Shall we gather at the river....

Last Monday, I joined Hector and his almost 5-year-old, Eunice and her almost 5-year-old, Luis, Charley, Freddie and some of the others on a trip to the river. Since Monday is their (and now my) day off, the guys like to go there a lot to swim, eat and play cards. A few days earlier, Hector had asked me if I wanted to join them. Sure. Then Eunice said she’d like to go as well. Excellent. Now I won’t be the only female out there.

So, on Monday morning I got my bike ready for what was going to be its maiden voyage. We were supposed to meet near the front of Enlaces at 9:00am. I got there a little early because I needed air in my tires and Freddie said he would help me with that. The guys looked in the bodega, but didn’t like any of those pumps. Finally they found one that would work. We tried adjusting my front brake, but couldn’t get it to do what it needs to. I’ll need to take it to a mechanic, and one of the guys will help me, but they really find the whole concept of a bike mechanic as fairly silly.

Hector told me that the trip to the river is about 7K. No big deal I told him. They all know that I ride in the States, and, again, they find the whole concept of riding a bike ‘just because’ as fairly silly. Before starting out, the guys started joking that they were going to bring a rope in case they needed to pull me. I told them, “Sure, I’ll pull you when you need it.” And Sandi reminded them again of how much I ride. Well, my words would later come back to haunt me, much like a big plate of crow!

I had grabbed three bags of frozen water and threw them in my backpack. Hector, Eunice and both children showed up --- all on Hector’s motorcycle. After buying some fried rice, we were ready to head out. The first two miles were pure joy: Ah, I was on a bike again. I could already tell that the saddle was way too low, but I thought I’d adjust that later. (Nothing on my bike is quick release – not the tires, not the saddle, nada.)

Soon we turned off onto a dirt road; the first portion was pretty smooth, but I was already very, very parched. The sun here can be pretty hot and very strong. Before we knew it, Hector had gotten a flat on his motorcycle (the one carrying two adults and two children). Well, we made some quick adjustments, redistributing food, drink and people. All three of Hector’s passengers were now on various bikes. I felt very much like a Hondureña because, in addition to the extra things I had put in my backpack, I was also trying to carry another bag of stuff, with the bag handle wrapped around one of my handlebars.

Before long, I had to stop. I was absolutely exhausted, and, I knew, dehydrated. The road had gotten rougher and the sun seemed to be picking on only me. I stopped and got out one of my bags of water. It had only melted about halfway, but that was fine with me because then I could put it on my forehead and neck. Woah, I was dizzy, too. I told the guys that they could go on, and I’d catch up to them, but they wouldn’t hear of it. Man, I mean, I was dizzy!! And I couldn’t even muster up the strength to get out of the sun and into the little bit of shade that there was. Where was that rope??

Eventually, I was able to continue on, but I knew that I was sick. I didn’t let anybody else know just how bad off I was. My skin was soaked with sweat, with little rivulets of the salty stuff running down my nose, eyes, and anywhere else it could form a path. My T-shirt had changed in color from royal blue to the deep, dark blue of a drenched shirt. There is a verse in Proverbs which says, “pride goes before destruction, and a haughy spirit before a fall.” Well, the pride was gone, the only thing left was destruction and a fall!! I felt like the fall could come at any minute.

Finally, we made it. Wow, was it worth it!!! I spent the first half hour or so trying to recover and hide the fact that I was severly dehydrated and pretty sick. Actually, it took me the better part of the day to start to feel like myself again. By the time we reached the river, I only had two bags of water left (that’s a total of 1 liter) and I knew I would need to drink them sparingly. I nursed one more bag of water, hoping that if I drank it very slowly it would all be used where needed.

As my senses started to return I was able to begin to appreciate the beauty of the place. I’ve been to Pulhapanzak Falls, near Lago de Yojoa, four times in my travels to Honduras, but this place was more beautiful. Yes, the falls are magnificent, but the area around it has gotten more touristy over the years. Other than the churros (chips) bags on the ground to remind us that people came here often, this place looked untouched, pristine. It was like the mountain just ended, abruptly, and there was the valley and the river.

Pretty much everyone, except me, went swimming at some point. I told them that I hadn’t brought a swimsuit with me, and they said I should just go in in my shorts. But I was wearing denim shorts and the thought of being in soggy denim for the rest of the day was definitely not appealing.

Lunch was chicken, rice and tortillas. It was very good, but I was still so sick and dehydrated that I could barely eat one small piece of chicken, about a half spoon of rice and maybe two tortillas. Actually, I would have preferred not to eat at all, but I knew that I had to get some food in me. Hector had made it back and he also had more water and some te frio with him. I had another bag of water and the te.

The kids loved playing in the water. And the guys loved playing cards. I found a huge boulder that I could climb on and lay down. It had a spot in it that was very comfortable. It was like being in the ‘cleft of the rock’. I could look up and watch the cloud formations and watch the vultures fly overhead. I closed my eyes and even fell asleep for a short while.

The afternoon wore on and Eunice built a small fire and then cooked some plantains and tortillas con quesillo as a late snack. It was starting to get dark, and I thought we should head back to town. The guys said not to worry, that Hector and his motorcycle would be our light for the drive back.

The trip home was much easier. It was cooler and the hardest part of the ride was now a slight downhill. Even with the rough road and just a motorcycle headlight, we made it back to Enlaces much quicker than the trip out.

Well, in one day I managed to break both of the Honduran bicycle rules I had set for myself: ‘No riding without a helmet’ and ‘no riding at night without a light’.