Home » Cuba » Kevin Foster's Tour de Cuba (1996)

The plan was to do the longest bicycle tour in that country's history. From the Easternmost point to the Westernmost. Point to point, zigzagging my way through all 13 Provinces....

Kevin Foster's Tour de Cuba (1996)

Brh
2004-09-15 10:40:19

Displayed times (last time: )

just can't do that.
We were up early the next day, leaving Trinidad just before daybreak, and spent all day huffing and puffing up the backside of a beast. Total day's mileage: 36.
That was our last horrendous day of the Tour. From here on in, it would be relatively mild. Except for the occasional case of diarrhea, I was now back in shape.
The next significant moment came a few days later in the infamous area known as the Bay of Pigs. Since the one-sided battle between Fidel and the Cuban exiles in 1961, I had been wanting to see the area. Visiting historical spots you grew up hearing about can be a heady experience. Alfredo took me to the Bay's museum, where I was able to experience the battle from the Cuban's point of view. Large, black and white photos lined the walls. In glass cases were uniforms, artillery, bullets, and service papers. If Kennedy had given the air and sea support he promised the Cuban exiles, the outcome of the battle would have been vastly different than the slaughter that happened. Fidel was able to stay in power and his reputation grew to mythological proportions.
Alfredo and I cycled along the Bay's coast, which was now a resort area. There's very little evidence that a battle actually took place in the area. Further up the coast, we quit work early, because while I was here, I had always wanted to swim in this Bay that history has marked so well.
Checking into the resort made Alfredo nervous. Too glamorous for his taste, although I knew by now, he actually loved the creature comforts as much as I did. For a private bungalow near the beach who's Bay was bath water warm, the price was 29 US$ per night. To most Cubans, that was the equivalent of nearly 3 months pay. To me, it was a night in a cheap motel. I checked in and went for a swim.
That night, Alfredo stepped out to the nearby town to find us dinner, when I said we could eat at the resort's ...