Eastern Cuba Nov Dec 2009

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video selection on YouTube (click)

"Reconstructed" after-the-fact, using borrowed pics, due to no Internet in Cuba. 17 cyclists + 3 staff, 14 days, run by www.cuba1tours.com. Overall impressions at the bottom 0f this post. Clicking the map will enlarge it.

Nov 21/2009 – Flew Air Transat (w. President’s Choice meal )…Arrived in Holguin 6:05 PM on time, met the 17 others and transfer to hotel El Bosque, ...pretty basic. Dinner at the hotel consisted of sandwiches, since it was late.

Nov 22 – assembled my 'coupled' bike with difficulty despite Bill Mander and Doug Hinccliffe’s help…. stemmed from my badly installed cable to derailleur back in May'09. Went to Holguin in van, had lunch. A young guy, 15, wearing a Tim Horton shirt tried to act as guide. I still feel bad (still do) for not giving him something since he never asked for a tip. He said to others he was hungry.

Nov 23 - cycled from 12K from the hotel. Extremely hot and not acclimatized… thought : "this trip is going to be a problem". To the town of Mayari (approx. 85 kms) and then transfer by bus to the island of Cayo Saetia, a 'sketchy' animal reserve. Arrived to an overbooked situation so went to the beach. Stayed in Fidel Castro's room (... no shit!) really large, but many bites from mosquitoes.

Nov 24 – Breakfast and transfer to Levisa to begin cycling the main paved highway and then continue along undulating/hilly roads through some small towns and beautiful countryside with light traffic to Los Indios (Approx. 61 kms). We boarded t he bus at this point and drove to Cuba’s oldest city, Baracoa. Box lunch (ham and cheese, ... what else?) was included. Stayed at Porto Santo hotel. Dinner at the hotel was rather ordinary.

Nov 25– Cycled to a primitive farm then to a small fishing village at the mouth of the Yumuri river, where local Cuban was looking for bike tire, …felt sorry for him. This was beautiful ride, up and down small hills, past small villages and magnificent vegetation. The road was well-paved, with little traffic. At Yumuri we hiked/paddled up the river and a few swam in pools. Spoiled by a much delayed lunch at a local snack bar,... many were pissed off at the delay. Dinner at the hotel was ordinary. (Approx. 60 kms return)

Nov 26 – City tour visited a couple museums then vanned to Maguana beach (kind of nice), the only white sand beach in the area. We had lunch here and spent a few hours enjoying the beach and ocean. Dinner this night was a pig roast at a small finca (farm), with a local band, bought the music CD.

Nov 27 – Breakfast and transferred by bus over the Farola Viaduct which climbs steeply to an elevation of 800 meters. Once we got over the mountain we cycled along paved coastal roads with magnificent Caribbean vistas and our cycling destination was be Tortuguilla where 2 o r3 jumped in the ocean. We packed our bikes on the bus and headed to the city of Guantanamo and accommodation and dinner at Hotel Guantanamo…fairly modest place and rather Soviet-like, and meal was soviet plain.

Nov 28 - Breakfast and cycled to the town of La Maya (approx. 63 kms) to Santiago de Cuba (approx. 90 kms). These paved roads took us along through more of the Cuban countryside (but was cloudy and a bit rainy, rather slippery) with sugar cane fields, mountains in the distance and not much traffic until we got close to city of Santiago. Mostly flat and the last 20+ Km were at 35km/h. Spent two nights at Hotel Melia, a true fancy 5 star…very impressive, with buffet dinner and breakfast included.

Nov 29 – A bus/walking tour of the most important parts of Santiago... finished the tour in the central park, Cespedes, 6 of us had lunch at the Grand hotel overlooking the park and city, and a magician did a great entertaining job at out table. Went to the baseball game near the hotel, hot 34C, just for a few innings.

