I Get On My Dirt Bike And Ride

I got back from my Tikal trip absolutely exhausted and a little bit sick. I’m not sure if it was something we ate or if something was going around, but it turned out that several people who were on the trip got sick. After Spanish school I decided to lay low and take a much needed nap.


Tuesday a girl from my Spanish School and Tikal trip, Alex, told me that she had put down a deposit on a bike trip with this group called Old Town Outfitters for herself and her friend Kelsey. Kelsey ended up getting very sick and there was no way she was going to make it, so I decided to go with Alex after lunch that afternoon.

So I just got back from a crazy busy trip, wasn’t feeling very well, and had sore legs from climbing all the temples. I hadn’t been on a bike in well over a year and was going with someone who had done a triathlon. I wasn’t sure that this trip was the best idea, but hey, why not, right?

I’m not sure what the most physically challenging thing I’ve done in my life has been, but this was way up on the list. We left from the shop on our bikes and rode on the busy cobblestone streets of Antigua. I’m not sure how many of you have ridden on cobblestone streets, but it’s not as easy as it looks. After about five minutes I was already tired but also determined.

We made our way past the cobblestone and out of town, stopping several times to check out the quaint parks and ruins that are scattered all over.

As we continued on we started to encounter hills, and more hills, and more hills. So up we went. One of the guides kept saying we will be going downhill soon, but this part never seemed to come. We FINALLY got to the downhill part and I’ve never been so excited. On the bottom of the hill we stopped at the Macadamia nut farm for about a half hour. It was a much needed break.

When we had to get back on our bikes, I don’t think my butt has ever hurt so badly in my life. We made our way on flat, but muddy, land for what seemed like forever to the town of San Antonio Agua Calientes, a village known for its weaving. I barely was able to hang on, but when I saw the Parque Central and knew we had arrived I was about ready to fall over. But hey, I had made it.

When we got off our bikes and looked around, I decided I was definitely done. I had hit my limit. I hopped on a chicken bus with one of the guides, Fernando, and got back to the shop to meet Alex and the other guides. I felt a little bad that I didn’t make it on my bike the whole trip, but when Fernando told me I had gone 13 miles, I felt very proud of myself.

Being that I can still can barely sit down several days later, I have a feeling I won’t be hopping on any bikes anytime soon, but it was definitely an experience I won’t forget.

"Levi Johnston's Blues" -Ben Folds and Nick Hornby