Today was not the best day ever. We decided to change the pace after a few days of hiking and begin our prolonged courtship of Cotopaxi with a mountain bike ride. We had a rough start with a 6am wake-up following a long day on Rucu, but the group was forcefully invigorated by the crisp air. The ride began at 15,000 ft in the parking lot below base camp (Jose Ribas Refugio). Cotopaxi was being coy with us, enshrouded in a veil of clouds and damp fog. Dietrich was trying hard to look manly in shorts, but failing miserably by hiding out in the car. 
Our guides from the Biking Dutchman offered us a quick biking lesson. One bike stood out among the others as it was clearly more expensive than all the other bikes combined. Tripp eagerly asked our guide Fernando who got to ride this pimped out bike. Fernando, stern in the face, replied, “that one’s mine,” as he quickly moved between Tripp and the bike. We all geared up and headed down the ash jeep trail.
The first part of the descent was painful with icy shards and heavy winds assaulting our exposed faces. We sped down from the mountain to escape the brutal weather, zig-zagging through the switchbacks one after the other and dodging oncoming traffic. After 8km of riding, we reached the base and stopped to regroup with all 15 and the two jeeps bringing up the rear. 
Kirsten experienced a nice volcanic rock massage while Barrett and Nourafshan invented a new form of high altitude corn-hole. We pushed on another 5km on undulating terrain to stop at the park entrance for lunch. Cotopaxi was starting to play a little rough. Corinne came through with a nice shiner on the shin. Marcy took a little spill but pretended like her palms were supposed to resemble mincemeat. If there’s one thing about Marcy we’ve learned about on this trip, it’s that her tenacity is limitless. If she were tasked with the role of Sisyphus, the boulder would be reduced to rubble before she relented. By now, it was time to get our chow on in preparation for a grueling round two. The grub consisted of pasta with what was either mango, carrot or squash (the verdict is still out), some spanakopita, liquid sugar with a bit of tea, and Ecuadorean chocolate brownies (Jake says - they were sooo good!).
Kirsten experienced a nice volcanic rock massage while Barrett and Nourafshan invented a new form of high altitude corn-hole. We pushed on another 5km on undulating terrain to stop at the park entrance for lunch. Cotopaxi was starting to play a little rough. Corinne came through with a nice shiner on the shin. Marcy took a little spill but pretended like her palms were supposed to resemble mincemeat. If there’s one thing about Marcy we’ve learned about on this trip, it’s that her tenacity is limitless. If she were tasked with the role of Sisyphus, the boulder would be reduced to rubble before she relented. By now, it was time to get our chow on in preparation for a grueling round two. The grub consisted of pasta with what was either mango, carrot or squash (the verdict is still out), some spanakopita, liquid sugar with a bit of tea, and Ecuadorean chocolate brownies (Jake says - they were sooo good!).
Round two did not go as planned. We hit some pretty rocky sections and the front group was descending hard and fast. Kristin (KY) lost control of her bike and took a pretty bad spill. It could have been any one of us. She was lying on her back in a lot of pain. Our biking guide, ever the EMT, had her move her arm and determined it was a bruise and nothing more serious. The majority of the group continued on for the last 8km, as Kristin followed in the jeep with Corinne’s company. The group descended, hopping rocks, splashing through puddles and evading chasing dogs. By the end of it all, we managed to bike all the way from 15,000ft on Cotopaxi to our hostal, the Secret Garden Cotopaxi.
When we got back, Kristin’s condition worsened. She felt a pop in her shoulder when trying to change out of her biking gear and was in immense pain. We determined the best bet was to get her to a hospital for an x-ray. We sent our translator and local guru, Kat, trip co-leader Ryan, and ever-resourceful Corinne to escort Kristin to the nearest hospital 45min away. What was supposed to be a 2-3 hour trip turned into an 18hr adventure involving painfully rocky roads, a closed medical clinic, and a long drive to Quito to experience the chaos of Ecuador’s public health system. The team ended up staying in Quito and getting KY on the earliest flight out of the country the following morning.
All the while, the group at the Secret Garden was sitting by the phone and managing to be stressed out about KY’s condition in the most relaxing place on earth. We had a candlelit family dinner, watched an unreal sunset over the mountains, and witnessed a Polish-Australian dance party. We had Dalmatians and Dachshunds to keep us company. Unfortunately we were receiving some botched messages from our distant crew, via Kristin and Co.’s driver (in Spanish) to our hostess, Carolina, and then to us. After many lost texts and cell phone calls later, we got a direct update from our emergency crew. Kristin was heading out of the country and the other three would join us in the morning.
Corinne, Ryan and Kat returned to the group the following day for lunch in Secret Garden Cotopaxi. We were back together minus one, and were more resolute than ever to climb Cotopaxi. It was time to try to return to normalcy, and hit the mountain hard. Our courtship was over and the wedding day was upon us. We were going to climb this monstrous peak, and we were going to do it for KY, if nothing else!
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