Nov 30 – Transferred our bikes to the edge of the city to avoid cycling through the heavy traffic. We begin the day by cycling along the Caribbean coast (bad roads) to our destination, the Sierra Mar, an all inclusive resort, previously a Canadian Cuban joint venture. Lunch was OK, and checked the diving options at a dive shack (not promising). … not many divers apparent. (Approx. 56 kms)

Dec1 – Vanned the entire distance totally beside Sierra Maestra mountains on one side and the Caribbean on the other…. because the road was so bad. The traffic along this coastal road is almost non existent and 4 of us cycled back afterwards so as to get at least a bit of cycling in. Was another all inclusive resort, Marrea del Portillo, smallish and had a band at 9:00 PM…not bad. Many people were pissed off because of not cycling at all.

Dec2 – Most transferred bikes (not me) past some steep hills before we cycle along paved country roads with some hills, flats, nice scenery and little traffic. Brought pizza and crisp bacon to eat for lunch from the hotel. We loaded the bikes on the bus and transfer to the city of Bayamo, Tom said one the cleanest most progressive cities in Cuba. Accommodation was at poorest hotel of trip.... dinner was rather poor.

Dec3 – Vanned to Holguin, then cycled along a reasonably flat, well paved road (Approx. 75 kms) to the all inclusive Playa Costa Verde, .... was a pretty impressive resort on a small, golden sand beach. SunWing charges $705/wk incl flight, ...fantastic.

Dec4 – 32 Km over to Guadvarca beach where there was a market, back for lunch, a superb seafood pizza..... best ever.

Dec5 – Repacked bike,…just took 35 minutes. Checked out the diving options at a dive shack 10 min away, but later at the airport others told me it was all "fished-out", and not worth the trouble. Transferred in taxi with Lina …..earlier than the others (because of earlier flight) Holguin airport by commercial van….. pretty much pissed off that Tom didn’t tell us it was extra cost, 35 CUC each, since the idea of going early was not really mine in the first place. Flight stopped in Santa Clara, but arrived in Toronto 30 min early.

Overall Impressions:

4 points out of a possible 10, and my impression improved as time went on,

Pros .....good cultural experience, some of the all inclusives were pretty good, Eduardo and van driver were good, good bottled water supply (every 20K) generally liked all the group of 17, ... nice people.
Cons: ......really too hot (near 40C in sun) for cycling, some hotels/food/roads pretty crappy, Tom was less than thorough.... But Cuba is Cuba, and I love it,... so why complain.

Hello from Provence

Overall Trip Assessment (Preliminary June 7):
Partly because the weather has been so great, I have to rate this trip pretty high, maybe an "8.5" ........ and only the VQ-Corsica-2008, and CV-Downhill to Nice-1996 would rate a "9/10". Ana seems to be getting a lot of pressure to put on a Corsica trip next year. Both
Provence trips had offsetting '+s' and'-s', (scenery, group dynamics) ... so ranked about the same.

Video(click) of "Belgian Dancers" in Castellane

May 15 Why does Air France have 5 jumbos daily to Paris (mostly Canadians), and AirCanada only 2,.... pisses me off. One example: AC charged me 150CAD last year for my break-away bike, this year AF free.

Arrived as planned, raining in Paris and Nice; train to Montpellier was 90 percent young people, 99 percent with cells MP3s, polite, ..... nice to see

May 16, went to Decathalon bought tubes, mini back-pack, 3.5 Euro, ... great value items,...... rendez vous'd at 5PM,..... met the 20 ... several from last year's Camino.

May 17, only 50 percent sunny; 80 K to Vezenobre. A very 'gussied-up' dinner... but tarte citron for dessert....excellent.

May 18, 100 percent sunny, 70 K to Orange .... nothing to unusual, was the first in.... not sure thats the way to do it. "Last-in" probably has the best day.

May 19 So far, the weather has been pretty much perfection,.....; sunny and not too hot, 26C. Today, May 19, a day-off (no cycling required) in Orange, .....so took train with 6 others, 17 minutes, to Avignon (pont, papal place), 3rd time in 2 years (...... no imagination). Generally impressed with the cast of characters (20 cyclists) on this trip (even if from, BC, ..... insufferable BC), including a 'Thelma and Louise' equivalent (rise 2 hrs late, 1 hr late for dinner), and another party that's pretty much an 'old wine lush', ..... sort of masqurading as a nun.

