I write this sat at the roadside. Our group operates the cornerman system. At a junction the rider behind the stops and points out the route to following riders. Once the 'sweeper' at the end of the group, Steve Dent, arrives, the cornerman joins the back of the pack and if desired he can make his way back through the field. Working your way back through the group spread out over several kms can be fun, as you're not obliged to keep the pace of the rider in front. But you need to make sure you overtake in an appropriately safe spot.
At this moment, I am the cornerman. Unfortunately Danny has had a puncture, so my wait here could be longer than usual. Yesterday I waited on a corner in a small village for an hour while funnily enough another puncture was fixed. Hopefully today will be quicker as Steve and George, the support vehicle driver, are now practised. At least I can use the time to write this.
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| Terraced landscape to cultivate Coca leaves |
We stopped earlier in a small town for a drink. Some of the slopes on our route are terraced and it is coca leaves that are grown as a cash crop. You see the picked leaves being dried at the roadside in many places. Coca leaves are legal here and many people carry a small plastic bag of leaves with them during the day. They are chewed and supposedly give a feeling of well being; coca leaves are the raw material of cocaine apparently. A few of the group tried them, but judging by their riding beforehand, they were already high!
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| Drying the harvested coca leaves |
Well Steve has arrived with impeccable timing, so I'm off again. Stay tooned!
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well thumbed from my BlackBerry
1 comment:
Looks like you are haing fun... make sure you keep safe! and hope you can get some better quality and view pics for us!
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