Cuba the last Chapter

We are finally home to a fresh snowfall after 3 weeks of 30 degree weather.  It feels so nice to get the long johns back on after spending a month in shorts :(   I did not want to show off my tanned legs anyways.  For the last week in Cuba, Mark and I decided to do a bit of solo trekking and went our separate ways before joining back in Havana for a last night of rum and Motecristo #5s.  I really wanted to put in some big miles and Mark was keen on checking out the music scene.  By this time in the trip, we were both getting quite comfortable moving about without worries of food, lodging and security despite our language barrier. 

 

I managed three 160 km rides in a row and managed to get somewhat fit and almost back down to my pre-trip aero profile.  This last stretch around the south east shore of the country was very much out there in the boonies on a desolate, very hilly road suitable for mountain bikes.  Despite the isolation, I had absolutely no difficulty getting what I needed in food, water or shelter.  The scenery was out of this world as the road was often nothing more than a rough path on a boulder beach with the waves crashing on the rocky seashore and jagged limestone mountains rising straight up on the other side. 

 

All in all it was a great trip.  What I learned was that in Cuba, you can pretty well ride a bike anywhere you want and never worry for your safety or suffering from hypothermia.  I also learned that you can always find something to eat, a very comfortable place to stay and safe drinking water anywhere in the country.  It's also very cheap with the average cost of a double room with private wash room and air conditioning between $25-$30, beer for a buck anywhere you go and a pint of rum for not much more.  Not that nice cyclists need the last two items.  Also in every place we stayed, you could get shrimp, lobster, pork or chicken meal with all the trimmings for $10 or less.   

 

On my last day, I flew from Santiago to Havana, about 900 km for $100 which, in my mind was much better than spending the night on a bus for $60.  I also found a nice helpful young man to donate my bike to which, for him was like having someone giving him a car.  He was very happy and promised to write to let me know about his new ride.  It's a good excuse to get another bike since I own a bike shop.  Next year, it's a trip to the west of the Island in the Pinar Del Rio province for 2 weeks.  Anyone interested?

My Cuban Mechanic 

 

Andre

Another happy customer

Doesn't she look happy to be on her new bike?

 Kids buy back program

(bring back any kids bike you buy at Velorution for a trade in value or store credit)

Spring like Weekend

I know what you are thinking and you're right it isn't the weekend any more, but if you have been following this blog you know I am always a day or two behind.
Any way it was a productive weekend, Saturday the power and phone were out here at the shop so not much happened other than some cleaning, sorry if you tried to call and didn't get through.
Saturday night was another story, went out with Gord and Brent!

Preferred Parking at Coch's Corner.

Sunday was an awesome day, for some reason if felt like someone hit me in the head with a piece of lumber. 

couldn't have anything to do with the night before. I decided you know it it's a good day when the only decision you have to make is ski or bike. That was the question, the bike ride won out on the ski as I am getting a serious ich to get out.

Rode out to hiawatha to check our how many people were out skiing, (not as many as I thought)

and then the lines out to groscap.

Had to stop by the shop for pre ride COFFEE.

No ride is complete with out.

The Trek 29er on the shores of groscap.

Couldn't have spent the weekend any better. For those of you that know Brent make sure to ask him how the ride was on Sunday!

Lance on a Fixie

Check it out!

I can't believe I made it

Well the weekend is behind us and I turned 30. Wow, can't believe I made it. You know people say it's a life changing experience, I'm not sure I can say that, partly because my maturity level never really peaked past my teens. I have decided that it is time to get in shape though so I will try and keep you posted as to how that is going, if I can resist those barley flavored beverages things should go well. 


Any way we spent the weekend out at Stokely Creek. Saturday was the Loppet that is always a blast. We spent the night and skied on Sunday as well. 
Thanks to everyone who came out. I'm lucky to have great friends to enjoy these activities with.

The start of the loppet 

 Ian is taking in the natural beauty of Wabos

The first refreshment stop, nothing like a can of pabst to replenish carbs!

We stopped one more time at the top of the big climb just before Norms to stake claim to our own natural patio.

Christie and Carrie at Norms, the girls had to wait quite a while for us there.

Everyone scoping out the famous down hill to Bone Lake

Carrie was the first to take the plung

No Problem

T with his game face on, Thanks to the ski patrol for putting up with our antics.

He is in the air!

And he's down!

Ian celebrates his down hill victory with a beverage.

Here I am after I dug my head out of the snow. It seemed to be going so smoothly.

I felt like Gordy!

Greg is trying some acrobatics.

Nice recovery!

Back at the Lodge after stuffing our faces with food and drink.

The night was great we had dinner at the lodge and hung out at the clubhouse for most of the night.

