findyourfast:It’s 4am and the alarm beeps. It’s time to discover a new road!I can’t contain my exc
findyourfast: It’s 4am and the alarm beeps. It’s time to discover a new road!I can’t contain my excitement, I jump out of bed and get dressed.It’s still dark out and a little chilly. It’s supposed to rain at around 1pm, so we’re good.I prepped everything the night before, so I just grab my backpack, my Amira and I set off to meet some friends. We’re seven strong and none of us have ridden this route.We get in the car and head to Mangaratiba, which is 100km out of Rio de Janeiro. I see a few raindrops on the windshield, but it’s still a light drizzle.We arrive at our starting point at 7am, we have some coffee to warm up and begin our 80km journey.The vegetation in this area is very dense, dark green, full of tall trees and with a very tropical climate. Along the road we also saw some beautiful rivers and waterfalls. This is the oldest road in Brazil, it used to be called the Imperial Road, and because it’s a national heritage site, some dirt and cobblestone stretches were kept intact.The beginning has some slight ascents and many winding corners, then the climbs become steep, but this is alleviated by some descents and flat stretches. Once you’re out of the forest you can admire the grandeur of the mountains.A light rain accompanied us from the beginning and it was nice and refreshing, but after 15km the situation changed.It was raining so hard that I could barely open my eyes. Raindrops whipped my face mercilessly and breathing became so complicated that sometimes I felt like I was drowning. The road was totally wet and our brakes were almost nonexistent, which slowed us down quite a bit. Two people gave up and headed back. One of my friends also considered calling it quits, but the beauty of the place kept him going.From that moment on the whole ride was very wet and the stretches of dirt became a muddy adventure! It was so much fun and the few photos I snapped don’t do justice to the magnificence of the place. This was the best ride I’ve ever gone on! It was worth going through all the way to the end, as it was so much fun and the beauty of the surroundings moved all of us.Julia -@franceantarctique -- source link