Bikes, Wines and Automobiles.. (and a boss)

I took a tour called 'Bikes and wine', which as you might guess, involves hopping on a bike and riding between 8 different vineyards, tasting wine the entire way. As you might also hypothesize, the ride back to the starting point was an eventful journey.

Whoever invented this tour is brilliant, as it is, by far, the most popular tour in Mendoza*. It was started 6 months ago, and the company's infancy must be the reason there have yet to be any 'car-hitting-bike' related casualties. The 10AM tour starts off at a shack with a 14 year old boy giving you a bike and a map the size of a business card. He then points in a northerly direction, tells you to be back by 6pm, and off you go to negotiate the skinny roads, oncoming traffic and gallons of fermented fruits.

The first few Vineyards included manufactures of wine, hard liquor and booze laced chocolates, and then we proceeded to an Olive Oil Vineyard to have lunch and a bottle of wine per person. This was followed by 5 kilometers of bike riding between the next 4 Vineyards, and then a massive 10 Kilometer stretch back to the shack, which, due to an afternoon changing of the guards, was attended by a 90 year old man with minimal need for a toothbrush.

Other than my chain getting jammed on the ride back in front of an enclosed property with three Rottweilers on the other side of the fence taking turns attacking the fence trying to tear my inebriated body apart, the day was fun, safe and full of last year's grapes.

*A related note: My sophomore year in College I lived with Blahvi, Eric and Keith. Keith lived in Mendoza, Argentina for 6 months, and ditched no cabs during his stay, and fell in AT LEAST 2 gutters during his time there. It's impossible not to.

Anyway, before my trip to South America, I visited Keith in San Jose, Costa Rica, where he teaches American History at the American School in Central America. Keith is American (Although you may not know it with the amount of hair he has on his cuerpo (body)), and when I was down there, Keith entered us in an American Flag Football Tournament, which we eventually won, partially because we were American, and mostly because of a fellow named Jared, who played college football and could throw that speedball by ya, make you look like a fool. Saw him that night at this roadside bar, Keith and I were walking in he was walking out, We went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks, But all we kept talking about.. Glory Days (and Jared), yeah they'll pass you by.. Glory Days, in the wink of a young girl's eye Glory Days, glory days..

We also talked about how fun it would be to sleep in a Toyota Rav4 with three people after playing flag football for 6 hours, driving for 3 hrs, and beach partying for 4 hrs.. Surprisingly, this is the antithesis of fun.

Where is Bruce Springsteen from??