May 20 Another beautiful day ..... left Orange for Sault (last year we stayed at Apt instead),.... about 70 Km and day 600 m of climbing, ... didnt seem quite as hot at the 32C that it was supposed to be. Several of the group climbed Mt Ventoux, but I did the regular route. Most of the group stayed qt the hotel for dinner.

May 21 about 65K to Ille sur Sorge and a 50/50 day for sun cloud, ...; quite pleasant. Nice ride through a gorge. Betty, from Nfld, told a story where she demo'd how she told the pharmacist how she acted out the need for anti-vomit pills, ..... pretty funny ..... she was clearly guilty of overacting (you could almost smell the v___).

May 22 a day, so went to Gordes, for lunch, and back. Im 90% sure Hilary (of Hawaii) went by me and shouted my name, but I didnt stop (she was going downhill). Guy had met her the day before. Went to dinner with Simon, Raewyn, Doug, to a rather fancy place, 50E each....kind of fun to do, .... once in a while.

May 23, cycled to St Remy, and in Les Baux my derailler cable snapped (broke), and I was pretty worried, ... but made it to St Remi which was pretty flat, ... fortunately since I was limited to highest gear. Ive carried spare cable kit for years, ... and for the first time had a chance to use it, successfully.

May 24, cycled 65Km to Uzes where the temp was about 37C (... I liked it), saw the Pont de Gard etc etc. Got in around 1:30, talked to Ana a couple hours about Peter's passing, comparisons of GCK to Cycleventures and Velo Quebec. Went in the pool, which was exceptionally clean. Went with Gwyn and Pat to same resto as last year, was fun.

May 25 cycledto Nimes, about 50K on my own. Went with Guy Bettty Raeyn Simon to Resto where you cook raw meat on hot rocks, ... was fun.

May 26 cycled 60K to Montpellier, went to Decathelon to buy Scuba hood...good value. Met others downtown for dinner, where Raewyn went sullen (normally chipper) because she ddnt like the resto choice, .. but finally warmed up (... some).

May 27 Ana took bikes and luggage to Vence, and Ron, Heather Tom and I took train to Nice.
Because Tom didnt have a chip in his Visa card, couldnt retrieve SNCF ticket, ... awkward. Took taxi with Tom to Vence 58E.

..........Second Trip..................

May 28, took bus to Monaco for the day, went alone...fun. Met 4 of the new group for dinner, by accident, in Vence. All days have been sunny, about 28C, new group seems worried by the heat-needlessly. new groups always seem dull ompared to previous groups, ... but that will change. 18/20 are from Gabriola island, or Ottawa.

May 29 a circuit trip, just 55K, and back to the same hotel, dramatic change in scenery.... you can see the maritime alpes (snow capped). ...fair bit of climbing to 1150 m. Those who rental bikes seeem happy, ... used Backroad titaniums,...pretty classy.

May 30, 71 k to Callian, 1330 vertical climb, a bit cool, maybe 23C at the max. Staying at an auberge out of twon, famiy stlye dinner, outside, long table for 20 .... lamb and scallopped potatoes. Penny seemed to have major tire probllems with her new bike, ....only 1300 km old).

May 31, 70 K to Le Muy, and a bit of rain just towards the end. They had internet wifi, but the proprietors didnt seem to know how to make it work; We've had internet wifi every place so far, ... quite a change from prior years

June 1 to Aups, the BBC-internet had predicted rain, although it was bright sun (but muggy) to start. At noon there was a shower and I had my peanut butter + ,jelly sandwhich under a tree. Ron and Heather were later and got caught in the hail/rain,... and were pretty cold coming in. Went to dinner with 7 others, most having pizza. It was, frankly, long and tedious.

