Michael: Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The roosters banter
Like adolescent school boys
With their shrill cackle.

To get in an upper body workout here I’ve developed, with Kimme’s help, a small porch gym since I don’t have the kettle bell or weights I have back home and we don’t feel like walking into town and availing ourselves of the one gym that we know of here in Volcan, which really isn’t much more than an old gym rats idea of gym with a young strong guy as owner/instructor and some very old and well worn equipment. Not that I need everything to be shiny and new, but I’d at least like all the parts to work and feel reasonably safe to operate.

I have a make shift pull up bar that is a long extension paint roller held between chains that are there to either hold plants or a hammock, and it works great. Next month I step up to a 10-9-8-7-6-5 repetition countdown between sets of 500 count jump rope exercises totaling 3,000 jumps with the weighted rope Kimme bought for me. My goal is to build up to 15 pull ups. I don’t know where on the net I came up with that number but now it’s locked in place.

The other piece of equipment I’m using wasn’t intended for me when Kimme ordered it from the states, but really like is the WOSS suspension trainer. She got it to develop the ability to eventually do push ups so I thought it might be more like the wuss trainer, but I’ve discovered it’s remarkably difficult yet enjoyable. Doing push ups off the ground with a system that requires balance isn’t easy for me and I’m lucky I can get to 10 in a minute whereas with my push up board at home I’d do that in half the time then move on to another position and roll out another set of 10 until I’d do 60 push ups in all. That’s not going to happen with the WOSS. I also do lat pulls, tricep extensions, bicep curls, hip raises and suspended crunches. I’m enjoying this workout so much that I’m going to put off getting a kettle bell for a couple of months.

What I can’t put off is a trip to David tomorrow to pick up our papers from the States which we need to file our taxes. Kimme wants to head up to Boquete from there for the Tuesday market which means 4 hours on the bus. But I am hoping to pick up a few exercise related items along the way - some chain lube and a new seat which will hopefully alleviate the rear end soreness I’ve been experiencing. It’s just exasperating that here in Panama that probably means heading for two different bike shops as the shop with the Specialized seat I want doesn’t have chain lube. Crazy I know, and it even exasperates the locals, but it’s not likely to change any time soon.

Michael: Monday, March 30, 2015

The bird’s call sounds like
Chaplan’s swallowed whistle that
Disrupts the singer.

If I were Rip Van Winkle and fell asleep for a 100 years, when I woke up I’d presume it was a Monday, because just like today and most Mondays, I feel a little groggy and despondent. I’m sure it’s largely explained by the natural re-balancing after two hard days of physical and mental exertion that’s required during my long ride on Saturday and our long hike on Sunday. And though I accept that, being able to understand it doesn’t prevent this listlessness from creeping in every Monday morning. 

And since it was my sister’s birthday yesterday and we are now magically once again the same age for 5 weeks, perhaps a little extra dash of depressant is thrown into the mix as it heightens my awareness of aging.

But now to slowly try to lift the veil of this homely bride of a Monday, lets turn to an awareness of what new occurrences and commitments I made over the weekend.

On the ride Saturday, now that my bike has a computer on board, I discovered just how difficult the ride to Rio Sereno is and how fast I’m going down some of  those hills. And they’re all kind of fun and exhilarating numbers to me. After the 40 mile ride my average speed was only 12.6mph. There is no ride that length at home where I don’t average closer to 15mph, including that dreaded bitch Las Flores. That excites me. I am going to do this road faster. And speaking of fast; my top speed was 46 mph. I knew I was going down some of these hills quickly but I thought these mounds were a bit tamer than the ones on the Orange Blossom Highway. I’m almost afraid to find out how fast I go some of those screamers.

On Sunday I was once again almost dreading the beautiful weather Cerro Punta’s been having as it means I have no excuses not to run, and though once I get going I usually enjoy the experience, both Kimme and I are ready to change things up just a bit and no matter the weather next weekend, we’ll head for the off-shoot trail going to a rocky overlook. Yesterday though there was a new feature on the Quetzal for us. We kept passing these mounds of blueberry like droppings. I presumed they were from the wild boars, and a guide also told Kimme this.

On our short walk back from home from the bus stop I noticed Kimme wince in a little bit of pain and that’s when I came to the realization of how alike we are in a way that I hadn’t thought of before. We were both raised to hide our pain and suffering. Kimme through a smile and me through stoical denial.

