04/14 A couple miles after leaving this morning the road finally got a little better. Not much, but definitely less rocks scattered all over the place. Other than an occasional bad spot, mostly water on the road, riding was much easier. I lost a lot of altitude descending from up in the mountains but a lot of little hills kept me grinding away on the pedals. Plenty of villages along the way to buy water (that I didn’t need–still lugging 6 liters). My chain cleanup did the trick. No problems shifting or with the chain getting stuck. I had to stop and put oil on again today.
My right foot started with this sharp pain today. Not too bad yet, maybe 2/10 on the pain scale. It wouldn’t surprise me if I pinched/pulled something with all this riding on wet dirt. I should be back on pavement in 2 days which will help. I’ll take a break for a day maybe in Jaen if I head that way. Jaen would be a slight detour but there’s another town, Bellavista, that might have some accommodations.
I lucked out in San Jose. At the first store in town a guy was sitting outside and I asked him if there was a place to stay. No hotels or anything but he offered to let me sleep in a warehouse-type place he owns. I think his teenage son sleeps in here too. Not sure. I have a mattress on the floor and the river right outside made a fine shower. All the kids have come over to check out the gringo. For dinner I made non-instant rice for the first time in my life. Had a can of tuna with it. Yum. 
I’ll upgrade to rice and beans next. I didn’t want to take on too much at once.
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