Mother nature was not on my side today. Had non-stop rain all day. The big letdown was I missed out on what would have been some spectacular scenery. It was almost non-stop jungle-covered hillsides, mangrove islands along the Pacific and dozens of rivers cascading down from the central mountains. And the color… when the clouds let a little more sunlight through, everything was this amazing shade of green. The pictures all sucked so I deleted them but trust me it was awesome.

This route was my attempt to get off the PanAm highway as much as possible and it’s working out great so far. My map showed the road being paved all the way but that’s not quite true. Maybe 15 years ago it was all paved but now only about half is. The sections of gravel were easy enough even in the rain but I had to avoid a lot of potholes. The five notable climbs were OK but I had to walk up the only unpaved hill because the rocks were so loose. The gringo effect was in full force. Whenever I pull up to any store it goes from being just me and the owner to at least half a dozen people within a couple minutes, all of whom stare at me rather intently. I never even see these people walk up–they just kind of appear. Everyone I saw today waved and kids ran up to the road to watch if they saw me coming. It was pretty cute.

Last night I booked a flight for October 8th that will get me into Colombia. The bicycle tourists out there already know this but at a certain point in Panama the highway ends and there’s no way to drive (or ride) into Columbia. The area where overland travel is next to impossible is called the Darien Gap. OK, technically overland travel is possible using footpaths and a lot of boats but you’d probably be killed/kidnapped by the Colombian guerillas, bandits or smugglers that inhabit the area. From what I’ve read its probably one of the most dangerous areas in the world.

People riding bicycles to South America (or to CA if starting from the south) typically hop on a plane in Panama City and fly into Cartagena, Colombia. There are also chartered boats that you can book passage on for about $350 but I’d rather just get it over with in a day vs. the 3-4 day boat trip. There are no direct flights so I have 2 stops. The worst part is I get into Cartagena at 10:30 at night. I’ll try to book a hotel so at least I have a place to go (via taxi).

I’ve never taken a bike on a plane so I’m freaking out a little. The bike packing part I’ve been prepped for but I just know it’s going to be a big, stressful mess. I gave myself 3 days after I get to Panama City to find a bike box and a huge duffel bag to throw my panniers in.

Funny story but it’s at the expense of my friends but they’ll forgive me. About a month ago Karen and Martin were riding a few days ahead of me. They told me about this hotel to stay at so when I got there that’s where I stayed too. It was probably even the same room. Not long after I got there I started hearing this really loud noise that sounded like someone playing an 80’s arcade game. The bling beep bling noise went on non-stop for half an hour before I realized it was probably birds. Well, I found out much later from Martin that they were so annoyed by the noise when they stayed there that they were yelling into the next room to turn the volume down. Finally they went over to owner and he told them what was making the noise–frogs! While I was riding today I heard them in a ditch next to the road so I made a little video to remind Martin of when he yelled at the frogs to shut up.

09/29

[osm_map lat="9.73" long="-82.695" zoom="6" width="400" height="250" gpx_file="http://www.powercycle.net/maps/leg2/092910.gpx"]

09/28 If they had a Dairy Queen every 20 miles, that also sold fried chicken, Panama would be perfect. It’s hard getting used to the great roads, friendly people and gorgeous scenery. Even the grazing land around here looks nice. Saw a huge waterfall off in the distance but I couldn’t find a side road to get me closer. Wildlife was plentiful. Along the road in a kind of squished state was a python. Lot’s of cool birds including a hawk of some sort. Lizards are everywhere–they lay on the road catching some sun and they take off when I get close.

I didn’t beat the rain today even though I was on the road at 7am and only stopped for 20 minutes. The worst part is having the sweat run into my eyes and almost blinding me. It’s still coming down now.

The shoulder on the PanAm is amazing. It’s usually at least 4 feet wide and there are no potholes. There’s a bit of glass to watch out for but nothing too bad. I’m glad it was pretty flat today because my knee is a bit sore from yesterday.

[osm_map lat="9.73" long="-82.695" zoom="6" width="400" height="250" gpx_file="http://www.powercycle.net/maps/leg2/092810.gpx"]

09/27 2 records broken today. The mountains running down the middle of the country provided a healthy dose of never ending hills once I made the initial climb. 6124 feet is my new number to beat for elevation gained in one day. My Dad won’t like this but I broke my top speed record at 44.4 mph. Panama is only about 40 miles across in this area. I was within 12 miles of riding from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean in one day.

