Day 7

What a lovely day in Ecuador. I can’t believe how nice it is here after being here in January and being miserable. If I didn’t have to get tires here on the way down I would have avoided Quito for sure. I got up and did a little workout on the balcony and worked on the blog. Diego messaged me saying he would be at the bike shop at 9:30 so I packed up most of my luggage and hopped in an Uber and met him at the bike shop. He had a helper throw the forks back on while he and I chatted. I ended up paying $220 for the whole job which wasn’t too bad for how quick he did it. I gave the shop my extra set of brake pads since they gave me one of theirs yesterday. I chatted with a few of the guys there and got on the bike to head back to the hostel to load up and head out.

The suspension guy mentioned that the BMW dealer put way too much oil in the forks when they changed the oil which is why it was leaking. They also did not change the seals. When he put the forks back on my bike he brought them up about 1/2″ higher than where they normally sit and he said it would make my bike handle better with all the gear on the back. Riding the bike home without the luggage was odd. The bike just wanted to keep diving into turns. I pray this job lasts till the end of the trip!

While I was at the shop the owner asked me where I was going next and I mentioned the cold weather at Quilotoa Lake and Banos and he said not to listen to the weather apps because they are all wrong down here. He said it would be plenty warm. So my plan today was to head right to Banos but now I have to go to the lake to at least get to see it. I loaded up the bike and GPS said 3.5 hour to the lake. I was praying I wouldn’t hit any rain since this is the time it starts to rain there supposedly.

I had a lovely drive to the lake. The elevation was wild as I went from 7000′ to 13,500′. it got pretty cold and windy up there. The scenery was beautiful. So many rolling mountains with farms and everything was brown. I guess no green grass at that altitude. I pulled up to the lake and went to the viewpoint, took a few pictures and had a small lunch at a little restaurant. The view of the lake was incredible and the food was on another level for being only $5.00 as well. Well I skipped the hike around the lake because I have some sharp pain in my left quad. Not sure if it hurts from when one of my bands slipped off my foot and hit my left quad or if it hurts because I pulled something.

Next stop, Banos. Grandpa Yak said it was a lovely spot and he thinks I would like it. 3 Hours away as well. I hit the road hoping to get there by 4 to have a little dinner and walk around the town before it gets dark. On my way I saw some dark clouds. Praying I wouldn’t get hit with rain. And I didnt thankfully. The drive down into Banos was beautiful. I couldn’t take any pictures because the roads were so steep and I was working hard to pass so many trucks that had miles of traffic behind them and I didnt want to lose all that hard work by pulling over.

By the end of the ride I started to trust the bike and the new suspension tweaks he did. The bikes handle great and it doesn’t feel like I’m going to die whenever I brake or initiate a turn anymore.

Banos is lovely. Grandpa was 100% right about me loving this place. There’s nothing special about it but the vibe is just beautiful. A small town in the mountains surrounded by some huge mountains. So many extreme sports to do here and so many good food shops from the looks of it. I went for a walk and got some Indian food with a delicious smoothie. No plans for the rest of the night other than to relax after this long day. The trip feels like it has officially begun since the bike is all set up and working fine now and everything from Quito on is all new so it feels good again!