Dos preguntas

Before this trip I felt there was a lot of anticipation leading up to it. Louie and I had this idea to bike tour in South America some time ago and it was weird (and kind of uncomfortable) to eventually tell all my friends and family about this trip. Most were very excited for us and encouraged us to share how the trip would change and our perspective on life. Thank you all for this support! Pre-trip there was also a handful of tasks to prepare for including obtaining all the gear and making sure the bikes were in order for this long trek. All that is done now and we are closing in our first semana.

The big question that I was wondering pre-trip, is; "So is it everything you thought it would be?"

As difficult as this question is to answer, my expectatioins for this kind of living and this type of adventure puts both Louie and I in a place to live in the present moment, living day to day with minimal worries about the road ahead and allow for an enjoyable bike ride each day. As I see it now on day 6, this is a great way to live life.

In my 28 anos thus far, I have found in the past, riding a bike is 100% just an incredible way to travel. Reflecting back on my 2.5 years working, my bike commute to and from work each day would keep me happy and realatively stress free. Now on this trip, the 9-5 job has been replaced with a bike ride and the after hours are about shelter, food, laundry in the sink with a bar of soap and finding a hot shower. For now, I wouldn't want it any other way. I swear that the cyclic motion of a bicycle not only has the ability to change what you see in life, but also change how you see life.

Some other friends have wondered if it "Is safe biking and traveling like this?"

While, I have to be a bit coy in answering this, since my Mom reads up on this blog, however it is realivly safe. Far safer than I had imagined and way safer than the news portrays it. Now this is not a bike ride on some protected bicycle path in Irvine, California but rather this is like biking on the PCH in California with a much narrower shoulder and rougher roads. The presense of other bikers is common and we are all usually treated with plenty of passing space by almost everyone, from trucker to motorcyclist.

Ohh, and those motorcyclists love to use their horn. I swear about 68.2% of them give us a little "beep beep" as they putt putt by us. I confirmed with some motorcyclists stopped on the side of the road the other day, that they are giving us a "Good Job" (Bueno Trabajar) encouragement beep rather than a "get out of my way" beep typically found in ustados unidos. Other cyclists and by standards also give us positive encouragement that makes it almost impossible to not continue to pedal on even in the hot heat and hill climbs.

I would love to hear any other questions you may have about this trip and until next time!

Matt

P.s.