The logistical need for a good reliable address while on long term tour can’t be overstated. Getting stuff sent, sometimes seems like an overwhelmingly difficult task, since it requires the effort and goodwill of people both at the point of sending and, also, at the point of reception. While there is certainly a lot to [...]
Tagged city life, hospitality, peopleI love my Primus Omnilfuel stove. Apart from a brief, and ultimately disappointing, flirtation with a home-made al can stove in Mexico I have never strayed from it.* However, that said, the stove has been labouring for some time on a diet of poor quality dirty petrol and performing significantly below par. Magnus, from Primus, [...]
Tagged ecuador, things breakI haven’t had a lot of luck with my tyres over the years. My original wire beaded Schwalbe XRs did really well, clocking up around 17 000 and 20 000 kilometres respectively, but the two folding XRs that replaced them, as needed, both had massive blowouts within around 4-5000 kilometres, which was far less satisfactory.
I [...]
Gradually the lure of the sparkling world beyond Shimano is making itself felt – it could be a long and slippery slope.
Tagged bike, bike bling, city life, ecuadorSantiago and his family in Tumbaco have been providing travelling cyclists with a place to stay at the Tumbaco Casa de Ciclista for the last twenty years. It must take that unique Latino generosity and the corresponding irrepressible urge to offer hospitality to provide an open house to travelling cyclists on one of busiest of [...]
Tagged bike, casa de ciclista, ecuador, friends, peopleRecently, everything has been falling apart: exploding tyres, split rims, leaking panniers, flat thermarest, wobbly bottom brackets, wonky hubs.
*Special thanks to Sarah and Tom for sharing the silicon tip. It’s cheap and easily available from pretty much any hardware store in Central and South America. It works pretty well for patching up Thermarests, too.
First impressions of Ecudaor…
Tagged bike, dirt roads, ecuador, first impressions, mountainsI can’t say I recommend the border or bust approach but after my unsuccessful Venezuela visa wrangling I find myself with only ten days to get to the Ecuadorean border from Bogota before my Colombian visa expires. It’s only around 800 kilometres, which seems doable, but there are some serious mountain ranges to cross and [...]
Tagged bike, border crossings, colombia, things breakI arrive back in Bogota at the central transport terminal at 5AM after a 7 hour bus ride. Stopping only for a restorative cup of coffee, I head straight to the Venezuelan Embassy where I am redirected to the Consulate a further 5 kilometres away. It is like any Consulate anywhere – queues, security, stony [...]
Tagged border crossings, city life, colombia, visa bureacracy