We’ve also made similar pledges about our internet habits. She is not going to the net until after she exercises and I’m not going “researching” after my morning online session. That should free some time up for us to get to the positive habits we should be developing here.

And that leaves me about one hour right now to look at shoes and what not so I’m ending this right here.

Michael: Sunday, March 29, 2015

The dull orange and
Brown bird hopped and leaped
Among the blades of grass.

Meditations From Our Trip into Town

1. Our neighbors greeted us as we walked to the road. They wouldn’t be going to the market; held up waiting for a plumber. They offered us a Reader’s Digest and a story of horses they love but can no longer ride despite the cortisone shots in the hip.

2. At Mana’s market the Christians were there again. Though we talked to a different one this time. That sounds like an odd way of talking about people, and if I were of the same faith I’d probably be inclined to refer to him as my fellow Christian, because I doubt I would remember his name regardless and that’s not to say anything about him. It just takes me a while to get to know someone or recall their name. He and his wife have come to Panama to talk about the Bible, but he talked to us about interesting places to see. Soon they’ll be headed to Bogota if the price is right.

3. Walking to the Dollar Store we saw a group of small children in their school uniforms climbing in the trees and congregating near the bus stop. One little couple of brothers hurried for a treat near the kinetic intersection that’s called the Parque. I was a teacher in the States and wouldn’t have allowed the climbing and would’ve felt guilty about not informing the school about the unsupervised brothers. But I’m not a teacher anymore and smiled.

4. At the church among the vegetables, we were warmly greeted by an Australian expat who informed me I had been taken off the pickle ball contact list, which kind of hurt, though I’ve never played and am not sure what it’s all about.

5. She also told us we missed a meeting at the new hospital, but they’re going to have another one soon and she’ll let us know about that one. We talked about other places to live nearby but she likes the community here. We do too though we’re not much in the way of community people.

6. Outside the church on our way to the water store that’s been closed for a week, and is still closed despite continuing promises of it’s opening again -
But until I see it I’ll no longer cart our large near Sparkletts size water jug around, we saw a German Shepherd mix lying on its back after recently being struck and killed by a car. Given the number of dogs roaming free we’re surprised at how uncommon that is.

7. On the bus headed for home the assistant casually flicked a candy wrapper to the side of the road. I’ve seen other assistants and people do so as well. The beautiful roads here are sprinkled with “Please, Don’t” signs, but they’re use to the wind and the rain and the rivers taking their garbage away. That’s not to say I believe to each his own. It’s wrong and it’s shameful and I hope it changes soon.

8. We are living here now. It’s not home. We’re not sure where that is. It may be nearby. It may be in a few places. We may never find it, but we’ll keep looking together.

Michael: Saturday, March 28, 2015

The dog on its back
Near the church under the sun
Isn’t suffering.

A few brief notes about a few of the people we met on Thursday after we failed once again to find the Amistad trail near the Totumas hot springs.

While we were waiting for the bus home a farm worker and his younger than school age son came walking up the road from Volcan. His son was dressed just like his dad and his dad was dressed just like the worker he was; unadorned baseball cap, long sleeve button shirt, long polyester pants tucked into long galosh type work boots. They were a very handsome father/son pair.

The smiling father reached out to shake my hand and paused from wherever they were headed to take a break and try to have a conversation. While we chatted as best we could the son sat on a large rock nearby and quietly and patiently waited for his father. He was the youngest son. The older sons were working on the finca near the hot springs. After we said about all we could to each other we wished each other a good day then he and his son headed up the road where the saw a lone cow that they drove down the hill. We didn’t see them again for quite a while but we could here them both driving the cattle in front of them until we could see a decent group of cattle and a couple of horses being driven to a clear flat area near the dirt road on the other side of the hill.

The next person we met while we waited was a contractor named Julius. He was driving by in his pick up and decided to stop and offer us a ride which we greatly appreciated and accepted. Julius, like the farmer, smiled and reached out to shake my hand. A two handshake day is rare for me anywhere and Kimme and I still aren’t sure what I did to bring on such good karma.

Julius, spoke a little more English than the farm worker but not much. From what I could gather on the short drive to Volcan is that he was working on a construction project in David, which he agreed with me, was too damned hot. He also threw in that Cerro Punta, as is much of the consensus around here, is too cold. Somewhere between the two is just about right. We also agreed that both the cities of L.A. and Panama were too damned expensive. I’m throwing in the “damned” part. I can’t quite be sure what Julius’ exact words were.

