn't looking forward to - dismantling the bike and packing it up for Friday's flight. I remember this causing quite some stress

back in July before flying out to Vancouver.

 But, hey presto, second time round it was a breeze! Bike easily boxed up and ready to fly. 

So, 5:10am Friday morning my flight will be taking off to take me to Bogotá, Colombia. This is not cheating! Between Panama and Colombia lies the Darien Gap, an impenetrable, lawless jungle and swampland where genuinely, people enter and don't come back. I could have taken a boat to Cartagena, $550, or a $120 flight to Bogotá. Easy decision.

And that wraps up this blog. The adventure continues next time from South America but don't forget, I'm pedalling against poverty and YOU can help. A few pounds, Euros, dollars will make a difference. Don't delay, donate today, force me to act on my pledge. The smaller my budget the bigger the adventure!