14th November, 2010
Technically day 1 of our Cuban cycling escapade, and what a day it was.!
Had a quick breakfast (speciality was cheese and Jam.!) and met up for a team briefing at half past 8. Amelio, out tour guide briefed us on dos and don’ts – pee behind bush was acceptable if needed. Arial (pronounced Areeyal) was our cycle leader and led us well, he did.!
Started at exactly 8:47, not sure of the significance was, and proceeded south east towards the coastal city of Matanzas. We had out first break at around the 10km mark, where we diverted from the main road, which was immediately followed by a 20 minute snack break, near a church in a small village.
From there on it was pretty flat terrain until our next stop, at around the 25 km mark. Got welcomed by few local kids who were completely mesmerised by Angela’s Cancer research balloons. From here on began the steep climbs, which was topped off by a 2 km uphill that completely (almost) drained us of our energy. From here on it was a 2 km ride to the outskirts of Matanzas, which was our lunch break.
Lunch was provided by our back-up truck driver’s wife and it was traditional Cuban food – rice with black beans, et al.
Post lunch it was all down hill – literally. It was a great 10 km ride to the other end of Matanzas, from where we were transferred onto a coach to our hotel for the night – Acuazil hotel.
Statistics for the day:
Total distance – 47 KM (+/- 1 KM, as I forgot to switch on the timer on few occasions at the start after each break)
Difficulty factor – 5 on 10
Saddle soreness factor: 3
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