Winter in São Paulo

I've done winter in Brazil two different times in the past. The first was in Salvador da Bahia. Winter there was tropical. It meant wearing shorts, a tank top and carrying an umbrella. I ruined a good pair of shoes in the rain there, but it was fine since sandals were much more appropriate. When rain combines with heat, it's easy, and you know it is going to end soon. The second time I did winter was in Rio. There, winter means wearing jeans and carrying a sweatshirt. It also means that electric showers are much less fun than using the awesomeness of an aquecedor, whose very potential means lovely hot showers. See, the blazing hot summers in Rio mean that hot showers make very little sense, but winters are a little too chilly to get by without them.

São Paulo is different. (São Paulo is different from the rest of Brazil in a number of ways, but that isn't what this post is about...) It's at a higher elevation than either Rio or Salvador and is thus cold here. Every night I sleep with three blankets on my bed and often layer when I go to sleep. It isn't that it's dropped below 9 degrees centigrade (which is normal for a city in the south like Porto Alegre), but that some of the apartment buildings in the city don't have anything resembling insulation, or even windows that close completely. Mine just happens to be one of those buildings. The first week I was here, the weather fooled me. It felt like LA in the spring with extremely short days. But now it's cooling down. I know I'm getting away with something by missing LA's heatwave right now, but seriously this weather is bumming me out. Maybe I wasn't meant to experience two winters a year...

Also, in unrelated news, I really miss my bike and the research is speeding by like a metro train. Go figure.

Video!

I'm in São Paulo and although I normally accompany my time in Brazil with area-specific posts, I just had to get something off my chest. I promise after I'm functioning in the proper time-zone, I'll say something more meaningful.

But for now I just though I'd point out that hey, I'm famous! If you watch the below video to around 2:40 you will see me and Alina. At around 3:00 you will see our tent neighbor David. If you needed hard evidence that I participated, here you go:



Enjoy!

AIDS Life Cycle, end of Day 3

Here's a quick update to summarize life on the AIDE Life Cycle 7:

- We are currently in Paso Robles. Yay wine country(though I would never drink the night before a 100 mile ride), and yay for paying too much money to sleep in a real bed!

- I can barely walk, sit, or do much of anything with my legs tonight. I guess 250 miles in 3 days is more than my body can take. I also suppose it doesn't help that I developed a new injury just one week before the ride. But, the Physical Therapists, Chiropracters, and Sports Medicine people (not to mention the bike techs) have made my riding possible. Thank the gods!

- I've never felt so much agony and inspiration at the same time. Weird stuff this athletic masochism.

And boy did I miss a lot of news over the last few days... I'll update again when I can spare the time.