Punta del Diablo, day 8

There was sand in our derailleurs and in our sprockets. A fine wash of grit coated our bike chains. There were pockets of it in our ears and in our hair and in our pockets. We carried the sand from Cabo Polonio with us as we slogged through rain to Punta del Diablo, which translates to Devil's Point in English. I was feeling devilishly unclean, part of the great unwashed that morning on that ride from Cabo. Miserable. But the rain felt good on my sticky skin and by the time we rode halfway to the Devil, I felt almost human again. Oh what I would have given for a cup of hot strong coffee and a banana right then... or better yet, a papaya...or even better, a cherimoya AND a mango and THREE shots of espresso with just a kiss of cream...

Sometimes food is the only thing that can get you from point to point, and that morning, I dreamt of fruit. I didn't know what food was motivating Deputy Dawg -- probably grapes, perfectly fermented...

We were so tired after our ride to Punta del Diablo that we took the first hotel that we saw, 3 kilometers shy of the point itself. There was no shame in this. Tired is tired.

There will be days of ebullience and fearsome power, when we roll into town at the end of the day, radiant, vibrating energy and health -- I hope there will be such days -- but that day out of sandy Cabo was not such a day. All we had were sand in our pockets and dreams of fruit and a shower and wine. Oh, the simple dreams of rolling dawgies...

--Mad Dawg copyright 2007

Nuts and Bolts of the Ride
60km to Punta del Diablo
Roads 3
Scenery 3
Facilities 2
Bathrooms 2
Traffic 3
Difficulty 2

Nuts and Bolts of Punta del Diablo
Food 2
Shops 3
Cute 4
People 4
Cost 2
Hotel just outside of town (3km), $35 (3)
Memorable: The entire place

4 hour bus to Mondevideo, 22 block ride to Red Hostel -- slick

--Deputy Dawg