bicicleta

My ass hurts like you wouldn't believe.

Next time a Guatemalan tells you that you're going to take a leisurely ride around town on a bicycle, do NOT believe him. The activity after school today was a bicycle tour. It was supposed to be easy, for beginners with no experience with bicycles. About 3 minutes in, I knew we were in trouble. We started off with zig-zagging through traffic on poorly paved roads. (Yes, Mom, I was wearing a helmet). I was freaking out about that—we went on sidewalks, and back on the road, and in between cars, etc. Then we got out of town and rode (in the rain, of course) up and down these muddy hills. Around the second hill, I remembered that I'm not yet adjusted to the high altitude of Xela. (Oops). I couldn't breathe, but then it was flat for a long while, and I was doing much better. That said, riding over these terribly bumpy dirt roads (or occasionally “paved” with stones) is very hard on the rear end. After about an hour and a half of this “easy” ride, I had to stop for a moment as I was out of breath. So the whole group stopped. At that point, one of the guides offered to take me back. I asked how much further it was, and they said it was about 5 kilometers, or 45 minutes. Except he also said 'mas dificil.' That did it—I headed back with one of my friends and one of the guides. (There were only 5 students on the tour, and I was the only girl. All the Canadians, which is like half the students, wussed out.) Anyway, we headed back, and I was pretty sure that everyone else was going to regret their decision to carry on, as most of them were pretty tired, too.

I got home, covered in mud and in a lot of pain. Took a shower and nap.

Sure enough, after I'd been home more than an hour (and it was like half an hour back one we turned back), my friend called me to say that I was very smart and he wished he hadn't continued on. He said they had just gotten back and it was incredibly hard—up and down these narrow muddy paths.

I think we actually rode past some nice scenery and vistas, but, honestly, I was so busy concentrating intently on the road so as not to fall that I barely saw the scenery. Although, I did notice all the vacas. Of course. I'll try to get photos from my friend who did take photos.

And I'm sort of reconsidering my desire to buy a bike for getting around Brooklyn.