Hopefully Matt’s butt will heal in time for his return flight in two weeks so he can sit on the airplane seat without wincing. About 15 years since his last bike ride, he decided to hop on today and go for a little joyride that got a little too ambitious – a sixty mile journey to and from Quepos - without sunscreen (on the sunniest day he’s seen yet) and without remembering how painful several hours on a bike can be.
Having a few bike rides of our own under our belts, we knew Matt was in for a rough night. We clearly remembered the ache of our legs, the bruised buttocks, the inability to sit comfortably and the overwhelming exhaustion. We’ve also had our share of moments forgetting sunblock. Combine both, and we bet he’d be in bed by 5pm and in pain until Monday.
He first set off at 6:30am with my bike. Even though it’s a boy’s bike, it doesn’t have the same problems as Mike’s loose handlebars, perpetual leaky tire and overall poor construction that made everything break. After getting about five minutes down the road, he turned around and came back. He couldn’t take his knees hitting the handlebars every time he pedaled. He might not be as tall as Mike but he’s definitely not as short as me. He decided to push his luck with the lemon.
He returned around 1pm, and we found him shirtless, groaning after each sentence and sleepy. While we were discussing one of my infamous rides, I was pretty sure he fell asleep standing mid conversation. The tan he was working on, well….it’s now going to need some creative work with sunblock in order to even him out since he was smart enough to protect himself with the only thing he had and kept his t-shirt on. Now he looks like he’s wearing a flesh colored t-shirt. The back of his neck, his forearms and face have lots of color – tinted towards the red hue which I’m sure will deepen through the night. He put a hurtin’ on himself.
Fortunately for him, next week marks one week until we get another rental car to take us exploring. We’re planning on going to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica where the beaches, people and food are supposed to be very different from what we’ve grown accustomed to here in the Central Pacific. In the meantime, we’ll stick to what we’ve been doing: lounging on the beach and around the house while Matt explores himself into exhaustion daily.
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