113.7km – 2216m up – 1376m down – 5504kcal – 8:54h
Arrived at the Black Forest (Selva Negra)
When Cristiano says: ‘This is going to be a tough day’ he means it 
And when he says: ‘I can’t promise that this can’t be topped’ then you know, that there will be more surprises to come in the next days 
The started quite easy out of Boaco with rolling hills that added up to just about 600m of climbs until lunch stop at 68km. Then the promised ‘real’ climbs started with the grand final of another 660m to ascent within the last 8km to go.
Having already 103km in your legs you turn right around a corner and you see the ‘wall’ in front of you that you know you have to master to make it to camp. The temperature of around 30°C and the gusty winds did not help either. So, ‘goo up’ and get it done!
The wind was not always a help. At lunch there was a ‘fair tail wind’, which after the first corner turned into a ‘fairytale wind’, so to speak.
The scenic view on the way up gave a little reward for the sweat and pain.
It was said, that the camp will be the nicest of all during the trip, however what does it help when 
after 9 hours on the bike you only want to eat dinner and go to bed to relax for the next days’ cruelties!
Today we had 2200m of climbs on 98% pavement. Tomorrow it will be 1900m of climbing, however with 57% on gravel. 
We will sleep and see when we are back on the road at 6:30.
A friend who cares and listens (in San Ramon)
Nicaragua ‘Ride Thru’ Cafe