He dropped us off near a bus stop near the outskirts of Volcan where he must have been turning off to visit family or friends, and we caught the nearby bus to the parque to do a little grocery shopping.

And that was my two handshake day.

Michael: Friday, March 27, 2015

May is my birthday and I plan on ordering a new hydration vest - the Osprey Rev. 1.5 (I’ll explain why at the end.) But before I can feel somewhat clean about that decision, and justify it to Kimme,  I’m going to talk about what I brought with me.

 Followed by brief comments as to why I brought them here and how I’m using or not using them, from top right to lower left:

Ultimate Direction race belt with 10 oz. flask
Nathan race belt
Gossamer Gear medium pocket
First aid kit
U.D. flask holder
Simple Hydration 13 oz. bottle
5 oz flask
Camel back 24 oz. bottle
Orange Mud Single Quiver
Nathan 1.5 liter race vest (bladder below)
Hydrapak .5 liter vest (bladder to the left)
Geigerrig bladder with filter

I haven’t used the U.D. race belt here. I wasn’t sure whether I’d be racing  or not or how aid stations would be spaced or would even exist. In the one race we’ve run here they had bite, squeeze and throw plastic bags filled with about 12 oz. of water. This arrangement is great for drinking on the run but very wasteful of water and I thought would lead to a large amount of unsightly plastic being distributed along the very scenic road to Cerro Punta. But they did a great job cleaning up afterward. This 10 oz. belt doesn’t hold enough water for our tempo runs.

The G.G. pocket I used for the first time yesterday for carrying my phone on our trail run. I don’t usually carry my phone. I do on the bike, and Kimme has been urging me to do so when we run, but I’m a stubborn guy and would rather just bring my small digital camera and I just don’t want to make space for something that’s so expensive when I tend to roll every once in a while. But I’m going to try and capitulate and start taking pictures with the phone and leave the camera. My only problems are adapting to using the phone as a camera and what to do if I don’t like the quality of pictures I’m getting, finding an easy access area for the phone, and adapting to the hassle of removing my gloves or buying gloves that work with the phone.

Long story longer…the pocket on the Nathan belt, which has a small stash pocket where I put my small first aid kit, worked much better than I expected and I’ll be using that combination on our trail runs until I get the new pack, or become frustrated with the phone, or break it in roll over. If it continues to work, and I hope it does, I’ll no longer have to find a spot in my pocket or a belt for my camera.

The U.D. flask holder seems like one of those handy items that should get a lot of use and though I use a flask, I just don’t like things on my waist so I don’t use it. That goes a long way in justifying the new pack. Everything I need will be stashed in the vest with easy access to the phone/camera and without the need for any other holders; belts, pockets, or otherwise.

The Simple Hydration bottle I use every week on our tempo run. It holds 13 oz and is the only hand held I’ve ever used. Small enough to be comfortable carrying and shaped so you can stash it behind you in your waistband if you want your hands free.

We ran out of gels here and we’re now making our own based on a recipe I was using in the States so a flask is indispensable for long rides or runs.

A water bottle, like the Camel Bak, on a bike or bottle pack, which I prefer for racing over a bladder system, is essential. I like the lockout feature of the Camel Bak.

The Orange Mud Single Quiver is my favorite bottle pack, though I do have some quibbles with it. The capacity limitation is one though with a 32 oz water bottle from a grocery store can serve to stretch it as far as a small vest pack like the Hydrapak. And the small gel holders on the shoulders are awkward and small. The double vest pack in the Orange Mud arsenal goes a long way in mitigating these gripes, but it’s not cheap at $150. For half that I can get the Osprey whose only small disadvantage I can see is its use of a bladder, and even that quibble is largely overcome with the bladder’s ease of access screw top. Though I wouldn’t use either of those in a race with a decent amount of rest stops and would still opt for the Hydraquiver single. I’ve been urging Josh, the owner, to develop a stripped down racing version that would forego the back pocket and just function as a gel/bottle holder and I hope he doesn’t forget about me once that’s in the works. 

The Nathan vest I’ve used twice. I like it’s 1.5 liter capacity for longer runs but I’m always fidgeting with it. And there’s space for a pocket on one of the shoulders and for some inexplicable reason (cost?) , Nathan left it out. If this pack could hold my phone or camera in a decent spot, I’m sure I’d make more use of it and live with the niggling.

