Rough start, great finish

Another Sunday, another adventure.

This time, Gabriel and Ana joined us on our ride. We left early to pick them up in Heredia. We say our hellos, get on the bikes and off we go… or so we thought. We had barely travelled a few meters and I see Gabriel flagging us down. I let Ricardo know and we turn back around. Gabriel’s bike would not start! We tried pushing it to get it to start (first Ana, and then Ricardo gave it a push). That didn’t work, so they got the car out to try to jump-start it. Success! … but still, we took the jumper cables with us just in case.

Our plan was to go through Zurchi and come back around. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. As we approached the Zurchi tunnel, we found a line of cars waiting at a complete stop. We drove to the front of the line (that is one of the top luxuries of riding a motorcycle). A police officer informed us that the rode was closed and would not reopen until 2pm. So off to plan B.

We headed back towards Cartago and then went up in the direction of the Irazu Volcano. At the fork (marked by a large statue of Jesus, so you can’t miss it), we took a right instead of continuing left which would have brought us to the crater of the volcano. This is another nice mountain roads interrupted only by the occasional country town, although the road was not in perfect condition and, I would even say, a bit bumpy. After passing Pacayas and Santa Teresa, we stopped for a nice brunch. I say brunch only because it was already past 11am by this time, and some chose to have breakfast food while others opted for lunch.

We got back on the road and continued around through Turrialba, La Suiza and then Cachi until we finally arrived in the valley of Orosi. We stopped to enjoy a granizado from our favorite vendor in front of the Orosi mission and watched some local soccer as we ate/sipped on our Sunday snack. Since this was their first time in Orosi, Gabriel and Ana took a few minutes to visit the mission before we left.

We stopped again a few kilometers later to take some pictures of the valley before heading home. And 30 minutes later we were back home, ready to relax and watch American Idol.

Note: Ricardo just downloaded a new ap on his phone which allows us to get accurate maps of our rides and calculates the exact distance we travelled, time on the road, speed and even altitude info. Here are the details of this ride:

Distance:		200,2 kilometers
Elapsed Time:		4:37:55
Avg Speed:		43,2 km/h
Max Speed:		128,8 km/h
Avg Pace:		01′ 23″ per km
Min Altitude:		581 m
Max Altitude:		1.773 m

Note: I am sad to report that Gabriel and Ana have just sold their motorcycle in preparation for a different type of adventure. We are sad to lose such great riding partners but wish them all the happiness in what’s to come. We hope to see them on the road again someday.