Colonia to Carmelo

I got up early to go from Colonia to Carmelo, a trip of about 77km. I set off at about 8am, after a small breakfast, and both water bottles filled. Getting out of Colonia was easy, and soon I was on Ruta 21, which goes all the way to Carmelo.

The road was good, and there was not much traffic. There were a lot of cattle grassing to the right of the road, and after some kilometers there wasn't much else – cattle, grassland, some wetlands, sometimes trees, but almost no houses or villages. The road went slightly up and down the hills, and from time to time crossed a bridge over a river.

Luckily, it was cloudy and a little windy, otherwise the heat would have killed me. But so, I didn't really feel the heat much, unless I stopped. Maybe it was just me having a low, or it was real, but I felt that after maybe 25-30km the road sometimes climbed a little bit steeper, and I slowly got tired and hungry. At some stage I just stopped on the side of the road to drink some more water, and eat a small piece of cheese and a bread roll I had left over from the day before. Soon after I came across a petrol station, where I got a lemonade and 2 more litres of water.

I took some more smaller breaks, but basically went all the way to Carmelo without a major break (I would have stopped if there would have been a nice cafe, but there wasn't really anything). I arrived shortly before 2pm, and cycled around a little, but couldn't really find a nice cafe. The only option I saw was a hotel, with some tables outside (mostly in the sun), but as I had my bike fully loaded, and didn't feel like unloading to go inside. I had a quick small salad, and a mineral water, and then I set off for the camping (I was pointed towards Camping Nautico, where I am now).

I was really hot now, with less clouds and little wind, so I first just took some break, before I could face putting up my tent. In the end I put up my tent, rested a bit more, and then went into town to do some shopping. Back from the supermarket I had a snack, then a shower, and then some more rest. Now the heat is slowly getting less – but it is still way to hot to do anything serious...

Lessons learned:

- always take some food for a lunch with you.

- 1.5l of water are not enough – a full 2l bottle as back-up is needed.