The Hydrapak is my favorite vest to date even with it’s limited fluid capacity of .5 liters, which I’ve been stretching over 3 hours; hence the desire for a larger pack. The pockets are also too small for a phone or camera, but if I wanted to wear a vest in a race, this would be the one.

The Geiggerrig bladder I’ve only used once; in the Grand Canyon where it’s unique feature of being able to purify water through the hose in the bladder, would’ve come in handy if access to water became problematic. I doubt I’ll use it here because if or when I filter water, I still prefer my MSR pump filter. I’m a bit of a priss and when it becomes necessary to filter here, seeing all the cows that are out and about, I’d prefer a system where I could avoid getting my hands in it. But Kimme may want to play with it and I’m sure I’ll use it for some hiking situations in the states or elsewhere. It was just too clever to leave behind and I didn’t know that cows are everywhere here. It also fits perfectly in the Nathan vest with that vest having a pocket the perfect size and position for the hand pump. So there’s a reason to hang on to that as well.

Throughout I’ve been dropping hints to my editor as to why I’m purchasing the Osprey for my birthday. But to summarize here briefly; I’m hoping that it’ll comfortable carry all that I need with ease of access for our long trail runs without the additional use of any other belts or pockets. And even it is perfect for my needs, I still wouldn’t promise it will be the last vest I buy. I was toying with the Raidlight Zone R Olmo because it uses bottles instead of a bladder, but the positioning of the bottles looks problematic for me. If anyone can come up with a two bottle pack that is comfortable and reasonably priced, I’d be tempted. But I am hoping the Osprey will fill the niche I would like to fill now.

Michael: Thursday, March 26, 2015

There are few guns here;
Only an American
Is locked and loaded.

This is I believe more of a country vs. city observation than a Panama vs. back home difference, but here we’ve noticed patterns of life and death that either don’t exist in L.A. or we ignored them.

The first example that comes to mind is the black and blue butterflies that streamed in large groups over our garden for a couple of days. If I’m not being nostalgically delusional, I believe monarchs came through Orange County when I was growing up but as an adult in L.A. I can’t recall seeing very many butterflies at all let alone clusters migrating.

Next up was the June bug die off which is still petering out.

Finally, over the last two mornings, I’ve opened the back door to witness two big toe sized black with gold striped beetles lying on their backs in their final last slow movements of life. I presume there are quite a few more out there in the nearby fields either going through the same seasonal die - off.

I’m not going to make any pronouncements like city - evil; country - good kind of thing. It’s just an observation that I find interesting and is one of the surprises I’ve discovered from our first few months living here.

Michael: Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Black and gold beetle
On its back slowly winding
Away its time here.


The Masai tribesman stood out as he walked down the quiet neighborhood street in Volcan. Our meeting was of a couple of vagrants wandering through a country that wasn’t our own. He was a Kenyan runner and we were middle aged Americans heading toward the organic market at the Catholic church.

He talked to us about his accomplishments and how difficult it was to make a living as an athlete here. He had missed a meeting with a woman who has
helped him out in the past and was now hungry after his long morning run.
We helped, but we didn’t feel clean about it.

Am I envious because people take him seriously and would only laugh at me and thank me for my comical performance of showing my portfolio highlighting my athletic prowess if I did as he did? Maybe. Yet we all are, or have been dreamers. A few of those we know, for reasons both named and mysterious, succeed. Many of us keep at it through various levels of success and satisfaction. But why should some of us expect to have our palms greased when asking for it, while others, striving with just as much heart and vigor, are denied?

I understand dreams. I have a difficult time with that form of expected entitlement. I haven’t been wronged. He hasn’t been wronged. Most of us often labor, some for all our lives, at jobs or careers that are not even remotely close to our childhood re-enactment of that Super Bowl pass, or
perfect World Series game, half court buzzer beater…That doesn’t mean I’m spiteful and want to hold everyone back, but it also doesn’t make me want to give out my money to a healthy young man just because he hasn’t made it as a pro and has his hand out.

Michael, Tuesday, March 24, 2014

An afternoon rain
Is a cool whisper during
The warm dry season.

Returned from the broth that is David with almost all of our errands accomplished. Will make an even longer trip down and around the mountain into Boquete next Tuesday with a stop in David on the way back to fill out what we couldn’t get done yesterday.

