2012-03-04 -8 -35

Sun 4 Mar 2012 in -8,-35: -8.0667660, -35.7207607 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

About 7 kilometers to the east of the village of Ameixas, itself 17km to the north of Bezerros, closest town crossed by a major highway, the BR-232.

Participants

• mts

Plans

None. Been building up courage to do my first geohash, this felt like a good spot, close to a road. the night after I took a look at sunday hashes and felt it would be this one.

Expedition

This was not the closest hash point that I have seen but the day where I felt most inclined to do it. I left home late, 2 pm, and decided that I didn't need to shower since I would be alone for hours riding my bike and would certainly meet no one else there. With me, my bike, my iphone and some stuff that can't yet be called a emergency equipment bag, but enough to transport a broken bike on the back of a truck or repair a simple flat.

The route was laid out on Maps app, and was mostly not followed. The plan was to get the BR-232 highway to Bezerros, covering 108km and the go up the PE-097 to ameixas and beyond, find a spot where I could go off road to reach my objective. After reaching the hash location I would go up back to the road and do what we call here in Recife "o Balão" [the ballon] going through the local roads [PE stands for pernambuco, the state, whereas BR stands for Brazil, so, state kept roads and country kept roads] until Pombos where I would get back to the BR-232 on my way back to Recife.

I went for a good start, missing the entrance to the highway, then missing it again, and one more time. I stopped on the shoulder below a viaduct to take a look at the map on my phone and see what I should do, I did it the wrong way and the guessing part of me kicked in. I exited the highway I was in [BR-101] in any entrance and made my way west, choosing roads that seemed good. I often do that when looking for a place, it usually works but takes long and its not a good habit.

While having a lost status sometimes you feel you're going the right way, some times you get frightened. so I went on and on, the same road, passing buses and cars, sometimes the road looked like it would sease to exist, or become a stone road instead of asphalt, which for me is a sign that the road is leading to a residential area or ending, not the highway. This road led me to Jaboatao, and the it was ok, after Jaboatao, the same road became PE-007, so my phone told me [there weren't many road signs in this trip, neither there are in the small towns around here], a well paved winding road that showed me some beatiful scenery and the expansion of the residential part of Moreno, the next city I found.

After Moreno, PE-007 merged with BR-232 and I could go on my predicted route, a few km until Vitoria de Santo Antão, where I refueled, then Pombos there the BR starts to go up the Serra [I could only describe it as a mountain range, but of small hills] leading to Gravatá on top of it, and then finally Bezerros. Took a rest there, got off the bike to walk a little bit. Figured out my way to Ameixas.

The real route I used to cross Bezerros and get to PE-097 was guesswork, as the city has little signs and I don't like to stop to ask directions. I found my self with no problems, getting relieved when I passed a sign already telling me in which km of the road I was at the moment.

TO BE CONTINUED, GOTTA SLEEP...