cuba 2023

I've been home for a week now and getting ready for my next trip. In a couple of days I got to Ft. Worth for a conference and a visit with Bob (my best man and grad school buddy) and Carol, and then on to Provo for a visit with Cardell (an office-mate at Central Michigan) and Rosanne (one of my Michigan moms). The next bike trip is to Greece in June. I suggested this trip to Cuba and I am not sure it would have been Mike and Walter's first choices. I am not disappointed that I lobbied for this destination. It is by far the most interesting trip I have been on, even if it may not have been at the top of the list on the typical metrics (food, cycling, creature comforts). I was fine with that and I think most people who select a trip to Cuba recognize that too. For me, the opportunities to interact with Cubans, both official (our tour guides) and unofficial were the highlight of the trip. Sure, the cycling was good (and challenging!) and the food interesting even if not Michelin-r...

3/18 - day 9 (day 7 of BR)   Going home.  Today was a travel day and our last day in Havana.   Packing up was particularly satisfying besides the usual reasons. A few days ago, James made a speech in the bus about conditions for everyday Cubans. We had read some things in the pre-trip materials from Backroads about how some basic items were in short supply and anything that we could bring and/or leave behind would be appreciated. I believe in avoiding waste as much as possible and over the years, have learned better how to recycle, reuse, and repurpose to keep things out of landfills. Sadly, we do not have a very efficient system of recycling in the US and too many people throw things into the trash rather than trying to find another life for things, so this seemed like a great opportunity to put my principles into practice. James suggested that the BR people would find appropriate recipients for anything we were willing to give away, beginning with cycling equipment. Sin...

Today was our first and only full day in Havana with Backroads. We were careful to plan our events at the front end with Cultural Cuba to avoid duplicating events and by and large, we were successful. The breakfast buffet at the Parque Central was typical European and even more expansive than at the Gran Hotel Manzana.   Our first event was a short bus ride to a neighborhood bodega. It looked like a a small warehouse or indoor farmer's market. Here's what is available today. Yanny showed us her ration booklet. Here's what it looked like.  In times of economic surplus, it simply meant you could not stock up on supplies, that is, no such thing as a Costco. In bad economic times, it meant sometimes you simply could not get something because there was not enough rice, beans, or cooking oil to go around. Or you could look on the black market and pay inflated prices.  Things are currently not good in Cuba. That said, the people we saw never seemed overwhelmed by their poverty. ...

  3/16 - day 7 (day 5 of BR) This was the last day or riding. We left Hotel Moka and rode out of the protected area toward Havana. As before, the roads in the protected area were among the best during our entire trip. It was also fun riding with the Masters again. On a couple of occasions, they would ride with us and we would draft them for a while and then they would take off and leave us behind huffing and puffing. Most of the time, dogs weren't a problem. No one had a dog on a leash and most of them were not fixed. They were often too lazy to pay any attention to us, or they were walking with purpose, probably trying to find food. A lot of them had ribs showing. These dogs might have chased us if they weren't on the roof. When we weren’t together, I was much more likely to stop and take pictures. Here’s one of three guys spinning something. It turns out they were making a braided rope. The guy in the first picture would turn a hand crank and the other guys would hold the raw...

  3/15 - day 6 (day 4 of BR) Today was our first day riding with the Cuban Masters. They looked like ordinary guys who were pretty fit when we met them the night before at dinner. Here they look like genuine pros. The guy on the right was the one sitting at our table.  Here are two of their bikes. Pretty normal stuff: mechanical ultegra components. Mike has the same Felt below on his trainer. The route was a long loop. Notice the orange highlighting in the lower left corner. I have never seen Walter get off his bike going up a hill before. I have a picture of it in case I ever need something from him. Here we are at the first rest stop. This guy is 74. He rode with us for a good portion of the first leg. He would soft pedal and coast for a while so we could ride with him and from time to time, he would kick it in and drop us like we were standing still. One of the things we noticed and really appreciated was that all of the Masters would point out road hazards. This was a nice...