Santiago, Cuba – Holguín, Cuba
I got an early start (6:30am) as it’s was going to be a long day. It was a treat that my Casa hosts got up super early to not only cook me a wonderful breakfast but to see me off, just as my hosts in Havana did. So off I went on my maiden voyage of Cuba.
I was immediately greeted with a climb that I don’t think stopped until I reached Holguín 88 miles away! More on that later though. I was in good spirits. It felt great to get back on the bike after a few months of rest from crossing Canada and down the East coast to Florida. The Cuban countryside is absolutely amazing! The roads albeit not in the greatest shape are very clean (very different from the U.S. where trash is strewn coast to coast. Sugar cane is everywhere,I wonder what it would look like if the U.S. United Fruit Company didn’t clear cut all the forest to plant sugar cane so long ago, and it’s no wonder that sugar is a staple of the Cuban diet.
The rural countryside has its own charm and luckily for me the highways are frequented not only by people walking (and waiting for shared cabs, buses, and carts) but also by horse and oxen carts. I say lucky because it means there is a 10 foot shoulder that makes for some worry free riding, pair that with the limited number of cars on the road and the trip was quite pleasant.
It was a brutally hot day and after about a third of the way I started second guessing my decision to go the distance, being off the bike for so long my fitness has suffered. At the halfway mark the town of Alto Cedro I secretly hoped I would spot a taxi as I rested under a tree, fully willing to pay whatever as long as they took me all the way to Holguín.
It was under that tree that an old woman approached me and started talking very fast about what I don’t know but with my limited Spanish I was able to deduce that there were some bad hombres in Alto Cedro and the next town Macane and that it is very dangerous for me to stay here and that it would be best for me if I just continued on my way to Holguín. Now I’m not sure if she was telling the truth or if it was Santería superstition but I thought it best to heed the advice and go on my way.
Things got pretty dicey at about the 70 mile mark after climbing close to a mile with no end in sight I was greeting with a lovely sunset that quickly turned to pitch back with 10 miles to go. This is when I started to question my sanity, because I didn’t do the practical thing after my headlamp died. I did the Cuban thing which was to join the other cyclists and hope you don’t get hit, that you stay on the road but that you don’t fall in a pothole either. Surprisingly I soon made it to the relative safety of the city with it’s wonderful street lights. I was so happy to see those lights! It felt the same as when I was stuck on a thru hike over a mountain in British Columbia dragging my bike through the snow and finally seeing a car drive across my view, salvation. I don’t think I’ll ever look at the same way or take advantage of a street lights again.
It was a long way to the city center though and all I could think about was the countless times I got lost in Havana and Santiago and that I didn’t have the heart or the energy to ride around in circles looking for my home for the night. Luckily for me after a few directions asked of a pedicab while heading downtown I was able to make one turn and 15 blocks later I was at my Casa. I can’t put into words how happy I was to finally arrive after 10 hours of riding and 13 hour day. Enrique the owner told me he didn’t have a place for me as he thought I was arriving the next night but not to worry he booked me at another Casa Particular just two blocks away. So off we went, Enrique made the introductions said goodbye and placed me in the capable hands of Edilia.
