When Josh and I left Quito earlier this week, the plan was to ride together to Tena. He took the lead, listening to directions from his GPS.
One of the big problems with GPS is that it’s unreliable. It’s not unexpected for GPS to tell you to go the wrong way down a one-way street. As we left Quito, Josh’s GPS told him to take a left turn down a street he wasn’t allowed to turn on. He listened to the GPS instead of paying attention to the street signs, and illegally took the turn…right in front of a bus that was trying to go straight. I asked him about it later and he said he had no idea why he made that turn.
I couldn’t follow him, so we had to split up. I pulled out my own GPS, hoping it would let me beat the rain.
Josh and Elizabeth both went to the trouble of getting some type of rain gear so that they wouldn’t get wet when it rains.
I thought this was a bit of an overreaction on their parts. It rains down here a lot, but typically after the rain happens, the sun comes out and dries you off quickly. I felt like the rain would be an inconvenience more than anything else. We’ve had to drive through the rain a few times, and each time we’ve either been able to dry quickly, or change into dry clothes shortly afterwards.
On my way out of Quito, I had to ride through about 20 minutes of showers. It was miserable, but slowly I started to leave the rain behind. I waited for the sun to come out, since it was 3pm and there was plenty of daylight. Instead, the sky remained stubbornly overcast and the temperature around 60 degrees F. I started to shiver as I drove.
I kept riding, and kept shivering off and on. After about an hour, I noticed a decently-sized town and pulled over.
Across from where I had parked, I could see a woman cooking chicken over a charcoal grill. I took off my helmet and my wet gloves and walked over. I smiled, told the woman that I was cold, and warmed up in front of her grill. The woman was making chicken for her restaurant, so I asked if she had any hot chocolate and she said yes. I ordered some, and over the next 20 minutes I gradually warmed up.
But then I had to get back on my bike, with my wet gear on. The weather wasn’t getting any warmer, so I shivered a bit more on the drive to Tena. By the time I arrived, I was dried out from the wind, but it was a really miserable experience.
While it wasn’t a pleasant experience, it at least had the benefit of being over. Or so I thought.
The day after I arrived in Tena, I started to cough. And I’ve kept coughing. Right now I wheeze a little bit when I breathe deeply. I was going to visit a doctor this morning, but the wheezing improved a bit and I decided to wait and see if I keep getting better.
Apparently, cold temperatures can lower the effectiveness of the immune system. My best guess is that while I was so cold, some virus took advantage and I wound up contracting something.
In the interest of resting, I pulled out of a trip to the Amazon that Elizabeth and I had planned for the day. Josh decided to stay an extra day on his Ayahuasca excursion.
Tomorrow morning, I’m leaving Tena and will head to the city of Banos. I’ll be there for a week, trying to finish up a coding project. The plan is to get plenty of rest, and if I start to feel worse I’ll seek out a doctor.
Lesson learned, though. Rain gear isn’t just a luxury. I’ll try to find some as soon as possible.