173 - PDF - The Rider's Digest

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After crossing the border we rode the twisting
mountain highway to the town of Ibarra
for lunch. The streets are cobbled and the
architecture is colonial. I’ve never felt as far away
from home as I do today, and I’ve never felt as
comfortable as I do either.
In 2000, the authorities in Quito, in an attempt
to control their economy, adopted the American
Dollar as their national currency. So while we
had to pay for lunch with Gringo money, we’re
amused when we get our change in Ecuadorian
dollars. I can’t help wondering how much the US
government reckons they are worth.
While the roads are good here, some of the
driving is suspect. One of the features of South
and Central American driving is what a friend
of mine in Dublin calls “Banzai” overtaking. One
particular young man driving a Honda Prelude
stands out for special comment.
First he passes Maeve and then he passes me.
He then comes to a blind right hand bend behind
a bus. Not wanting to drop his pace he simply
ISSUE 173 December 2012
throws in an overtake. Halfway through the bend
the oncoming truck is forced to drive onto the
hard shoulder to avoid a collision. Undeterred,
our hero simply performs the same manoeuvre
on the next bend. We’re on a particularly twisty
section of road so this just keeps happening.
We adopt a strategy of dropping off our speed
so we don’t get hit by any of the debris when
this idiot eventually crashes, as he surely will.
His driving skills are so bad, however, that we
simply catch up with him every few kilometres.
Eventually, much to our relief he turns off the
main road and we continue on the road to Quito
without indecent.
We ride on through the mountains. The roads
here are much easier to ride than in southern
Colombia, being devoid of the military
checkpoints and their long tailbacks and I find
myself settling into a rhythm on the bike. I’ve
found myself getting to a place on the bike
recently where we have planned our route
modestly and there is little or no stress when
it comes to making progress. We have never
been to where we’re going and can’t presume
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