Another sawtooth mountain
Reluctant Suzuki girl (our waitress)
LandscapeThe ride to Cali from Cerritos (200 miles) was a little less exciting than the mountain roads from Medellin to Cerritos. We didn’t go high up in the Andes to challenge the twisties but instead opted for more time in Cali. As we couldn’t stop for the night in Cali we wanted to spend as much of the day as possible there by taking the direct route. As I had hoped it turned out to be joyful riding all day. The main road here is the Pan American highway. We’ve tried to avoid the PanAm as much as possible on the theory that being off the main routes makes it easier to find biker-roads and to meet the people.
The highway is 40% dual carriage-way and 60% two lane. It is extremely well maintained asphalt and not too busy. We were able to cruise at an average pace of 60 mph when we were not being slowed to a crawl by some hilarious but undersized vehicle. On one steep grade I had to slow to 15 mph to avoid a kid on a 50cc Honda with two dozen long-handled mops tied perpendicular onto his tiny bike travelling on the Pan Am.
For one long stretch we were in a belt of sugar cane farms. It is harvest time and the owner’s use the Pan Am to get the cut cane to the nearest processing plant. They use trucks that pull 5 linked trailers. Each trailer is a railroad car, only with enormous rubber tires and an open top. They crawl along under 20 mph so they’re easy to pass.
The fertility of the land must be mentioned. Everything grows here. The sun, elevation and rainfall are conducive for crops of all types. Since I’ve been here I’m pretty sure I grew half an inch. In fact the speed with which all plants grow causes the highway maintenance boys to spend most of their time trying to keep the roads from being engulfed by long grasses and big leafed bushes. Every couple of miles you’ll pass a gang of about 15 guys wearing yellow or orange overalls, all attacking the greenery with machetes or gas powered weed whackers. It is a lifetime of work.
The highway is 40% dual carriage-way and 60% two lane. It is extremely well maintained asphalt and not too busy. We were able to cruise at an average pace of 60 mph when we were not being slowed to a crawl by some hilarious but undersized vehicle. On one steep grade I had to slow to 15 mph to avoid a kid on a 50cc Honda with two dozen long-handled mops tied perpendicular onto his tiny bike travelling on the Pan Am.
For one long stretch we were in a belt of sugar cane farms. It is harvest time and the owner’s use the Pan Am to get the cut cane to the nearest processing plant. They use trucks that pull 5 linked trailers. Each trailer is a railroad car, only with enormous rubber tires and an open top. They crawl along under 20 mph so they’re easy to pass.
The fertility of the land must be mentioned. Everything grows here. The sun, elevation and rainfall are conducive for crops of all types. Since I’ve been here I’m pretty sure I grew half an inch. In fact the speed with which all plants grow causes the highway maintenance boys to spend most of their time trying to keep the roads from being engulfed by long grasses and big leafed bushes. Every couple of miles you’ll pass a gang of about 15 guys wearing yellow or orange overalls, all attacking the greenery with machetes or gas powered weed whackers. It is a lifetime of work.
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