A misty and early breakfast meet time today due to bicycles racing today.
A bicycle race that closed down main roads last year is happening today once again. Fortunately many of the cyclists are staying at the hotel, making it impossible to not know of the event.
We moved breakfast up to 6:15 and loaded at 7am.
Fruit, pineapple juice, eggs (sunny side up) and yogurt made for a high energy start to our early and grey day.
The roads are a little wet going up to launch so I am hoping for sun as usual but it seems it may cloud up with all this available moisture.
Launch was misty and clouds rolled through blocking the sun. It made for s cooler hike up, but I am hoping for more sun.
Janelle (launching), Randy Juho, Chris, Marge and I all eventually got into the sky but shade and weak conditions once again tested everyone's resolve. A light rain and downward wind on launched delayed a few instructors who stayed to usher off the last pilots.
Dave turner on tandem with Jef.
The threat of rain and over the back winds forced those who were low to run for the flats just to be safe. By the time the last of us launched and got to base, others were too low to make the next transition to the flats having left precautionarily.
Rob (above) and Dave and I got up and across to Zarsal with two of my guys (Chris and Juho) with us. Chris charged ahead and got to Zarsal first, heading north to La Vitoria ahead of us. Juho and I made our way with Rob and Dave while we heard Bianca and her pals on the radio mention that were changing course from going south of Zarsal back to the north due to rain falling that direction.
Conditions improved and we tried to rendezvous with those on the far side of the valley at La Vitoria. Juho and I arrived with Rob and Dave at La Vitoria whole Chris was there waiting for us but getting lower. He got back up and Rob and Dave headed back to La Union reporting light wind on the surface.
Juho and Chris, high over La Vitoria.
Rather than complete the "box" and follow them back (having flown to Roldanillo, Zarsal, La Vitoria and back to La Union), we opted to stay high, and try to wait for Bianca, David and Brian Howell to meet up with us.
We wated quite a while and moved north to Obando. Eventually the rest caught up to us there and now we had a nice gaggle to fly with.
Together we had some great climbs and made it all the way to Cartago, turning back to avoid airspace restrictions. We all got low on the glide back and landed along the highway, all but Bianca who got a last climb and flew nearly back to Obando, the last city befor La Vitoria.
I landed next to David and we packed up and got a ride at the main road in the back of a vegetable truck. The driver and his pal were very nice and we stopped for coffee and pastries at a nearby panaderia, before dropping us off at our hotel in La Union. Nice!
Tomorrow looks really good. Can't wait!
Caio,
Martín
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