Ciclopaseo:A Bike Tour of Quito

This kid is an amazing photobomber :)

Every Sunday from 8am-2pm, Quito shuts down some of it's main roads and most of the roads in the Centro Historico to cars so that it is safe for pedestrians and bikes. In Quito it is called the Ciclopaseo, but it is more commonly known around the world as the Ciclovía.

Chelsea's host sister Karla (who had also been in our practice teaching class) had invited us all along for the ride today. We bussed down from the apartment (now shared by Josh, Chelsea and me) to the huge park, Parque Carolina. This was good practice trying to learn the bus system...though it will take much longer to really figure it out, and of course there is no online guide, simply trial and error.

Anyway...once we made it to the park we rented bikes ($12=3 bikes for 2 hours!) We then rode down Amazonas which is the main avenue that runs through the city and gets closed to cars. We rode through another park through the Centro Historico and even further towards the south before we had to turn around. It was probably 8 or so miles total, but luckily relatively flat. 

My super cool bike...the gears didn't work though, but the breaks did :)

Chelsea, Me, Karla, and Josh

Amazonas as a one way street

Riding a bike and taking pictures at the same time is a good challenge! 

Josh and Chelsea 

water stations along the way

entering El Ejido Park

El Ejido Park

always pictures of the Panecillo

and the Basílica

in the Centro Historico there are traditional performances put on

overlooking La Ronda

Of course after our long ride, we went to get huge salads. It feels GOOD not to be eating rice and potatoes with every meal!

On Sundays in Parque Carolina there are huge dance aerobics classes...
look for next Sunday where we attend :)