Although Loja is at a nice 2100ish meters, this would be one of my last chances to sleep somewhere cool for the next few weeks. I went out on the TEMBR route, ignoring the singletrack option as it is simply not worth it doing it uphill. I like walking my bike but not that much.

when dogs question the quality of meat you give them, maybe its time to get better stuff?

The road turned real quiet, real fast but it was full of garbage.

I spoke to a man who was waiting for a ride back to town with some milk. He goes up to the ridge for 3 months at a time with his 20 cows and he has to be there or people may steal them. That seems to be a proble near larger cities

Few hours later on the ridge I found a decent spot just as ominous clouds rolled over loja and treatened to rain cats and dogs.

the Ecuadorian road of progress is not paved and may pass through a volleyball field or two...

It was an amazing sunset but just too windy. Even with 3 sodes of protection the wind suck in and constantly shook my tent. Well thats the cold night I was hoping for but it would be nice if it didnt blow out my stove so much.

It warmed up quick in the morning and the ridge was amazingly easy and a perfect ending for the trans ecuador route. A little too easy but very beautiful.

I went for the singletrack descend off of it but it seemed that the horse trail was now all made into a road. Just as steep but a road.

I met some people filling their truck with grass and one tried to ride my bike. Ot was too big but his friend managed to go down until the corner where he fell.

I must have not noticed but when I stopped to talk to them, one of the front brake pads melted off (the ones I got made at a moto shop), he is probably lucky he did not go flying off the hill. I rode down another 1km with the rear brake and dragging my right foot on the road before I decided its not going to work. I will burn my rear pads and have to walk the rest. We threw my bike on top when my friends came down for the trans ecuador grand finale: taking a ride downhill...

SOL brake pad separation but it could have been worse, I was able to stop.

Low altitude dogs were more relaxed and none bothered barking or chasing.

It was a pleasant climb over a hill to the trans ecuador bike route end at Vilcabamba.

I met with Johana, a friend of a friend who had received few boxes of my junk three months ago.

She is originally from Colombia and has had her share of traveling (20 years, all over latin america, except mexico). She also has a very friendly beagle dog.

It was time to do laundry...

and try to air out the spare tire which sat with tubeless fluid in a plastic bag for three months. The beagle who kept eating my 2 week old unwashed sock would not even look at the tire! thats how bad it was

and a time to get some rest...

Vilcabamba is where lots of gringos go to retire and get big houses on the hillside

It was good to rest but visa tome is running out and I dont want to have a math lesson at the border when I leave like I did leaving Colombia. Plus the days can get really hot here so I better get moving.

gotta remember to try that when I drop down to 400m in Peru!

There was of course some singletrack and mini football court riding before I got out on the Panamerican.

There was just one problem... i must have somehow lost my spare brakepads and am now running on rear brake only. Making the downhills a lot less fun than they normally are. Although there were bike shops in town, its bad having to pay the rip-off $20+ price for a new set, plus due to my geniuss financial planing, I was left with $30 for the next two weeks. Weather was perfect though, offering great protection from the hot sun and a bunch of refreshing drizzles.

The fruit truck women were very befuddled when I asked for half a pound of potatoes, two onions and a tomato and just charged me 25cents. Asking curiously what kind of food I am making. I did truck-hitch with them to the top of the next hill. Very uncomfortable to hold but it did the job.

Meanwhile, the front break started leaking oil on my tent... thats another brake bleed on the to-do list but i am really disappointed with brake performance and brake pad use. The trans ecuador route ate up a total of 6 pads so far... I am not sure i would be comfortable using the shimano SLX brakes anymore... maybe time to go back to mechanicals or something better?

While advancing slowly in granny gear a truck came by and... he slowed down and honked! Love ecuadorian truck drivers. We zoomed the last 300 vertical meters of the climb and ended our meet with a wave and a honk. People that passed us were always smiling too.

It was cold and wet and no signs of pastures or cows, just natural hillsides, probably too steep to be grazed and too wet to be burned.

I kind of thought about sleeping in this king-size culvert but it was too close to the road and had no view at all.

