Departure: 2:09PM
Arrival: 6:21PM
Distance: 9.8KM (6.08Miles)
Type: Mountain bike. (Mountain Gear. Borath Aluminium.)
Gear: Cap. Blue short sleaved shirt. Undies. Cargo blue
shorts. Sandals. Cell phone. Key set. Camera. Wallet. A map of Lima and a note
with street names (As I was going to unexplored territory). My small backpack.
An organic apple. Bottle of water, 2/5 full.
--
Stepped out, looked around briefly, got on the saddle and
went my way at a slow speed, relaxed…eventually rushing a couple of times in
certain situations. It wasn´t a race and I wanted to enjoy my free time (long
full moon holliday bridge) riding at low speed, taking time to look around.
Besides, speed can become dangerous when biking in a city. As a matter of fact
I´ve been starting to think that bikers should be obliged to respect a code and
that the police should be able to control us and eventually, put fines if we
infrict the code. (I´m not talking about a bike permit with a test.). Very
often, as bikers, we become “prepotentes”, “wild” and “drunk on speed” and we
sometimes tend to forget some rules like, giving the pedestrian the priority on
the sidewalk, respecting the arrows on the cycling paths…and..respect for the
green lights…well that´s a privilege that we have over cars. Sometimes we burn
the red lights and cheat using the pedestrian crossing which is already green
…or go against the traffic. We should have a certain code, I guess.
Anyway. I rolled on the side walk of 28. There´s no other
choice. There´s a bike path but it´s in the other direction. So..zig.zagging
through the people at a slow speed, sometimes very slow. Untill I arrived at
the crossing of Reducto. There´s still that construction site at that corner. A
few bikers going through the bike lanes. Tow girls waiting for the green
light..like me. A very long red light! I watched it count down from 15 to 0 on
red and then it went to a 90 seconds count down still in red. Now I get it.
There are only two numbers on the green light. It´s doesn´t do three digits
numbers! Now…that´s not right!
I passed and stopped for a while in the middle of the
crossing in a safe place, as I waited again. Went way slowly on Reducto. Good
thing on that segment of Reducto, is that it´s very slow slope down. It´s
insignificant…but I stopped pedaling for a while seeing how far I could go and
I was still going faster than pedestrians…with that silly music in my
head…”they see me rolling they hating” as I saw this woman laughing on the cell
phone.
I got to the bridge. I stopped and wanted to take a pic of
the Bajada Armendariz so you can see the sea and the Bajada Armendariz..but I
was stopped on the road and thought that I showed that place many times. Countless people, going from Miraflores to Barranco,
probably take that same picture..so I restarted pedaling, passed that dangerous
spot where the cars come fast with no problem.
I was in Barranco. Arrived at the red light, made my way
throught the cars and the sidewalk to the front red light line. That´s another small advantage we have on
cars. I didn´t wait for the green light and stepped on the side walk. Rolled on
the side walk for a while and jumped the sidewalk to get back on the road. Got to
that other segment with a little “faux pas” as I hesitated at the crossing. I
hesitated between sticking to the road or taking the pedestrian crossing. I
took the pedestrian crossing.
Miguel Grau. A bike rider passed in front of me at great
speed. Noticed these two caucasian people walking on the sidewalk. That
buildings are full of graffitis. We see that eye that is everywhere and that
recurrent diamond tag. It´s a whole different world from Miraflores. The people
you see are different aswell. They are “bohemians”.
I stopped to check my tires. I forgot to do that on the way
out. My back wheel was fine but my front wheel was a tad low. It was ok. Not a
problem..no need for a pit stop. It´s always very important for us bikers to
keep both wheels inflated to the full. It reduces effort.
I got close to the center and turned left at that light as I
had planned. A little street. I had to roll on the sidewalk slow because it was
counter direction. Turned right as planned and rolled on that Street for a
while.
I saw a humming bird flying around next to flower. Noticed a
few murals. One of a humming bird and that was no coincidence. I arrived at
that big road with the bus lane behind that pedestrian street in the center of
Barranco. I´m not sure. I don´t remember well. But I kept going deep into these
tinny Llttle streets of these “barrios”.
At one point I arrived to Surco frontier. The street got
wider and I could finally get out of the sidewalk. Another world. There where
many dogs in the street, mototaxis and some of the constructions are more
humble. We see a few houses which are just bricks, with the roof tops
unfinished like in manny places of Lima. I passed in front of a bodega that had
dead featherless chickens hanging in line. I was revulsed. I stopped to take a
picture of that message at a corner. As a kid mumbled something positive to me.
"There is no Planet B"
I had to go on the sidewalk again. I arrived at a school
with kids getting out I guess, as a friendly dog got exited at my site and
started to follow me. Kept going untill I got to Camino Real. At that cross I
put my foot on the ground, among the stray dogs, an old man and a few vatos
that where around. I checked if I could go through that little passage next to the cemetery I had
spotted on the map at home. It was a dead end street so I thought I should
avoid it.
