I did the one thing you should never do. Read stuff on the internet about places and things in the future. I started by trying to figure out which of the three border crossings into Peru I should take. Before I knew it I got sucked down the rabbit hole of reading blogs and watching YouTube videos. Pretty soon I was looking a routes that were days or even weeks ahead me. My anxiety escalated as my mind swirled with a collage of roads, risks and vast distances I needed to negotiate. As a result I stayed up way too late and then slept poorly. Not a good recipe for having good concentration the next day.

I woke up at 6:30 feeling quite dull. I was presently surprised when I looked out the window and saw the summit of Chimborazo peaking out above the clouds. I went down to have a light breakfast, load the bike and check out of the hotel. Once I was on the road , the cool air helped clear my brain. It was a much clearer day and the ride through the rural villages was so beautiful, however, I still had a gnawing sense of anxiety and my mind wandered into possible futures. This is something you cannot do while riding a motorcycle especially on twisting mountain roads. You have to be present with what is happening now or... bad things happen.

Recognizing that my mind was not behaving, I pulled over and found a quiet place to sit for a while. I realized that due to the high altitude, I was not breathing properly. I needed to inhale more deeply and exhale like I needed to blow out a candle. This helps expel more carbon dioxide and forces more oxygen into my blood. This in turn helps calm my mind. Once I get my mind to stop racing, the technique I use to calm my anxiety is to examine my thoughts. What exactly am I thinking about? When I identify a thought, I ask... "Is this happening now?" which the answer is almost inevitably "no". Our minds are so good at entertaining fantasy futures and rehashing the past. I continue this exercise until I have identified all of the thoughts cluttering up my brain and have clearly distinguished that none of those things are happening now. What is happening now? Nothing. You are just sitting here on the side of the road breathing and looking like a dork. Do you want to ride? Yes.

That's better. The world looked brighter and I started to enjoy myself again. I waved to the kids along the road who enthusiastically waved back or gave me a thumbs up. Just ride today's ride.

Today's ride was a joyous romp of mountain passes, colorful villages and twisting roads. Over the last 50 miles what had been remarkably smooth pavement devolved into a pothole strewn beast. And then.. Cuenca.

Suddenly I was on a road paved by angels. Three lanes and it was like glass. It was immediately obvious that Cuenca is a more affluent city than Riobamba. For one they have a huge park that runs the length of the city with a wide running/biking path. A streetcar and bus system with dedicated lanes through narrow streets of the historic district. The central city was abuzz with cafes, restaurants and many boutique shops. with only 500,000 people, Cuenca seems like a really hip college town. Turns out they have four universities.

I wandered around for a couple hours, enjoying the cobble stone streets, architecture and street scene. I finally settled on a small pizza restaurant for dinner before heading back to my hotel. Feeling much better this evening and after I post this... I'm putting my laptop away!