107.3km – 941m up – 620m down – 4189kcal
What a ride, today! 53% unpaved, 100% head wind, 3 river crossings and a climb at the end of the day. It just gives us a taste what is awaiting us the following days.
The day started good. I did the dog-style of cycling: Running to the head of the bunch, taking photos, letting everyone pass and start over again to pass everyone again for more rider photos. I somehow exceeded the limit of my tires running too fast on the sharp gravel, thus ended up with a flat when everyone was gone. It was in the middle of a little village and I had many spectators to see me quickly changing the tube. However I run out of luck with my pump and couldn’t get a single molecule of air into the tire. Luckily Nicaragua is a cycling country and a young girl (Johanna) went away to return with an old but working floor pump (pump up service included) …
Later on the day I passed into a small settlement and saw something long dangling from a tree, with a boy working on it. Coming closer I identified it as a 2m python that was being skinned. So I stopped to take a photo. The skin was taken for a belt, the body however was dumped in the field – poor snake, killed just for the skin and not to feed the family.
The 3 river crossings were fun and refreshing.
At one point you had to decide whether to stay dry but risk your neck going over an old suspension bridge or get a bit wet. I opted for the wet part, as the bridge looked a bit too fragile and I would have ended in the water anyhow, in a less controlled manner than riding my bike. 
At another place we could take an old ferry, which broke down trying to carry the final bunch of riders over.
Stay tuned for tomorrows update … it is said to be another challenge for mind and body!