I kept rolling, turned left, and got to that other street I
had spotted previously. It was closed by a grid and the gate keeper told me to
take the parallel…so I did. I got into that other street with a grid and
stopped to take that picture of an abandonned car as that dog in the picture
barked at me.
I arrived at a dead end where a man was sitting on a scooter
but there was a door through which I could pass.
As I passed I realized I had arrived to my destination:
“Parque Ecologico Voces para El Clima.”
At the end of the street, I could see a tidy park. I passed
a recycling bin, chained my bike on the bike racks outside the structure. There
are two big flags on a pole. The peruvian flag and the flag of Surco or Lima..I
guess. I don´t know..a big yellow flag.
Didn´t really observe it with caution.
I walked towards the gate to read sign. They required two plastic bottles for the entry. I wasn´t
aware of that. As a matter of fact, I though there wasn´t going to be a gate
with guards. I didn´t even bring money, which was a dumb thing.
I got to the gate and talked with a lady. I told her I had
one plastic bottle in my bag but it was full of water. We negociated and she agreed
that I´d give em the bottle on the way out. I filled the register and got in.
So you know: “IF YOU GO THERE, BRING TWO PLASTIC BOTTLES”.
I´m not going to get in the details of the visit for this
text is starting to get way too long. I´ll try to sum up.
The place is very tidy and neat. It was built after the
COP20 of Lima. There are gardens, with buildings with a lot of panels, a couple
of TV screens and ludic activities inside them. There was an interresting high
tech device there. We couldn´t take pictures inside the buildings and I won´t tell
you what´s inside. There were a couple of gardners and a few guides. They were
supposed to guide me but I thought it was more for groups or famillies so I
just walked around. It´s interresting. It´s a park on this “zero emmissions”
theme. The purity of the air we breed is very important…for our larynxes and
our little lungs. I wonder why “voces”…which means “voices”. I think that
during the COP, the people who talked on TV about this topic, became “voices
for climate”.
I drank my water, ate my apple, took a couple of pictures of
the garden.
The gate.
Ciprés Limon. (Pues si)
The protocol. But I learn it goes way back. Even way before the Rio Conference in 92. They go back as far as 1979 with the World Climate Conference in Geneva.
"Ichu": A Quechua word. (Another plant for the list) Probably endemic...who knows?
Pitched roof!
Asclepias. ( Yet, another new plant)
A view from the park. There are dinos there. I recognize a Triceratops. Maybe to evoke "instinction", which according to a message I read there, is what hummanity is heading too if we keep in this direction.
A mural made of junk.
A bike rider trimmed in a bush.
Another view of the park.
That dome.
A play ground. A the Bio-Digester behind.
This alley of ficuses.
Behind there where restricted zones where we couldn´t go but
I asked about it. There´s a recycling plant and plantations. Quite an
impressive park.
There where very few people because we were Monday afternoon
but they tell me people actually come to this place. (it´s not a very touristic
neighbourhood)
I asked if they had a compost pile for my “trognon” but they
hadn´t. As promissed, I left my plastic bottle (Without a cap) on the way out.
I stepped out and sat on a bench outside for a minute, in the heat of the sun.
I wanted to check the Rio Surco which actually passes right there. I walked
along the grid of the park and asked a park guide about it. She confirmed what
I thought. The river goes underground in that zone. As a matter of fact, the river
Surco takes a very unnatural, course there. It makes two 90 degrees turns,
following the street square grid, which is unnatural for a river. Rivers never
do that! Rivers meander! I noticed that a long time ago as I studied the local
streams. We´ll probably have to work on that and smoothen the angles on that
segment. Here´s the map so you can see what I´m talking about. For all we know
it might flow right through the park. As some sort of coincidence. Well that´s
a “green zone”: A space of vegetation along the river bank. But I wonder a bit
because that´s way passed the Barranco bajada. That “Rio Surco”, might have
kept going and irrigated a stream that goes to Agua Dulce.
Unnatural flow.
On that street, there was this woman gardening on a lemon
tree. Green lemons!! (Another plant for my list…well I could have guessed
that…there might be a reason why they say “lima, limón”……but now, I´ve seen
with my own eyes) They where unripe but she told me, they give good lemons.
I also took a sneak peek at the plantations behind in the
park. I could recognize three papaya trees that you might see in that picture.
(We can´t really see due to the grid) Well I knew for long that papayas trees grew
in Lima because we had one in Miraflores, untill they cutted it down. Papaya!
Very powefull natural laxative….as efficient as prunes.
From the other side of the fence.
Which bring me to
another Little question I was thinking of these last days:
“Why urban areas usually don´t have food plantations?”
Have you ever heard, accross the word, of a city with fruits
or nutt trees in the streets and vegetable gardens?
They are very rare. Maybe it has to do with urban hygiene
and the fact that it would attract animals. There would be birds and rodents
pooping around everywhere. I mean…I saw how those date palm trees in the Parque
Salazar attract birds. That´s why the Municipality of Miraflores probably cuts
them down a soon as the fruits are ripe. (It´s date season in the region, BTW)
And then, if they are not collected, the rotten fruits fall on the ground and
bring all sort of smells, flies and bugs. I don´t mind much…I guess bird poo is
a part of life…and I personally think rats are cute. Beats me.