Hit Airbox express where Kimme picked up a package that included a Woss trainer - some kind of adjustable strap system that uses your body weight for various exercises. Should be fun to give it a try, though it does remind me a bit of a similar erotic product I see on-line occasionally and that image is always, fortunate or otherwise, going to be associated with that system.

Also at Airbox we were able to mail our F.B.I. background check requests which saved us a stop and time looking for a Fedex location. Picked up my package of bike paraphernalia at the DHL office. Couldn’t find the bike shop I was looking for but did run into one that has a seat from Specialized that appears to be a reasonable knock-off of the Selle SMP Glider I was considering ordering for half the price so will be doing more than my fair share of net research. The shop didn’t have chain lube though which is surprising. To me that’s like a barbershop saying it can’t cut your hair because they don’t have scissors. They just sell you a cut but you’ve got to go somewhere else to get it done - strange.

Didn’t get to the Do It Center either to look for a heavier kettle bell for me.  We’ll make that round next week.

A little note about one of the perks I enjoy about living in a small community is that the bus assistant on the way back from David recognized us as the runners he sees out on the roads occasionally. That little smile moment after a long hot day in David is just one of those nice pick me ups that lift your spirits when they’re understandably sagging a bit.

Today a burst of interval work than a few demos on the Woss system. Set up my bike computer and maybe a ride if it’s not looking like rain in the afternoon. A touch of domestic cleaning and a short trip into town for water and perhaps a dona - sounds more exotic than a donut, and outside of a simple U.S.A. online order of a present to my sister, should be able to get back to my book and writing pad.

Michael: Monday, March 23, 2015

It was a cockroach
Crawling around the jungle
Like a small black tank.

One of the reasons Kimme and I met is because I use to do outdoor gear reviews and after one of our trail runs while the group was mulling about, recovering, munching and chatting, she mentioned that she liked my little essays. I made a note of that and months later built up the courage to ask her out.

I have gone through a lot of shoes, most of those being running shoes and most of those being trail running shoes. What to take to Panama and what to leave wasn’t an easy choice. Kimme and I thought it might be fun just to give a brief synopsis of my hits and misses now that we’ve been here a couple of months, so here’s what I brought and a few brief comments.
In no particular order other than what I thought was a quick aesthetic arrangement, my shoe choices for Panama from top left to bottom right were-


Birkenstoks
Teva Terri - Fi
Saucony Kinvara
Salomon Speedcross CS
Topo ST
Hoka Clifton
Saucony Kinvara TR
Salomon Mantra
Salomon Sense
Asics Racing flats
Luna sandals
(blank spot - Lake cycling shoes)

The Birkenstoks I bought as comfortable formal occasion shoes. I got married in them, but there hasn’t been any occasions here to merit wearing them.

The Teva Terri-Fi’s I bought shortly before coming here on sale at Sierra Trading Post. Kimme also got a pair and they’ve been the big hit in the line-up. We do a lot of walking here since we no longer have a car and the heel pad in these shoes are great along with the tread. I didn’t wear sandals often in L.A. and I didn’t think I’d grow accustomed to the dirt on my feet feeling. I’m not one of those rugged ultra dudes that ever want to develop blisters the size of my fist and Go-Pro it and brag about it on a blog. I’m a bit of a priss when it comes to my little darlings. I want them to feel warm and comfortable and happy. And though the grit feeling is never going to go away, these are hands down my go to walking about town shoes. We’ll be ordering another pair to bring back with us when we return to the States.

The Kinvaras are the road shoe I’ve had the longest but they didn’t get much wear Stateside as I rarely did road work. Here though they’ve been in the rotation on our Tues/Friday interval work and tempo runs. They’re beginning to develop some tears, and though they haven’t caused me any discomfort, I doubt I’ll get another pair. At this stage of the game I feel I’m better off with a bit more cushioning underneath me.

The Speedcross Css use to be one of my favorite shoes and when they went on sale at Runners’ Warehouse I snatched up a pair. I thought the tread and the waterproofness would be perfect for the cloud forest trails. The tread is great but I wouldn’t get the Cs versions again. Once you dunk your foot into a stream or water is brought in through your socks, the water stays in and it feels like your feet are sloshing around in a wading pool. I’ve had to stop just about every time I’ve used these to wring out my socks.

