to Santa Fe de Antioquai: up and down along the Cauca River, man it is hot!
"This driveway is not meant for cyclists" Patrick says as it takes both of us pushing up one bike up to the road. We ride back through town and over the bridge back to the main road.
We continue to lose elevation along the Cauca river, though it is a constant up and down there are a few sections of almost flat making for nice riding. There are less sections of construction sites of washed out roads. After the morning clouds lift it gets hotter and hotter. We have enough water and stop a couple of times for a cold drink.
At the junction for the turnoff to Santa Fe de Antioquia, we stop for a one last break. Then a couple more kilometers uphill. The road up to the town is lined with fancy resorts. The town is an old colonial town and the streets are cobblestones. We find the Green Nomad Hostel, in a great location near the plaza. The room is nice and there is a pool. We shower and change into swim suits to take a swim and cool off.
A little later we walk around the town. The center is very nice with cobblestone streets lined with colonial buildings. There are several churches, but they are all closed this afternoon. Our plan is to take a bus to Medellin tomorrow so we seek out the bus station. There are buses every thirty minutes and it does not sound like the bikes will be an issue.
This town has tuk tuk's again. We have not seen these for a long time. We rent one to take us to the Puente de Occidente, a suspension bridge nearby across the Cauca River. The bridge was built in 1887 and was designed by the same Engineer that designed the Brooklyn Bridge. The guy drives us to the bridge, drops us off to walk across and picks us up on the other side.
Back in town we wander around for a bit longer and visit some nice little parks. We have dinner at a nice restaurant overlooking the main plaza and head back to the hostel for another dip in the pool. Santa Fe de Antioquia is a hot place!
Another early start to try and beat the heat. We get cloud cover for the first couple of hours riding along the Rio Cauca.
Every time you think that bicycle touring is hard you need a reality check like this. These guys are loading their canoes with sand from the river bottom, tow it to shore and then shovel it into the trucks. Now that is hard work in the real world.
There are many road workers clearing rockfalls cleaning ditches. This guy is clearing vegetation with a weed-wacker. Another worker pushes the movable screen to keep grass and rocks from flying onto the road.
We take a tuk-tuk to visit the "Puente de Occidente" or Bridge of the West. Construction was started in 1887. The Engineer was Jose Maria Villa, the same guy who designed the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