Anyway. I kept walking along the grid and saw grounded
airplanes on my right. Somesort of open air museum, with these old military flying
toy machines for people to see: Parque del aire. I wasn´t expecting to find
that there. I wanted to get inside but it also required plastic bottles, which
I was out of, so I just took the pictures from outside. As a matter of fact,
the place is right next to the “Base aérea de La Palmas”, a F.A.P. airstripe.
We might see a Mirage 2000 there...and maybe a Sukhoi Hellicopter(?)..I think I saw a couple of those flying around Miraflores. They make a hell of a noise. They go : FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP!
That might have been a Cesna Dragonfly...
I
got to the end of the street and took the picture of those palm trees and that
odd tree shapped antenna. Maybe a cell phone relay..who knows? Cell phone
relays shaped like trees? I think it was a Surco thing.
Palmeras en Las Palmas.
I took this picture of
the street sign. It´s a thing I do. (Whenever I do an interdistrital trip I
take a pic of the street sign with the name of the district)
Surco. (JJ´s been here)
I got back to by bike as I saw with discontempt these two
individuals emmiting a hell lot of smoke trying to ignite the engine of a van.
I thought I heard a group of people uttering hostile words. I suppose they where
taking about those dudes but I preffered leaving the place.
I took these two last pictures as I heard this woman
speaking on the phone about a strange topic and got on the saddle.
Giant "Torito de Pucara". If you ever get to the Cuzco zone, you´ll see these bulls on allmost every roof. I don´t know what that is about.
This mural, just in front of the gate. That seemed to be me with the joyfull dog following me.
Got to that passage on the wall, came out through that
little “cerrada”. Noticed this woman with a young child and came out through
the gate into camino real corner, where a couple was standing.
I turned at that main street and headed my way back, trying
to keep rolling, stopping as little as possible among the mototaxis, cars,
street dogs and people of that barrio. I saw these school girls in uniform
coming back from school I guess.
I got to Barranco through that same road. I saw a guy with a
Venezuela cap who mumbled something I don´t remember. I was started to get
tired. My attention was lowering a bit. I got to that crossing and started to
wonder if I had missed the turned. I thought I heard someone yell “te
passaste!” or something like that so I took a street on my left. I wasn´t
supposed to go there but I came out on Grau just the same.
A lot of cars and combis on Grau. A lot of people and you
know I hate crouds. That´s the comercial center of Barranco right there. I was
really losing focus. I just focused on the road and not getting into an
accident. Didn´t really looked around for the landscape, the buildings or the
people. Reduced my attention to riding my bike. I just remember of this man at
a corner. A tall thin man, full of tattoos, with some sort of skin rash and
long blonde dreadlocks. A guy from Barranco I guess.
I stopped at a corner a few seconds to rest a bit and regain
my focus. There where these same strange guys in their car in the sector. They
stopped a bit further. Took my cap off and passed my hand over my sweaty skull.
I saw this white bald man with a bike. He might have had a blue bandana…he
might have had blue eyes…or blue sun glasses..I don´t recall…doesn´t matter
much anyway. Kept rolling and saw him at the red light. Then he disappeard. I
stopped before the bridge to let people pass, crossed the bridge.
I was regaining my focus. There was less traffic. I was back
in Miraflores. Got on that bike path with no trouble and went up Reducto, till
I reached 28. The light was green so I turned left on the bike path. I stopped
for a second because a car was backing on the bike lane. He gave me thumbs up,
I turned my head back to see if the way was clear and I got out of the bike
lane for a few meters.
I wasn´t going straight back to my flat. I remember I had something
else planned. I kept rolling up to Larco and stopped at the traffic light. BTW:
The bike lane is lame if you want to turn right at that crossing. I had to do a
strange move, there.
I went up Larco untill I arrived to my destination. I
chained my bike on a bike rack. I recognized that same man on the bench. I got
to this building. Checked in my belongings at the counter. Got to the toilets
to freshen up at the sink a bit before going up. I stained my shirt with water
so I stood out to dry it up for a while. I recognized that other guy. I got
into that elevator, inspecting myself with satisfaction because my shirt was
dry.
I got into the room with air conditioning and did what I had
planned to do. I saw a few knowed faces. I couldn´t stay much because that bike
ride really made me hungry. Sticked around one hour maybe. So I checked out the
facility and stepped out. I was exausted and really hungry. I might have seen
that other guy again..but I couldn´t care much. I went head down to my bike to
unchain it.
I hesitated between walking or getting back on the saddle but I
chose the saddle, back to my H.Q, mechanically untill I reached my gate.…safe
and sound.
--
I know..there are some grammatical errors and a few orthographic mistakes. I´v spotted many as I read it back, for a 3rd time...but I´ll leave it that way. I´m not reading it a 4rth time!
--
(I´ll try to do a video with some voice audio comments for a
future excursion...eventually)
