Woke up early, checked in with work, and it's a beautiful day! Perfect day to bike. We picked out our bikes, signed our papers, and after riding 2 blocks, Jason's derailleur exploded! I was right behind him and saw the whole thing. Parts flying everywhere. We exchanged the bike for a new one, made it 1/4 of a mile up the coast and the chain seized up completely, rendering the bike impossible to pedal. We thought maybe it was a sign that something bad was going to happen if we rode today, but decided to push through and get a third bike. This time, he took it for a spin up the block and back. The only thing wrong was that the handlebar stem needed to be tightened. Easy fix. After an hour of mechanical failures, we were finally free. We rode south (east) on the Ruta 10 (Highway 10) about 10 miles to La Barra, a seaside town where very little people spoke English. We bought a big Stella Artois, and hit the beach. The waves were perfect! Crashing and thrashing, but still small enough to negotiate your way around to have fun. We spent a few hours napping and swimming, when Jason came back from the water and said there were three girls here from the US. I was ecstatic! One girl, Mariah, was even from Minneapolis (Eagan). We chatted for a while and told each other our stories. I'm starting to get homesick, so it was refreshing to get a little fix of the familiar. After the beach, we rode a little further down the point, then decided to turn around, as it appeared we were going out to a more rural area. The ride back to Punta felt like 40 miles. The wind had rolled in and was pushing us backwards. It was strong and relentless. I was annoyed, but also thrilled at the promise of a good workout, since I've done nothing but eat and walk and drink for a week now.
After an epic 2-hour nap, we set out for dinner. We ate outside on the beach at El Secreto and had a bottle of local Malbec along with some of the best Risotto and pan fried Brotola (a local cod-like fish) I've ever had. We overheard some more Americans. I plopped down at their table and learned all three of the guys were from NYC. One of the three has lived in Buenos Aires for the last six years and the other two were in town visiting him. Again, I got my fix of the familiar. On the way back, we stopped at the casino, where Jason was feeling lucky. He exchanged a $500 bill for $25 USD and sat at the black jack table. He lost a couple of hands, then won hand after hand after hand. He was on fire! He cashed out with $120 USD. Not bad for a quick 15 minutes. Off to bed...
No comments:
Post a Comment