The Topo St’s I thought I might use if there were any races here, or for speed work, but I haven’t. Instead they’ve become my jump rope shoes. Which isn’t to besmirch them in any way. They work great for that purpose, but just not enough shoe underneath for me to do road work on.

The Clifton’s I enjoy (though that bastard beat me twice last year) for dry trail work and my tempo runs. Tempting me to look at Hoka road shoes if I can find any on sale. They’re damned expensive.

The Kinvara TR’s have become my go to wet trail running shoe. Decent grip and squish the water out quickly so are very comfortable on our long three hour journeys on the Quetzal trail when we know we’re going to have to tolerate wet feet for extended periods of time. The only problem with these are the problem that any shoe with aggressive tread is going to have out here. To get to the mud requires quite a bit of road/rocky trail work that is wearing out the tread. Still in the mud, creeks, roots and other slippery slime, I do want a tread with an aggressive profile. Reebok has some shoes that may be worth looking into. Not that I’m dissatisfied at all with the Saucony’s, I just like to try out different shoes.

The Mantras I brought as walking around shoes but for now they’ve been upstaged by the Tevas. Maybe when the rains hit they’ll see more use.

The Asics, I’ve used for our one road race here and will use them in any future races in distances of less than half-marathon. I was thinking I might use them for speed work like I did on the treadmill in L.A. but I don’t feel there’s enough shoe underneath to work on the roads for me.

The Luna sandals I only toyed with on short trail ventures in the Santa Monica Mountains and brought them here thinking that I’d tuck them into a back pocket on bike rides and take them out when I wanted to take a break and get a drink or bite to eat, but they’re just a bit too cumbersome for that. They’ve become house slippers and in the future will be replaced by far less expensive sandals.

The blank spot in the picture should be filled in by my Lake bike shoes which I wasn’t sure I would have a use for out here, but now that I’ve got a bike, I’m glad I found a spot for them. The B.O.A dial lacing system gave out on me once in the States and though they are very comfortable and I like being able to dial in tension on the fly, I’m much more at ease with the Velcro straps on my Mavic’s back home. Plus they breathe better and it’s warm enough here to where I’m sure once I get back to the States I’ll be using those predominantly here.

Can’t recall off the top of my head what other shoes are in the bins back home. Right now I’m pretty happy with the choices I’ve made but if I find a decent pair of either road or trail shoes here in David for a reasonable price I’ll probably give them a go and let you know what I think.

Michael: Sunday, March 22

The orange trees
Are drizzled throughout the lush
Dynamic landscape.

Yesterday began with a ride toward Rio Sereno and back. Before heading out I pushed my saddle slightly forward and edged the nose down just a tad hoping to find a bit of relief from the discomfort I’ve been experiencing in my crotch. It helped, and though I now feel my seat and I can remain intimate for 3 hours, it’s still not the experience it ought to be.

The road to the border is more of a consistent roller coaster than the Orange Blossom Highway but doesn’t have quite as dramatic of pitches and I could easily remain seated throughout the climbs if I had chosen to. This week the produce guards were out near Rio Sereno and they asked me if I lived in Volcan and if I were Aleman. I presume that means German and I said no, I was from the United States and they didn’t laugh or give me a quizzical look, so I presume my answer was in the ball park, though I’ll have to look up exactly what “Aleman” is.

Home and I did manage to get a small amount of extra-curriculars in before having a delicious dinner of bok-choy soup and roasted vegetables before our usual end of the night routine.

Today we’re off to the Quetzal but if it’s raining we’ll probably just run the road home from Guadalupe. We’re also supposed to take our landlord, Luzmila, out for brunch but she may try to dodge us.

Tomorrow’s the big day with a lot of to accomplish in David; Airbox Express, Fedex, Chinese grocery store, Columbia, Dr. Bikes Shop and who knows what else. Hope it’s not too hot and the taxis find their way around easily enough. No matter where we go I’m pledging to practice my two new Spanish questions - “Que me recomendia?” and “Que Contiene?”

Michael: Saturday, March 21, 2015

The cows were lounging
Under the trees yesterday
Enjoying the shade.

That’s what I felt like doing yesterday as well after two enjoyable but fatiguing days of being outside, but not under the trees and particularly not with the cows. I do enjoy them, but the flies and the bugs they attract would eat me alive.

So after I switched my workout from my usual tempo run to an easy recovery jog and pull ups, I was very content with not going to the Friday markets and just going into town for a few groceries and then try to write a little before dinner.