The climb up into the mountains wasn’t bad but the hills after that were relentless. Fortunately traffic was light and there were a couple places to grab some water. I didn’t even stop for lunch so I’m looking forward to dinner tonight. A sign indicating the continental divide (3,600 feet) was at the top of the first big hill and the views back to the Caribbean Sea were amazing.

At about the halfway mark I arrived at Lake Fortuna. Not sure how much of it was natural since a massive dam held the water back but it was pretty nice looking. There were a few touristy shops selling all kinds of food/drink so I bought some candy. The surprise of the day was at a checkpoint. The guard actually asked to see my passport. It ended up being kind of a pain because my stupid Pacsafe money belt broke (both zippers) so now it’s kind of buried in my front pannier.

The weather cooperated all day except when I started the big descent. Rain came down in buckets right up until I found a cheap, little motel to stay at ($10). My detour into Chiriqui Grande for a hotel could have ben avoided. Not too far after the turn toward the mountains was a little motel. Oh well.

[osm_map lat="9.73" long="-82.695" zoom="6" width="400" height="250" gpx_file="http://www.powercycle.net/maps/leg2/092710.gpx"]

09/26 You had go a little out of the way to find a place to spend the night. You weren’t even sure when you left this morning where you’d be sleeping and you’d read that there were no hotels in Chiriqui Grande. That information was a few years old and sure enough there were three of them. Two of them were owned by the same people but they ran both from the same office. Of course you had no way of knowing that, so when they said they wouldn’t have a room available for an hour at the hotel with an office you went to the other hotel. The office at that place was empty and there were no signs saying you should go to the other office. You smiled.

With an hour to kill you went to a bar and drank. Then you went back. Now they had no room available. The only option was a scary hotel by the docks. You smiled again. On your way there, and again when you went to an internet cafe, drunk guys who always seemed to know a smattering of English, came up to you and wanted to shake your hand. You didn’t like touching sweaty drunk people so you offered a terrorist fist bump.

The hotel back at Old Bank had a boat so they drove you over to the main island where you caught a water taxi back to the mainland. While the small, fast-moving boat jumped over the waves you clutched your GPS in case you quickly had to mark the coordinates for a future dive mission to retrieve your bicycle.

Then you rode all day along virtually undeveloped countryside. Jungle lined the quiet highway on both sides and you thought back to Costa Rica and laughed at how the tourist brochures made the country seem like Panama with friendly people, great food, lots of wildlife and jungle everywhere.

Tomorrow you go over the mountain range that splits Panama down the middle. You should be able to make it in one day. If it takes two days you don’t care.

This post dedicated to the craziest writer on CGOAB.

[osm_map lat="9.73" long="-82.695" zoom="6" width="400" height="250" gpx_file="http://www.powercycle.net/maps/leg2/092610.gpx"]

09/25 Just hanging out here on the island. The food, especially at a place called Roots, is delicious. The hostel is a cool place to lounge around and the owner has been really helpful with local happenings. The only negative is that they are building a new house on the water a couple buildings over so a chainsaw buzzes fairly constantly during the day. It could be worse though; it’s right next to the first place I wanted to stay that was full. The plumbing is kind of crazy. Both the shower and the sink drain straight down into the water. I’m glad I’m using natural soap/shampoo but it makes me wonder where the toilet ends up going and if it goes to a treatment facility why everything couldn’t drain there. The water on this side of the island, where most of the people live, looks clean enough but I think I’d pass on jumping it.

The girls staying here left this morning but not before a German couple arrived last night. It’s fine hanging out with a bunch of crazy backpackers in their early twenties but it would be nice to run into a solo female adventurer a little closer to my age bracket. The resident drug dealers on the island have been good company for my walks around town (no, I haven’t been a good customer but my nickname is “Miami”).

Everyone else that lives here kind of just does their thing and doesn’t pay too much attention to the gringos wandering around. Aside from the people that work in the tourist sector, everyone else makes their living by farming or fishing, which is to say that they have very little money. Hopefully things don’t get out of hand with tourism like it did in Costa Rica and ruin their culture (and environment). Foreign companies love to come in to places like this so they can take advantage of the economic situation. That’s already happening with a huge, and very controversial, beach club they are building on the other side of the island.

The famous palm-fringed wilderness beaches can be reached by following a narrow path for about a mile through the jungle. Yesterday I walked over to Wizard Beach and went for a swim. It’s a popular surf spot and swimming is mostly just bobbing up and down while the waves break over you. Rip tides are pretty common so you can’t stray out too far.

Tomorrow I’ll take off again and start riding over to the Pacific side of Panama and then heading south to Panama City where I fly out to Columbia. There’s a range of mountains in the middle which I’m looking forward to.