No AC .... stinking hot, 280 meters above sea level, we were both dissolving in the heat but no complaints as we were heading back up to Medellin to the cooler temps at 1800 meters.
Check this out, easy cycling up hill, truck was only doing 45 - 50 k but this dude has skill (if he is still alive
)
The day was an easy tarseal jaunt, we had been over that road but not toward Medellin, on top of that mum nature had been watering the place well with massive thunderstorms again illuminating the skies at night so that bought out the waterfalls and changed the perspective on the road.
All was going well until we pulled up behind some cars, then some trucks hmmmm.
So ok the left hand lane plus or minus was free so we rode on by km after km past trucks, buses are cars, nearly 5 km long then it was clear again for no reason so we larfed and carried on.
Only 1 km up the road we came across more trucks, buses and cars, this time they were parked all over the road and this time because of landslides and washouts from the previous night sky fireworks.
We managed to sneak our way around this lineup which was another 4 km long up to the front then it became apparent the extent of damage done by the downpour.
A landslide had come down claiming nearly 300 meters of road with a slurry of mud and rocks up to 1.5 meters deep, it had come down at 5 am hence the incredibly long lineup.
On investigating the damage they had two small diggers chipping away at it, they had been going about an hour when we got there and we were stuck there for 3.5 hours waiting, think of the poor guys how were there from 5.00am.
It was fookin hot and this was the ONLY day we left saying we will be there in two hours so don't worry about filling up with water, lesson learned never assume you will get trough without issue no matter how close you are, lucky we have a backpack and filter system.
They were not allowed to push the slurry over the edge into the gully as it would go in the river, the reckoned it would block it, I reckon it would not stand a chance of blocking it with the flow of the angry waters.
The diggers spent half their time backing up the road with a load of flowing muck, half of it falling out before getting to the drop point, and some of it flowing straight back down the road where it came from so a LOT of double handling going on.
On completion of the final slurry being removed there was huge cheers from the audiences at each end then a running race back to the motos to let the race begin.
As usual they let the traffic go in an orderly fashion ... which lasted 30 seconds before mayhem took over, we were surrounded by a swarm of small motos and the police inundated and powerless to stop the chaotic flow.
Per usual here you either dive in or get left behind so we made sure we were up the front knowing only a km out of the traffic jam we would be past them and home free.
In the slip midship
The traffic was 5 km long from the other side of the slip and with only one lane open it would be another couple of hours at least before they all got through.
Arriving “late” was no biggy as we said we would be there later afternoon anyway, again leaving our gear there in R2R Maya hit the bath tub again to wash off all the good times.
The mission was to resolve the shock knock, make some sacrificial slider for the radiator and change the oil.
To finish, here is the "unplugging" of the slip with everyone going through in an orderly fashion
Check this out, easy cycling up hill, truck was only doing 45 - 50 k but this dude has skill (if he is still alive
)
The day was an easy tarseal jaunt, we had been over that road but not toward Medellin, on top of that mum nature had been watering the place well with massive thunderstorms again illuminating the skies at night so that bought out the waterfalls and changed the perspective on the road.
All was going well until we pulled up behind some cars, then some trucks hmmmm.
So ok the left hand lane plus or minus was free so we rode on by km after km past trucks, buses are cars, nearly 5 km long then it was clear again for no reason so we larfed and carried on.
Only 1 km up the road we came across more trucks, buses and cars, this time they were parked all over the road and this time because of landslides and washouts from the previous night sky fireworks.
We managed to sneak our way around this lineup which was another 4 km long up to the front then it became apparent the extent of damage done by the downpour.
A landslide had come down claiming nearly 300 meters of road with a slurry of mud and rocks up to 1.5 meters deep, it had come down at 5 am hence the incredibly long lineup.
On investigating the damage they had two small diggers chipping away at it, they had been going about an hour when we got there and we were stuck there for 3.5 hours waiting, think of the poor guys how were there from 5.00am.
It was fookin hot and this was the ONLY day we left saying we will be there in two hours so don't worry about filling up with water, lesson learned never assume you will get trough without issue no matter how close you are, lucky we have a backpack and filter system.
They were not allowed to push the slurry over the edge into the gully as it would go in the river, the reckoned it would block it, I reckon it would not stand a chance of blocking it with the flow of the angry waters.
The diggers spent half their time backing up the road with a load of flowing muck, half of it falling out before getting to the drop point, and some of it flowing straight back down the road where it came from so a LOT of double handling going on.
On completion of the final slurry being removed there was huge cheers from the audiences at each end then a running race back to the motos to let the race begin.
As usual they let the traffic go in an orderly fashion ... which lasted 30 seconds before mayhem took over, we were surrounded by a swarm of small motos and the police inundated and powerless to stop the chaotic flow.
Per usual here you either dive in or get left behind so we made sure we were up the front knowing only a km out of the traffic jam we would be past them and home free.
In the slip midship
The traffic was 5 km long from the other side of the slip and with only one lane open it would be another couple of hours at least before they all got through.
Arriving “late” was no biggy as we said we would be there later afternoon anyway, again leaving our gear there in R2R Maya hit the bath tub again to wash off all the good times.
The mission was to resolve the shock knock, make some sacrificial slider for the radiator and change the oil.
To finish, here is the "unplugging" of the slip with everyone going through in an orderly fashion
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1 comment:
That road looks so slippery! I can only imagine riding in the middle of that pack of bikes; like the start of a Moto GP race! Glad you made it through the same day. Neda
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