Today it’s back on the bike toward Rio Sereno and I’m going to fiddle with my saddle a little - point the nose down just slightly to see if it’ll ease my discomfort, though in the not too distant future I’d like to replace it anyway purely for aesthetic reasons even if it does manage to become acceptable. After all, I’m planning on having this bike until I’m at least 60.

A short trip into town to pick up our fingerprints, cereal I forgot yesterday and some chocolate, write the sisters and maybe get off a few other dots and dashes, hopefully a shorter game of chess - Kimme gave me a run for my money last night, then check in on the dude in The Americans to find out if the commie bastard is toying with the idea of becoming a Christian.




The Dogs Behind the Gate

I was riding my bike high up into the mountains toward the gates of heaven hoping to find a faucet to fill my bottles. Just outside I paused to peer inside and get a glimpse of what I’d be missing if I were not allowed in when time or accident will overtake me.

It was lush and green and beautiful with a gentle stream rolling into a pond just as I would want my heaven to be. The bird chatter was scattered but harmonious and just as I felt I should lean my bike up against a pillar and see if I could take a few steps in, I could hear a few dogs swooping down the hill along the gate barking in a vicious territorial frenzy. This could be heaven, but not my heaven. And I knew it was time to ride away.

Michael: Friday, March 20, 2015

Spring's here

Roadside hawk is too
Common of a name for such
A majestic bird.

When I read the blogs about following the new road to Boquete, with my sense of direction, I was a little concerned about reaching my goal of Zapadora’s (an antique market in Porterillo where I thought would be a good place to refuel.) But really once I found the entry point near Cuesta De Piedra it was very easy to follow. The key being ‘new’ road; kind of like how Dorothy was told to follow the Yellow Brick Road, that’s just about how distinct the new road is from any other pavement that intersects into it.

And it is quite a fine ride for a bicycle and even at this age and stage of my riding, I learned a few new things. One is I’m very glad that I bought a disc brake bike. Some of the sweeping downhill curves would’ve had me sweating whether I’d overheat my rims and blow a tire if I had caliper brakes. I know that with the proper skills I should be able to manage with calipers, and even though disc aren’t magical and won’t stop you from heading off road if you’re not careful, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about being a near pro to tackle the twisties this road threw at me.

And on the upside, literally, I learned why it’s often wise to stand up and climb on certain sections of roads. Back in the states I rarely stood up and did it mainly to break up the monotony or stretch my legs. But on a few very steep pitches of this road, standing made it so much easier. It was one of those “ah, I get it now”, moments. I could of course go to a larger bailout gear; Graybeard - that’s what I’m go to call my bike from this moment forward - has a 28 in back, but I have my pride and in the states, my bike Gumby, is working on only 25 teeth, so pride and stubbornness won’t allow for that. Beside, I feel I’m going to enjoy this standing thing now that I’ve felt the benefits.

Also, I discovered that the saddle that came with my bike and I aren’t ever likely to become the best of friends, so for my birthday in May, I’m not going to invite him to the party and I’m going to seek another saddle to soothe my crotch on my continuing journeys here.

The new road is not all twists and climbs though. There are long enjoyable flat sections through some very enjoyable countryside and again I had the road practically to myself.

And even off road, once I reached Zapadora’s and had a look inside and talked to the very pleasant owner, Diane from Australia, who’s been in Panama for 10 years, I was only slightly less thrilled than when I was scanning the country side. And that’s got nothing to do with her great antique shop which is in a structure that I would love to have and has quite a history behind it, but discovering that one of the blogs I read that had led me to believe that I would find refreshments there, was out of date. The best she could do was offer me a glass of water.

So five hours later, dehydrated and malnourished, back in Volcan, I didn’t get much done with the few hours of daylight I had left. Read a few chapters, got off a few letters to my sisters, and that about covers it.

Today is market Friday so I’m sure we’ll make the rounds after our morning run. I was planning to go into town in the afternoon to join the pickle ball game but I think I’m going to bail so I can just kick back and relax a bit; make a few phone calls, try to write a little, and naturally see if there are any saddles I’ve overlooked if the net’s up.

Michael

Kim: Friday, March 20, 2015

First day of Spring.  We made it through the move and are in Panama now.  It has been two months and I am finally feeling settled.  Michael has been writing every day and documenting our daily adventures so I think it is time that we share.