Banos is a local "resort" town and is crammed full of weekend tourists from the city and shops and businesses catering to them. Its got bungee jumping, motorbike and buggy renting, paragliding, rafting, jungle tours, and just about anything else you can think of... But at the moment I dont have any interest in those things... My favourite part was just riding along the back roads from Quito through the small country towns to get here :))
But one of the things that I do remember from a brief visit about eighteen years ago is the "Guinea-pig on a Stick"... It looks a bit daunting when you see it first, but hey, street meat is street meat! ... Mmmm Delicious! :)))
So, I was in Banos which is half way down the side of the Andes into the Amazon basin. Cuenca is back up on the altiplano. There are probably a dozen ways to get between the two towns and at least a couple of them are good quality highway all the way...
But, Oh no, thats not good enough for me! I have to go and choose about the worst option :))
... And I got exactly what I deserved!
The route I chose was down further into the jungle on good highway, then along the base of the Andes till I was parallel with Cuenca and then a smaller road back up onto the altiplano.
The day started out with morning drizzle, so I stayed put in Banos for a couple of hours... But it cleared up and I set off. The bike was fine, though feeling a bit unstable... Which I initially put down to my own lack of riding recently... But, Not So!... About an hour after I started, the bike seemed very "swimmy" in a couple of bends so I stopped and checked things out and found that I had a low, and becoming lower, rear tire...
Investigation revealed a four inch nail in the tire... Yep, that could be the problem :)))
Now, Im not complaining at all, cos Ive ridden over 80,000Km and got no flats at all!... Thats a great record, so Im happy to have one now... Particularly since I have the repair stuff with me :))
I break out the electric tire pump and the tire repair kit that I have... I decide to try the "green slime" solution first since the hole is small and neat... I take out the air valve and squeeze in the green goo while the puncture is located on the bottom of the tire.
Then I start the little pump... All looks good but inflation is slow so I check... And I find that the slime has not made it to the hole... leaking air still.
I decide not to add more slime (save it for another time) and I go to the "coring" kit that lets me use an external rubber plug to fix the hole.
This little system is actually pretty good. I clean out the hole, squeeze some rubber glue in and then (using the tool) force the rubber plug into the hole... Its designed so that the "plug" has a lump at the "pointy" end and another lump at the "blunt" end... Once I push it into the hole, the pointy end lump is inside the tire and the blunt end lump is outside... Its stuck there quite well :)
I reapply the electric pump and the tire goes up as planned... and it stays up :))))
So after about an hour, Im on the road again and I didnt even have to remove the wheel ... Cool :)
And I ride on... I come to a junction, and both directions say "Cuenca" (via different routes) so I opt for the one that stays in the jungle for longer.... And that was my mistake!
Stay in the jungle it does... But the road deteriorates from paved highway to rough dirt road!
And when I say rough I mean ROUGH!... Its not that it gets impassable, On the contrary it stays pretty wide and flat for most of the way and there are only a few minor creek crossings... But, its made of that incredibly coarse crushed rock and its got more potholes than there are trees in the Amazon (or so it seems).
I spent the next four or five hours rrrraaaattttttlllliiiinnnngggg my way along this road, up through the mountains, winding my way through absolutely pristine jungle at about 20Kmh.
And, it took its toll on the bike!
About half an hour before I reached pavement again, the pannier rack completely failed... Fatigue cracked in two places and the left pannier was dragging in the dirt!!!
Bugger!!!
I expected this sort of thing to happen eventually, but I had actually expected the panniers themselves to fail... They are made of Aluminum and it fatigues far quicker than steel (which is what the racks are made of). But not so, the steel gave out first... Its just another STRONG indication that Im doing things with this bike that it was not meant for...
A dirt bike would have dealt with it all much better. Even with the same panniers and racks!
Dirt bike suspension has a nice soft, compliant start to the springs, and much longer travel... It can absorb all the rough stuff and the bike, the rider and the luggage get a pretty comfy ride... But, not my street bike... It has short stiff suspension and when you are in the rough you feel every lump. The only thing I can really do to help is to let half the air pressure out of the tires (which I did when the road got rough), but it was not enough... It all fell to pieces!
Short interlude for a Leunig poem I (sort of) recall:
Things just seem to fall apart
String bags full of oranges
And things within the heart.
Calamities evaporate and memories depart
People laugh at anything
And things just fall apart.
by M. Leunig.
Not to worry :)))
I broke out the nylon cord and lashed things together with about fifteen minutes effort (The bike looked like a "bondage victim")... And then I rode on. It was now dark of course (having been riding for about three hours longer than I had planned for the day) so I decided Id stop in a moderate sized town about 50Km short of Cuenca.
Tomorrow I will find a welding shop and fix the pannier racks.... Then Ill go over the rest of the bike and tighten any bolts that are still in place... And replace all the others! :))
One thing is for sure though... I fulfilled my desire to "travel on some of the dirt roads" in Ecuador :)))
Guess Ill have to be far more selective on the dirt roads I ride if Im gonna get to Ushuaia and then back to Vancouver though!!!