The next day we set out for King Mountain. In a round about way. Decide that the right way to get there was to take an un groomed snowmobile trail. It brought us to some great down hills and a lot of powder, wished I had touring skies instead of my world cups.

Everyone scouting it out. 

Quote of the day goes to T

"If we need to come back up this it is going to be 90% complaining till we get back"

Looks like fun eh. It was more like a bob sled run that made its way down the valley.

And that's it, we did make it to the top of King Mountain for a great view, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

The best thing about going to king moutain is the way down, what took us a bit over 2 hours to get up took 30min to bomb down.

We were lucky to get a bunch of snow the Thursday before the loppet which made for great conditions.

Our Bikes knocking at the door to get in.

 Don't they look sad?

Well, 30 doesn't seem so bad after all. Can't wait for next year.

More news from Cuba

Sorry for the delay on posting, my computer crashed.
Here is some more news from Andre and Mark's Cuba adventure

Hola to all my frozen friends. 

 

We are truly in Paradise here.    Our last few days have been eventful to say the least and before I get into the details I can assure you that we are still alive and well. 

 

As we move our way to the eastern and most remote area of Cuba we are entering a true tropical paradise.   The roads are quite rough in this part of the country but the spectacular scenery makes up for it.   Two days ago we were in a small town that had very limited accomodations.  We ended up sharing a very ¨rustic¨ casa with two retired ductch men.  We are talking about the composter consisting of 3 pigs in the enclosed in a small enclosure next to the outside kitchen counter.  The pigs would squeal in delight whenever the cook came by to prepare our meals.  You have heard of the 100 mile diet well here they have the 100 feet diet.  If you want to know what´s for supper, you typically just look around the yard.  Chicken, porc, fried bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers etc...  All very fresh, very tasty and quite filling.  We also picked up a local power bar that is the best I have ever had, consisting of a mixture of coconute and a few other things I´m not too sure of.  One thing though is that it sustained us for a good 2 hours in some of the most challenging terrain and riding you can expect.  The hills are VERY steep and the potholes VERY big.   ´My rear rack is starting to bend and I´m working on my good favours with Mark so that when it breaks, he will have to carry my load.  I swear that I did not plan this.

 

Anyways, we are sitting around the rustic casa sharing a few stories and a few bottles of rum with our new friends from Denmark.  And good story tellers they were.  After too much rum and a good meal the floor of the casa was getting more and more uneven and with the first rain and rustic Cuban construction method, wet and slippery.  I know why they don´t have lawyers in Cuba. 

 

Next morning  it´s pouring rain outside, we are talking a tropical downpour.   Our gracious host offers to take us to our next step, about 70 km down the road, and we gladly accept before taking a good look at his cuban car, a very beat up Lada, the driver´s side window a plastic bag hanging, the wiper consisting of his son in the front seat reaching out the window to wipe the rain so he could see.  Our bikes precariously tied down in the truck which also happen to be quite open to the inside of the car through very big holes where speakers used to be.  As you can imagine, the exhaust fumes came up and it was a very special ride indeed.  The steering wheel was quite loose and our driver turned the wheel about 1-4 turn before the car responded.  Add the big rain, the big water filled potholes, streets full of horses, pedestrians, bikes and so on, you can imagine that we were quite happy when we reached our destination.  Needless to say it was a low point in our trip.

 

As things go however, we were rewarded with some of the best, remote car free tropical riding of the whole trip with the absolute tropical paradise villa at the end of our trip.  This was a first class, small villa on a beautiful tropical beach serving the best of food.   We did sleep very well that night and after a harduous 20 km ride this morning we are taking it easy to prepare for the next leg of our journey.

 

Keep well and happy shovelling to all of you.

 

Andre

Hello everyone:  

We are now half way through our little Cuban adventure.  I"m almost recovered from my road rash wounds and looking forward to more adventure.  We are currently on the eastern edge of Cuba and we are going towards Guantanamo Bay to release all the prisoners.   It's been quite hot I''m not complaining as I see you still have to shovel it. 

 

We are staying mostly in bed and breaskfast places, very cheap $25/night for both of us and we get to meet cubans as opposed to other canadians in the big hotels.   The towns are quite bustling but very colorful.  It's very much like going back 50 years in time before internet, cars and cell phones.    Lots of bikes, horses, pedestrians and very old cars.  

 

Other than the  heat, the riding is great.  We are taking LOTS of pictures so we can bore you all when we come back.  We are riding on quiet roads, often rough and typical coutryside and some VERY big hills.  I might even start to get in shape if I could only keep my cervesas intake reasonable. 

 

I''ll try to send another update next week. 

 

Ciao

 

Andre