Distance: 111.32 km
Ride time: 5:33:14
Average: 20.04 km/h
Max speed: 53.21 km/h
Total: 35188 km
There are good and bad places to get a flat tire – a good place would be next to a tropical beach. When it happened I made a break out of it, went down to the beach, had a swim, ate a banana bread, and finally fixed my tire. There is a lot of nice beaches in Costa Rica, and almost no people on them…
Later in the day the road turned inland and I was beginning the climb up towards the capital San Jose.
It was just about to start raining when I met Adrian from France – another long distance cyclist coming from Canada and aiming for Ushuaia. We stopped at a gas station for a chat while a tropical rain shower passed by. Adrian said he had been feeling lonely lately and missed the company of other people. Interestingly I never feel lonely out here. I like to cycle by myself, and I always meet people whenever I stop.
Adrian is on a very low budget (much lower than my 20$ a day) and sleeps in his tent almost every night. It probably helps on the social aspect that I have money enough to stay in hostels while I’m in a city. These places are always great for meeting people.
I guess this river was not where I should go for an afternoon swim and put up my tent for the night!
Instead of camping I continued towards Orotina where I found a motel room. Tomorrow I should reach San Jose!
What a wonderful place to have a puncture! It’s good that you were able to turn an annoyance into an advantage.
I hope Adrian overcomes his loneliness. Judging by what you’ve already written, he’s going to have a fantastic time, watching the world unfold, as he rides south!