Day 4 -- La Naturaleza to Siguatepeque

27 miles

I woke up feeling quite refreshed and started getting ready.  Most of my clothing had sufficiently dried, including my shoes!  Breakfast was yummy and the coffee was hot.  In the light of day, I could finally get a decent look at where we were staying.  Beautiful!  With lots of views of the lake.

 

We loaded our gear back into the bus and began to make our way to Naturaleza to begin the day’s ride.  The plan was for both groups to be at the lake at 8:00am so that we could retrieve our bikes and spend some time cleaning and readying them for a 9:00am start.  We were starting 2 hours later than our usual 7:00am departure because we had a much shorter day ahead of us – only about 25 miles.  Of course, 15 of those miles were climbing.

Anyway, our group arrived at the lake and we began to get ready.  The other bus hadn’t yet arrived, so some people, after their bikes were good to go, started working on other bikes, including fixing flats.  Yeah, that’s just like cyclists to care about others.

The group that stayed at Panacam arrived and finished getting ready, and then it was time to start.  The furiosos started out first again. 

And... we're off.  Yup, that's me in the HiVis jacket

The first ten miles were easy.  I covered the trip from La Naturaleza to Taulabe in no time.  Around Taulabe, I started slowing down a bit.  Slowing down and reminiscing.  My first trip to Honduras in 1995, and the next two, was to this area.  I remembered a time when the Texaco didn’t exist – just a little pulpería and a bicycle repair shack.  I kept glancing over at what used to be the mission there, looking for signs of life, but saw none.  It has a different purpose now, but the area will always be very special to me.

OK, Susan, back to reality – you’ve got some climbing to do.  15 of the next 17 miles, to be exact.

Yes, from Taulabe to Siguatepeque it’s almost all uphill.  There’s a slight reprieve after about 12 miles of climbing, and then on to the last bit.  Plus, it was raining.  Not as bad as the day before, and although it had gotten quite foggy the conditions were still better than the day before.  I started climbing, and climbing, and climbing… Soon, I passed Las Cuevas de Taulabe – the caves of Taulabe.  OK, I was making some progress.

Tired? You could always stop and buy some bananas or oranges at the side of the road

Right past the caves is the paved road that leads to Ocoman.  The first time I was there, there was no road, just a goat path to walk down, and then two miles up the mountain.  My, how times have changed.  Still, I kept climbing.

I would mix it up a bit and do some out-of-seat climbing to utilize other muscles.  Yet, it was very obvious that climbing is not my forte.  Not at all.  Still, I kept climbing.

It was pretty foggy once the climbing started

When I got really tired, I would stop.  I found that if I stopped, even for just a minute or two, it refreshed me enough to keep going.  So I did.  Mile after mile after mile.  Before I knew it, I was at the finish line of the day.  Really?  I did it?  I rode my bike from Taulabe to Siguat without dying? 

We stayed at Cerro de Luz campamento again.  Cerro de Luz definitely offers luxury that none of the other campamentos do:  real beds.  Real, North American, thick-mattressed beds.  And hot showers, supplied by real hot water tanks.

I got my room assignment and then was told that lunch was being served.  Heck, I was cold and I was hungry, but the cold took over.  I decided on a shower first, hoping they’d still be serving lunch when I finished.  They were.  And, wow, was it ever a fantastic lunch!!   A huge filet of breaded fish, vegetables and a big potato with a yummy cream sauce.  After riding in the rain for most of the day, the shower and filling lunch were welcome friends!

When everyone was in, fed, and bathed, we loaded up onto the buses again to head to the day’s event.  It wasn’t as well attended as last year – I think that cold weather had a lot to do with that.  Then back to the campamento with lots of free time.  I was going to read before dinner, but a group of the ladies in my room just ended up talking most of the afternoon and it was good conversation.

Breakfast was going to be served at 8:00am the next morning, and we weren’t planning to leave for Comayagua until 11:00am.  So, some people went to the campfire at night, others talked in their rooms, but for everyone it was a very relaxing evening.