Adventures in La Cumbre, Part II

The next day, we decided to take a bike ride through the countryside. We rented bikes in town, and following the recommendation of the lady in the bike rental shop and some bikers in the hostel that morning, we set out on the over-the-hills adventure to el Rio Pinto. The path, rather than being a regular gravel road, was gravel over massive bumpy rocks, so avoiding skidding out was a constant battle and a very literal pain in my ass, confounded by the fact that my bike was too small for me and thus hard to sit down on. we stopped after a few kilometers at a restaurant where we met a rather massive Spaniard who lived nearby and worked as a hanggliding instructor, then continued on our trek.

After several more kilometers, we came to a fork in the road. to the right was a path up the mountain to a lookout/hanggliding ramp. Which ended up being about the most breathtaking view I've ever seen. 

There was a hanggliding launch ramp called "the ramp of despair", which launched off the side of the hill at about 45 degrees into about a 1000-foot drop onto rocks and trees. The wind was atrocious, so after about 20 minutes of pictures and awestruckness, we descended.

Then began the trouble. after a few kilometers of switchbacks down the mountain, cruising at top speed, Darios front wheel suddenly shot off from his bike and he went careening over his handlebars. After he recovered from the inital shock, we determined that the safety lock for the tire was completely gone and nowhere around. That meant that we couldn't repair his bike, which, in conjunction with his gravel-filled hand, meant that he couldn't continue the journey even if he wanted. Luckily, some nice French expats coming the other way offered him a lift to the clinic in a nearby town to ensure that Dario hadn't suffered any head trauma. Defeated, the rest of us began our 3-hour trek pushing our bikes back uphill towards La Cumbre.

When we returned to La Cumbre, Dario told us that he was fine--though a little shaken--and that we had nothing to worry about. All of us glad that things had not been worse (and they could have been much, much worse), it was, in reality, an unfortunate end to a marvelous adventure.