Day 7 - Nov 21

Today was an adventure in several ways.  The day was to be a 58 mile day with only 500 meters of climbing.  Which at face value would be an easy day.  So off we headed on our easy day...  Last night it rained and rained and rained.  We started out of San Jaun del Sur winding through the side streets and getting a good view of the town.  Once out of town we left the pavement and hit the dirt road.  Well I should correct myself on that account.  It was a dirt road but with the torrential rains of the night before it had turned into a mud pit.  It was muddy and rutted from trucks and carts and motor bikes.  At times there were puddles of soupy slurry of red clay mud that was 6 inches deep.  Not really puddles but pools of it that were unavoidable.  As bad as it sounds, it was actually quite fun.  You would be riding along and hit one full on and the bike would be throwing up a rooster tail of mud like a jet ski on the water.  Mud was flying everywhere.  You quickly became soaked with red clay mud.  Your glasses became coated with it and you could not see.  But you dare not take them off or the mud would be going into your eyes.  I used my water bottle and squirted my glasses and face as I was riding much like windshield washer squirters.  It worked for a time.  The bike was slipping and sliding as we pushed on.  At times it felt like I was on skis.  We traveled through the back country and all the locals we passed would stop and look at the crazy mud covered cyclists.  Once when we stopped and walked into a small little market to get a Coke, the lady looked and started to laugh.  When you took off your glasses it looked like you had a clean mask around your eyes but the rest was mud covered.  It was an exhilarating morning ride.  :)
After lunch we were on pavement which was the PanAmerican highway.  And as you would think it was very busy.  The trucks and especially the buses were annoyed at our being on their road.  They would give a honk as they came up to you and then pass you with only a foot from your shoulder to their vehicle.  The wind that they created as they shot past moved the bike which was dangerous.  And for the first time on the trip we had a headwind of significance.  I guess we have been off into the jungle mostly and been sheltered for most of the time.  But the headwind with the traffic made for a tedious ride.  The grade for a good part of the afternoon was a steady 3%.  But once we bot about 10 kilometers out of Granada the downhill finally kicked in.  By that time my legs were giving out and needed a strong downhill run.  On the downhill I picked up a good deal of speed and passed a guy on his motorcycle.  He could not quite make sense out of how a bicycle could pass him with such ease. :)
I am now in Granada Nicaragua at the Granada Hotel and here is what I am looking at:

Very tropical with temps in the 90's.  This will be my view for the next day as well as we are having a rest day.

Here is my mud covered bike:

It weighs a good 5-10 pounds more with the mud.

And here is where we are in Nicaragua.