... tour de galapagos ...

after lunch, we drove past the coffee plantation... which we could have toured, but chose not to .... it didn't fit in with the active theme of the day ... though i most certainly could have used the caffeine ... jaime drove us towards the beach ... we were following a truck full of bikes .... we stopped eventually and got on those bikes .... a small ecuadorian boy (on his way home for lunch?) stopped to watch us... bike helmets.... bikes ... on your mark ... get set ... go ... 

 we were on mountain bikes ... 10 speeds ... though i stayed in a single gear the ENTIRE time .... i asked as i journaled, andy says he did in fact change gears throughout the ride .... i found it unnecessary ....

the whole way down drew FLEW .... julia was more cautious ... i was somewhere in between .... probably more like drew than julia ... cause that's just how life goes .... i wish i were as mature and evolved as julia ... but i'm a little more caution to the wind ... drew and i are peas in a pod ....

our bike ride started in the highlands and was a steady decline to the beach .. we started out in a fog and a drizzle ... and ended in bright sunshine ....

as we descended, the front people, dora the explorer included, would stop and wait for the back half to catch up ... we'd take pictures while we stopped .... the whole time, the bike truck led the way ... and jaime in his van followed behind .. like we were some fancy touring bikes with support vehicles ....

 we were on  mountain bikes, heading down a mountain,... but we were definitely on a road ... all be it, a galapaganian road .... plenty of bumps and dips and gravel .... andy said that he worried the whole time about sophie ... that she would fall .... i said i worried too ... that i would fall ...  i actually had the last big bike spill of the family ... last summer in watercolor florida i had a big wipe out .... and can still show you the scar .....

 that picture is of ME victorious ... drew and i raced for a bit and i totally won ... and he was way more spent when we were done .... that's when i was worrying about falling ... when i wasn't quite being responsible ...

during the bide ride, the vistas were gorgeous, especially once y9ou could see the beach and the sunshine in the distance ....
that last picture, dora had just taken a picture of us ... and in this one, dora is in it and jaime is taking it so we'd have her in it too .... i believe she was surprised that we were planning to hike bike and kayak all in a day .... luckily, she was a good sport and willing to do it all with us ....