The Catholic Mission at San Lucas Toliman

Lake Atitlan

I detoured from the main highway to be a tourist today.  I cycled up to Lake Atitlan and challenged my limits doing so.  I got off and pushed my bike for the first time. Ever.  I didn’t get off to push while cycling the world in 1975.  I didn’t get off to push up those steep Bali volcanoes and calderas in 2004, and last year in the Colorado Rockies; never got off the bike to push.  But today, hot and no wind, two and a half hours and 25 km into a 32 km climb I got weak and wobbly.  Sweat drips off my seat and soaks my shoulder bag.  I took a break, then went a little further and felt unsafe to continue.  I pushed the bike up for half a km, then rode, took another break, and completed my ascent. The elevation of the town is 1600m; tomorrow I’ll bike to an overlook at 1900m.   It cooled off when I entered the clouds.  The twin volcanoes, Atitlan and Toliman(3557m & 3158m), whose sides I’d been ascending all afternoon appeared through breaks in the cloud .  The wheels were not slipping, so I can’t blame the front wheel drive.  A drawback on all recumbents is that you can’t stand up on the pedals.  Hmmm…maybe if I could learn to sit on the handlebars and steer, I’d be standing up on the pedals.

I arrived in San Lucas Toliman after five and Padre Gregorio was not at the church, so I’ll check back tomorrow.  Many people have stopped to ask about my travels, including Carlos who I met in town.  When I said I was looking for a hotel, he made some suggestions, then asked if I wanted to stay at the guest house he manages on the lake, six km out of town.  So here I am at the Casa La Paz in Cerro De Oro, Santiago Atitlan.

View from the dock at Casa La Paz

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at 21:36 and is filed under David's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.