Day 3: Chachimbiro to Lita

Distance cycled: 100km

Climbed: 1123m

Longest downhill: 18km

Times I put my rain jacket on: 2

Numbers of vultures spotted: 8

We started today with a big tropical rain downpour followed by an epic 18km downhill. By the time we reached the bottom of the hill our flapping, dripping clothes were bone dry. We had to dodge lots of locals drying beans on one whole side of the road as you can see below.

Jose had been promising me a day of downhill for 2 days and it certainly started well. On the map the next 50km was all one colour, meaning that we were staying at 2000 feet. What he failed to explain was that we would stay within 500m of that elevation and the next 50km would be a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Pain and wobbly legs aside, rolling between gigantic rocky mountains is quite a spectacle.

I had my ipod playing music to help me up the hills and as we zoomed down one gully the song 'We are the battery human' by Stornoway started playing. The sentiment of the lyrics is that we are a generation of battery humans, staying indoors, constantly connected to the world but not out enjoying it. With the wind in my hair and my knuckles white, racing to the bottom of the gorge, I disturbed two large vultures that took to the air, skillfully using thermal air currents.

As the vultures zigzagged above me I sung, 

'We were born to be free-range, freeeeee-range...'

but my singing was shortlived as I hit another hill and was soon panting for thin air.

As the day wore on, I felt tired and it must have begun to show. Charlie took me under his wing and asked, do you know what 'spin' means? He then talked to me about not just pushing down but pulling up on the pedals. I thought I was doing this already but after employing this technique I was using a whole different set of muscles and found the climbs a little less taxing.

We stopped for a rice and bean lunch and carried onto Lita our destination for the night. As we dropped in elevation the landscape changed from barren rocks to lush green jungle. There was no sign of Phil, Gunter, Lee and Enrique at Lita and all the locals motioned they had gone ahead. Apparently Siete Cascada (seven waterfalls) campsite was only a 20min cycle ahead and it had a restaurant so on we went. 30 min later we asked another person, they said 15 more minutes, after another 20 minutes the next person we talked to said 10 minutes more. It was all uphill and finally an hour after our first instructions we arrived. There was no restaurant like we'd been told but there were undercover platforms to pitch our tents overlooking some spectacular rainforest.

We talked the owner into driving us back to Lita for food, but mostly for cold beer which was calling our thirsty names.

We were thankful for the roof cover as it bucketed down overnight, explaining why everything here is so green. I pitched next to Jose and was convinced he'd packed a chainsaw in his tent but it turned out to be his snoring.

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Day 4: Lita to Camarones

Distance cycled: 86km

Climbed: 536m

Modes of transport: Bicycle, truck and speed boat

Number of shrimp eaten: 33

Number of times I applied suncream: 5

Advice from 3 different people along the way suggested that the road from Lita to San Lorenzo was dangerous and tourists were targeted and sometimes robbed. We put it to a team vote and decided to load our bikes onto a truck and pay $7 each to be driven to the port town of San Lorenzo.

It was weird making the shift from high altitude to coast and painful watching all the beautiful downhill whizz past us. Over the first three days we'd climbed about 4000m (higher than NZ's tallest peak, Mt Cook) and before we knew it we were back at sea level. We unloaded the bikes and had our own motorcycle police escort from town to the harbour where we negotiated to get all 10 of us, gear and bikes on a speed boat to Tola.

Our driver was on a mission as we raced along, dodging giant tree trunks floating in our path. The water quickly changed from blue to muddy mangroves, no doubt crocodiles watching us from the shadows.

We didn't start cycling until about 11.30am and the sun was turned up to full heat. Half the crew were wearing long sleeved shirts, trying to hide the sunburn they'd copped the day before. We had some flat to start but then we cut inland again and were back to rolling hills. The change in temperature and high humidity left us all feeling a little weak and we had plenty of water stops along the way.

We were aiming for Camarones (translates to mean shrimp) on the west coast. I grew up by the beach and for me there's nothing better than breathing sea air through my nostrils and having the oceanic horizon in sight. I learned another valuable team cycling lesson today: Drafting.

Cycling on my own all the time I'm the only one who can break wind - not in the smelly sense!

But with five of us in a line the last 20km were a lot less of a drag, using the cyclists ahead to block the head wind.

Tonight we stayed in cabins on the beach and we managed to get the $25 a night reduced to $10 with a bulk discount - another benefit of having 10 people in your party. The kitchen had just closed but we persuaded them to cook us, you guessed it, plates and plates of breaded shrimp. Mmmm. Happy days.

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Thanks to Lee for a few of these pics, my camera stopped working for 24 hours but seems to be ok again now.

Do you have any ideas for songs I can add to my ipod to help me on the tough stretches of road? Write your tuneful choices in the comments below, cheers!