Heyho Readers! How are you? Cold is not going to stop us from cycling; nor mountains, jungles and tunnels.
Heeeeello my beloved readers! I believe you are missing those long Travel Story posts, aren't you? No? Reeeeally? Ok, sorry then...
Anyway... the semester is ending at the school and life is getting kinda busy with some amazing projects I plan to tell you soon. However, while I don't release any old, crazy and insightful travel story, I'll leave you with this new, mad and freezing adventure.
Warning: This post contains a bit of narrative that made the text quite long, plus the photo work is not perfect. Hope you enjoy it anyway, love you.
I must admit that last weekend, once more, I was challenged by the weather. It decided to unleash all its power upon me right on Saturday - when I planned to go on a tour. The South-West wind, well known for bringing cold from Antarctica, struck my city on Friday turning the Saturday morning into a freezing and humid version of hell. However, on Sunday, after patiently waiting, it turned out beautifully and I was able to go on an exploration.
This time I had heard about an abandoned tunnel in the middle of the jungle, the only information I had was that it was in the rural area of my city near a place called Colonia Maciel - a small village. But where? How to get there? Apparently, searching the internet didn't bring out any results; this is the thing, the more difficult to explore, the more exciting it is.
Preparations began on Saturday night with the bike and myself; regular stuff like cleaning and oiling the chain, checking brakes and cables and adjusting the shifters. As for myself, I took care of my nutrition.
PRO TIP: If you plan on going long distances, where it involves going up mountains and trails, be sure to have a proper nutrition on your daily basis. It starts the night before with a good ingestion of carbohydrates and the breakfast before cycling - don't eat like a maniac, chose meals that are easy to digest.
That being said, I woke up as lazy as a Sloth that Sunday thinking that it would be another version of the terrible rainy Saturday. Moral was not high and expectations were reaching scary levels, I didn't want to get out of bed. With some effort and by being a prepared cyclist, I woke up already wearing the cycling clothes, making it easy to face the low temperatures; the sun was shinning outside and the sky was blue, giving me a lot of power. I immediately jumped out to go have a breakfast, that consisted of granola with banana/honey and eggs. Here we go. Late start for us at 0936 in the morning.
The initial route followed the same path presented on my Blog #15, it passes by a place called Cascata and continues through the main road BR - 471 for about an aditional 22 km. For the most part it's an easy ride along the asphalted road until it starts going up, with inclinations varying from 5-10%. It's not tough, but it'll sure destroy an unprepared person. Downshift, breath and cycle. Don't look up.
Frist stop was at kilometer 22, after a couple minutes of cycling. On the Cascata/Cascatinha crossroad you'll find a cute old gas station and a resturant with the best chicken Pastel ever made - wich this time I remembered to take a picture.
- Bom dia! Two chicken Pastels to go please. - I asked the young and smiley lady.
- Bom dia! Sure, we'll prepare then in a few minutes. - She said.
The best Pastel ever made, and prepared on the spot? Lucky day, my friend. While I'd gladly wait for my fresh Pastels I took some time to oil the chain once more, as I felt it was making some noises.
PRO TIP: Always keep your ears and eyes on the chain, if it starts making some noises or if the rings are shiny, you'll need to oil it again, especially if you use dry oils, or silicon based oils.
- So, how's the cold up here? - I asked.
- Cold? It's very cold, you have no idea. - She said while rubbing her hands behind the counter.
- Haha, I can only imagine... By the way, I'd like to ask you... do you know about some sort of tunnel somewhere nearby? - I took the chance to ask.
- Tunnel? Yeah, some people ask about it... but I don't know, maybe if you ask at the gas station... - She said.
My first try didn't give any results, but this is how it works in rural areas; you ask one, that recommends another and so on. It was time to test the gas station. I approached an old german lady that was getting some warmth from the sun on that cold morning.
- Hello Mrs. I'm trying to find a tunnel that is supposed to be somewhere neaby... - I said.
- The tunnel?. It's far from here! You'll have to ride 20-25 km more, but it's not hard to find, you'll see the signs on the road. But it's far... - She insisted.
- Oh, just 20 km. - I said.
The poor old woman opened her eyes widely.
- Weeeell, if you say so... it's not difficult, just follow the road. Good luck! - She said.
Off we go! Loaded with my freshly made Pastels I was ready for another 25 km of cycling.
This is the thing, If you maintain a regular training routine, you'll see that 25 km is quite easy to reach. All you gotta do is find your own pace and learn how to handle your gears, not to mention a properly adjusted and comfortable bike - that helps a lot. Apart from that, it's all fun.
So, I continued until I found the signs "Cachoeira Arco-Iris 18 km" (Rainbow Watterfall 18 km). God bloody legs, let's go. I entered the small dirt road for another fun run of dirt cycling following the ups and downs.
The first place I've contemplated was the old bridge over the Arroio da Caneleira, cool little stream passing down below. I already have plans to go camping there one of these days.
Old bridge in Vila Maciel - Click image to enlarge!
Beautiful little stream - Click image to enlarge!
Arroio Caneleira (Caneleira stream)
No tunnels yet, and no idea how to find it, just a general direction. I continued, some parts were tough climbs and my legs were starting to feel it. Next sign "Tunnel to the left". Oh god, thanks. I took a steep climb, passed a Church and another one of those rural cemeteries, but no tunnel.
How about camping near this? - Click image to enlarge!
*I have to ask someone* - I thought. On a house a family was having a barbecue.
- Oi! Is there a tunnel somewhere nearby? - I shouted.
- Yeah, in front of the Church! - The man said.
Oh no, I had passed. Came back there... no tunnel... no sign. I was feeling exausted, so I stopped there to eat one of the Pastels and prepare a lime juice with honey. The church was closed and no one was around, so I took a little spot somewhere.
*where the heck is this tunnel?* - I was thinking.
Enjoying a Pastel from the gods
Turned out I was over the tunnel! After eating I followed a trail going downhill, a part of the journey I enjoyed a lot since I could reach some nice speeds in between rocks and jumps. I could spend a whole day there going down those trails with the mountain bike, if it wasn't by the fact the climbing back up is a pain in the behind.
Then a small sign pointed even further down "Tunnel", it said.
*What? how am I supposed to go down there with a bicycle?* - I thought. But I did. And it was worth it.
The small trail went downhill inside the jungle, I had to go over fallen trees and rocks, below branches and stuff. After a while there it was, the abandonned tunnel, how cool was that!
The mighty abandonned tunnel
Click image to enlarge!
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Poor MTB doing its job, where the bike is, is the actual trail. - Click image to enlarge!
I also took some time to explore a little bit of those insane roads, it's always fun to take the MTB to its natural habitat. I discovered an unfinished bridge, would like to know where they plan to continue that road to, as I think it ends there.
Discovery time - where does this go? - Click image to enlarge!
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Time to head back home - Click image to enlarge!
After wandering around all day I decided it was time to head back home. I still wanted to go to the Arco-Iris waterfall, however, I'd need to go even further inside the rural area, making my trip even longer and increasing the chances to be on the main road during night - wich is never a good idea.
In the end, what I thought would be another rainy weekend, turned out to be incredibly sunny and beautiful. I'm sure going back there with camping gear to spend some days exploring that region.
THE JUICY INFO FOR BIKE GEEKS
Not the best performance, but the terain was tough.
Have you enjoyed this long story? Would you read more long stories? Let me know on the comments, your feedback means a lot.
I hope you've enjoyed this post. If you liked it, consider giving your upvote for a hot coffee.
~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broken backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
I'm Arthur. I blog about Adventure Stories, Brazil, Travel, Camping & Life Experiences.
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