July 14th, 2013 pt3

Before I start, here is a photo from our hike yesterday!  That is the Cotapaxi volcano, we will be riding there tomorrow!

Today was an incredible day!

Andy is got over his sickness so we headed into new town and rented some bicycles.  We lucked out this week because every other week they shut down Av. Rio Amazonas (a main street) and people can cycle up and down all day. We biked approximately 20km out and turned back before even getting to the end. It is the Ecuadorian version of critical mass.

My brakes were a mess so I stopped at a mechanics tent (set up every few kms, and run by the city) to fix them.  I was able to also change a tire for a guy...yeah, I am breaking down laguage barriers all damn day!.  

On the way back Andy wanted to make a detour so we took a side road and found that the old airport (shut down in Feb) is now a city park.  You can ride all over the runway, up to the terminal, look at old planes.  It was so cool. 

In addition, there was a huge bicycle event on.  There were obstacle courses, huge jumps and an x-games style competition. In the photo below you can see this guy on a random ramp out for anybody daring enough to jump it! I honestly would have done it but decided not to tank the entire trip!

We could not peel our eyes off the crazy jumps and crashes, so we took a seat on the old luggage belt and made a couple sandwiches.  It was so crazy hanging around this old airport.  I cannot express how awesome the new park was.

On the way back we rode through Quitos version of central park.  The had everything our litigious culture in the states would not allow. Their playground equipment was a bit dangerous, but incredibly fun.  

Andy and I spent our time in the full size BMX track and the largest street style BMX trick park.  The photo below makes me look awesome, but eventually a video will surface of me crashing and testing the limits of my helmet and kneecap! 

Finally, Andy had the brilliant idea that we should stop for some BBQ on the way back. In addition to the potatos, there were at least 5 different animals on our kabob!  They were delicious and hit the spot!

We leave tomorrow on the motorcycles. It is a huge bummer that John will not join...his absence leaves a huge gap.  But we will carry on and catch up with John later down the road.