YCGL - Thursday, February 15, 2024 - Too Much, Too Soon

The island is 39 square miles, approximately 6.5 miles square.  I don't like renting cars to get around, especially my first time somewhere.  I don't do motorcycles or motorbikes, I might try ATV's in this case, but I saw that there is an e-bike shop right off the cruise port.  I contacted him and he gave me a great price for a two-day rental back in December.  However, since then, I've had the kidney stone, which took a lot out of me, and then, when I got to the island, I saw the traffic, the roads, and the mountains, and frankly, the e-bike didn't sound as good as when I rented it.  But I liked the owner, a 63-year-old Canadian who moved here last year after visiting many times and was really laid back.  We talked for a while, he had had a kidney stone also and sympathized, and agreed it I felt uncomfortable after the first day, we'd just call it good.  

We got the bike adjusted and I rode it for a test drive and felt good about being on the bike again.  I asked him about places to snorkel, which he didn't know about but suggested Oyster Pond and Dawn Beach, about 4 miles north on the east side of the island.  I had read about Dawn Beach and it was shallow and had an extensive, but not particularly interesting, reef system around it.  As it was going to be my first swim, it sounded fine.  He was going home and then would come back at 4:00.  

The name of the road up to the gray line under the '12 min, 7.2 km' box is Suckergarden Road.  Very aptly named.  It was fine for the first 3.5 kilometers.  It was relatively flat, I was able to go fast enough to not get cars piled up behind me...and then it started going uphill.  The lower white dot in the middle of the blue line was where it got steep enough that, even with me pedaling in granny gear, the motor seemed to have stopped, and so did I.  I had to push the bike to a wide spot off to the side, and sat on a water stop box and catch my breadth.  The road flattened out for 150 feet, then steepened again, and that was the high point of the road.  I really did feel like a sucker.  But it was mainly downhill from there, until I got to within a quarter mile of Dawn Beach.  Then, like a big wall, the road went up and over a large ridge.  And I didn't have enough gas in my tank to go over it.  

Instead, I rode into the Oyster Bay Resort, one of the fancy clubs on the island.  There, I had a hamburger, three glasses of water (after drinking a 20 oz water bottle with me), and a coke.  I started back and the steepest section in that direction was right at the turn up passed the Oyster pond setup.  About 800 feet pushing the bike or so.  From there, the grade wasn't too bad, even the high point where I had trouble going up, but the traffic seemed to have gotten worse.  I got back to the bike shop about 3:00 and called him and he came right over to pick me up and drop me off at my hotel.  And so ended my e-bike adventure.  When I got back to the hotel, I lay down and slept for 2 hours.  

The lesson was too much, too fast, and to soon.  

And since I wasn't going to have the bike the next day, I signed up for a tour of the beaches around the island.  

I wasn't hungry earlier, having eaten a big, resort-fancy hamburger.  And I learned something else about the island.  Most eating establishments close between 5:00 and 7:00, after people leave the beaches.  I finally located a Chinese restaurant that was open until 11:00.  I had Shrimp Chow Mein.  

The photo doesn't give you a sense of scale, it was a big plate.  The shrimp was cookedto perfection, but the vegetables were not done enough, but I snarfed it down.  It tasted great!  And only two blocks from my hotel.  I'll go back again.  

Funny thing with the tip.  The waitress took my card, rang it up and gave me the customer copy, without the merchant copy where I could write in the tip.  I explained to her that I wanted to leave a tip and she said she didn't know how to do that.  And I've run into that twice since then.  

Weird.  

YCGL - Friday, February 16, 2024 - A Beach Tour of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin 

YCGL - February 14, 2024 - A New Year, A New Trip, and An Auspicious Beginning