Above: Afternoon coffee at the Gonzalez house.
I made it. I cheated it a bit and hitched a ride coming into San Jose, but I made it. I no longer have to worry about missing my sister’s wedding. Woohooo! For the past few days, I’ve been relaxing and hanging out with the Gonzalez family (my sister is marrying David Gonzalez this Saturday.)
*****
Just before I set off to tackle the last 100 kilometers leading into San Jose, a man warned me about the road ahead.
“For 40 kilometers, the road goes straight up. After that, it’s sort of flat. Good luck,” he said, smiling.
After 30 minutes of riding, my stomach was rumbling with such ferocity that cycling became almost impossible. I got off the bike and bent over to lean my hands on my knees, waiting for my breakfast to splash down at my feet. I never got sick, but I did lose my ability to ride. My joints began to feel achy and a splitting headache started throbbing in the back of my head. With no place to take cover from the intense morning sun above, I stood by the side of the road and spilled sweat on the pavement around me. I put out the ol’ thumb.
An hour-and-a-half later, after what seemed like an eternity, a white pick-up stopped and offered me a ride. Jose and Daniela first drove me to a pharmacy to buy some stomach medicine and then set off to Alajuela, a suburb of San Jose. The ride lasted just over two hours and saved me what could have been two days of riding. Thank you Jose and Daniela!
R.I.P. Beard: November 23, 2007– January 21, 2008
Posted in Bike trip: Costa Rica