By the road a reminder that this is the habitat of the mysterious andean bear. I have not had luck seeing one... but.., maybe I set up camp near and wait for them to cross the road?

Just nearby, courtesy of Ecuador DOT errosion control was a cut right above the road... flat enough to camp but if it rains... and there is a slide... no regrets, at least I get a good sunset. :)

There were many futile attempts, hoping for the stars to literally align and get a shot in focus but i may not have the right lens for that.

At night it poured. Making me very nervous and wondering if I should switch spots? The sound of falling rocks nearby did not help but things seem to have held long enough so why would they go now?

Not much of a view in the morning so I waited 3 cups of coffee and packed up.

Down the road I thought I saw the Ecuadorian lochness monster but it was just a tree.

Not paying attention on the descend, I finally stopped to smell the burning, the rear brake smoking up. The pad, which was half yesterday - now gone and its on the metal part now.

I did the remaining 500m drop to town using my feet on the tire or the road and the brke only when absolutely needed. Breaking the quiet morning sounds of chickens and cows and dogs with "bwwwwwww," policeman outside the station looked at me funny. I guess now there is no explaining that this isnt a motorcycle. The road was less steep and made for some fast riding around the corners. A kid held onto his horse-dog. He had quite the interesting rig set up!

This was a good time to overview the casualties of the trans ecuador mountain bike route.
1 pedal flew off.
6 brake pads (7 now)
3 brake bleeds, not sure if front can even be fixed now. Bike shop in Cuenca offered to sell me a new lever.
1 bottom bracket, seal is off now but I hope those nasty sounds are coming from the pedals now.
A nasty slash on the rear tire. Thread is very good but this may need some attention soon.
Not bad, considering how the last two months went. I am absolutely clueless how the derailleur is still alive.

one of the shots before the outer seal of the bb came out and the whole thing filled with mud

Altitude was down to 800-1200m and it was nice to hear again the overpowering sound of the forest bugs.

The menacing clouds had now lost their power and held a promise of welcome shade and refreshing rain.

The mules climbing up the hills made me glad I was not pushing my bike there.

And the beige donkey... is that a donkey? Or a mule? Or some sort of a hybrid? If i e er get a house, I'll paint my room this color.

An old school was the perfect stop. I get to ease into the heat and have a half roof over my head.

It rained all night and all morning but the little roof kept me dry mostly due to the lack of wind. I wondered if i should wait it out but at 1200m altitude it was just refreshing rain and not cold. The valley looked amazing with all the clouds and really reminded me of the rainy season in Colombia.

Then came the downhill. I rode part of it until I decided that using the remainder of the brake pad metal backing plate as brake pad was not a good idea. Once that is gone it will go on the ceramic piston and then it could get dangerous. I started walking the bike down until a truck came and I hitched a ride to the bottom of the valley.

There was a 500m refreshing climb up to Zumba and I tried to find brakepads, if there was any place that would accept a trade it would have been this shop. No luck though, no brake pads.

I began walking the bike down again. Not as easy as it sounds and probably worse than pushing it up. I rode up another hill and the next descend was somehow manageable with foot braking. There was a certain art to that and I was starting to get a hang of it. Lower the seat as low as it goes and drag your feet firmly on the road but yet you need to be able to flex your knees back if you hit a rock. Pedals on 12 and 6 o'clock position and out of the way.

At a little town I could not find any cold drink in a glass bottle so I had this brilliant idea - why not deink a beer. They come in 650ML returnable bottles and that ought to make the descend to the border more fun. So that was it, my first crossing of international border, drunk. The road was steep but there was a nice muddy belt in the middle where I could dig in my feet. On sharp corners I use the remainder of the brake and all in all was a fairly controlled descend. Although thats not what one of those yellow taxis thought who drove into the ditch when he saw me and then just as easily drove out.

The border was super quiet, the official even looked up my japanese friend Yohei in the book and told me he went by yesterday in the evening. So just a day ahead but he carries more stuff than I. Its all pavement from here to Jaen or Cajamarca where I can sort out all these brake stuff.