June 2, rest day in Aups, so did an 81K ride to the west, 5 downhill chevrons and only one up, ... dont quite know how that can "be". Felt strong, ... so maybe the effect of 20 days of cycling has a "strengthening" effect. Had dinner with Ron and Heather, .... nice conversation, including about horses, ... a small group is so much better than a group of 8... had lamb, ... perhaps the best meal, other than Vezenobles.

June 3, only a 42Km ride to Moustier (3rd time, previously with 3 Cycleventure trips) but the 42 Km seemed long, kind of a gradual uphill, I guess. Sunny and 27C according to France2 TV. Using the internet in the library, and only the 2nd time the hotel doesnt have wifi.

June 4, a day off in Moustier, so did a little loop on the north side of Gorges de Verdun, got back at 4pm. Ate a 500ml ice cream container from a depanneur. Dinner with 5: tom jay john jilll kathy .... steak was surpriingly good.

June 5, 60k to Castellane ... took the south side since Ive done the north side twice, ... cloudy, a bit of rain, ..... really it's not that great if the sun is not shining.

June 6, a day off in Castellane, and the weather reports are not thqt great.... but its sunny at the moment. June 7 is the last cycling day back to Vence. Did a fairly short ride to Demandoix, at 1203 m, ... partly sunny, and just long enough to feel I'd not wasted the day.

Party hour in the courtyard involved dancing (sort of) with the Belgian(Flemish) cycling group, their music, .... including Village People MCA-which got the best dance participation, ... frivolous joking, and good humored fun, all around. The hotel manageress smiled and said "you will have a happy souvenir".

Dinner was another matter,.... the same members as the June1 'long and tedious' event. The meal was pretty good, but our group, essentially just the ladies, performed repeated loud boisterous outbursts of raucous laughter, at essentially juvenile inane acts (switching chairs to feel stickiness under the table). So offensive/inappropriate in fact, TomV, after warning, ... paid his bill an walked out, after just having his main course placed in front of him. Tom's act had a sobering effect, and the giddy women clearly toned-down thereafter. To call them sophomoric, is an insult to sophomores, ... and like George Bush they no doubt thought they did nothing wrong. The "french connection" gets the academy award, but with strong supporting roles. Sidebar: Mr "Prim and Proper" spent 5+ minutes kneeling at another table recounting our trip details, ... an action more peculiar, than offensive. ... I thought the Belgians/dancing would make it a memorable day, ... little did I know.

June 7, 71km ride back to Vence, beautiful sunny, say 25C ... all things considered, ... rides anywhere in the world, don't get much better. Sidebar: JohnM got up at 6AM to get his rental bike back to the shop by noon... got there by 9:30... must have ridden like the wind.

Overall Trip Assessment (Preliminary June 7):
Partly because the weather has been so great, I have to rate this trip pretty high, maybe an "8.5" ........ and only the VQ-Corsica-2008, and CV-Downhill to Nice-1996 would rate a "9/10". Ana seems to be getting a lot of pressure to put on a Corsica trip next year. Both
Provence trips had offsetting '+s' and'-s', (scenery, group dynamics) ... so ranked about the same.

Cozumel (Scuba ) Jan 10 2009

................. 2009 AGENDA(click)

Hello from Cozumel , Mexico, (Jan 10-17 2009). Holiday Village White Sands, Situated on the southwest part of Cozumel Island; five minute boat ride to the legendary Palancar Reef.
The Pros: (1) exceptional value, ($629C flight and all inclusive+266 taxes, ... I guess because it was early January), (2) scuba diving was excellent (which was central to the whole concept), (3) resort was generally fine, and having a "menu-style restaurants" option (as opposed to just buffets) was nice, (4) the group dynamic was good (9 divers + 2 non-diving spouses)
The Cons: (1) weather: really rather cloudy (not nearly enough sun), (2) resort entertainment was rather weak,... but at least they tried, (3) unfortunate: I caught a cold ( rare for me) and couldn't go diving on Thursday (feverish and coughing).