Time to be a tourist.

There is a company that does half-day boat trips every Saturday through the canal. Once a month there is a longer all-day trip that does “full transit” of the canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Enjoyed the trip, though it was a long day starting at 4:30am pickup from my hotel.

Our bus went to the docks where we waited for all to arrive and shortly past 6:00am we were loaded and underway.

We first crossed underneath the Bridge of the Americas. I cycled across this bridge a few days ago and nice to see it from different perspective.

We came into the Miraflores Locks. On right is the observation platform. Our ship was too small to pay for a lock by itself (costs up to $800,000 for the largest vessels. We paid $4,500 but not sure how they get calculated). Instead we went together with Sakura Ocean. Fortunate, not much of a wait.

One of the “mules” that pulls larger ships through the locks.

Tug boats are also used.

Next set of locks was Pedro Miguel. These brought our total elevation gain to 26m (85ft), height of the interior lake on the canal.

We sailed over the continental divide. In the background is the Constitution Bridge, the second major crossing of the canal. I read that bicycles were not allowed on this bridge, though we did see one crossing.

This area required the most excavation to construct the canal. It is also still the narrowest part of the canal and two of the largest ships can not safely pass. Hence, from 4am to noon, large ships are allowed Pacific to Atlantic direction and from noon to 8pm, large ships are allowed Atlantic to Pacific direction.

Large container ship. I believe this is too big to fit in the original locks and hence goes via the new locks with Panama Canal expansion opened in June 2016.

After sailing over the continental divide, we docked and those on the half-transit disembarked. Most than half the passengers left. The next three hours were spent on a slow cruise through the lake created for the canal by dam across river that drained to the Altantic. Small islands we passed used to be mountain tops. Apparently, biological studies were being done on animal species that had now been isolated together on these small pocketed islands.

At other end of the lake we came to the Gatun Locks.

A ship was just leaving.

The largest size vessel that fits in the original locks was known as “panamax” size. This one looks like it is very close.

Unfortunately, our dilemma was that no other larger ship was available to share the lock with us. So we waited. In this photo you can also see that it started to rain. We got rain intermittently through the afternoon.

Two hours later, our companion ship arrived and we could go through the Gatun Locks.

On the other end, they are constructing a third large bridge, expected to open in 2018.

Once we had crossed the canal, our Panama Canal “pilot” departed on this small boat.

We sailed on to nearby port of Colon and arrived ~6pm. In total, 12 hours on ship to cross the canal.

We took a bus back to Panama City. My luck and I was the last one to be dropped off at my hotel and hence arrived back a little past 8pm. Overall, it was an interesting trip and glad I got a chance to see it. One pretty much sees all the highlights in the half-transit portion though it was interesting to do a full-transit anyways.

Meanwhile, I’ve made an appointment to have my bike serviced in Colorado. Will fly there tomorrow for ~10 days before flying on to Colombia and continuing the trip.

Over the canal and into the big city. My training ride to prepare for South America is complete!

By the numbers:

• 14,884 kilometers (9248 miles) from Prudhoe Bay to Panama City.
• 206 cycling days spread out over a little more than 9 months
• 130,600 meters climbed (428,600 feet or 81 miles)
• 5 flat tires, 5 sets of brake pads, two hubs and one derailleur

Overall, that makes this my second longest cross-continent ride. The complete list:

• Around Australia (2001) – 17,700 km
• North America, this trip (2016) – 14,800 km
• Europe+Asia: Amsterdam to Vladivostok (2007) – 12,800 km
• Africa (2013) – 12,000* (that was posted distance, though I didn’t ride every inch and ride also skipped part of Kenya – so likely less distance than Canada)
• Across Canada (1997) – Fairbanks to St Johns – 9,800 km
• Across northern USA (1992) – Astoria to Portland – 5,850 km
• Across southern USA (2001) – San Jose to Jacksonville – 5,280 km

I have a week in Panama City before flying to Colorado for ~2 weeks. Will use this time to figure out what worked, what didn’t and prepare for the next part of the ride: across South America.

The ride today was busy and required concentration – though parts I thought would be hectic/difficult turned out fine and other parts were a bit more iffy than I expected.

First 3km were through town before I rejoined the major #4 bypass of the Pan American. This road was three lanes with reasonable shoulder and high speed traffic. As before, the shoulder sometimes went away to squeeze past a quick bridge. However, what made it more hectic than expected were all the trucks and other vehicles that decided to stop in the right shoulder. First it was one or two, but between the 11km and 13km mark it was almost continuously trucks parked stopped in the right shoulder. This meant that I was now riding past them in rightmost of the three travel lanes. I’d check my mirror and traffic gave me room but still took some care to keep watching.

Not quite sure why, but my guess was that there was some reason (rules or traffic) that these trucks weren’t allowed further into the city and hence they parked on shoulder of the road until they could proceed. I had started ~7am so early but not as early as other times and I also noticed right around 8am I started having many trucks, particularly dump trucks, all the sudden decide to pass.

Later I saw signs like these that suggested some of the lanes were occasionally reversed earlier and hence my theory of why these trucks decided to park.

At 16km, was the exit to #1 the direct route into Panama City. Much of the next 5km was completely stop and go traffic. Usually the shoulder was OK and I could ride off in my private shoulder (except for the few “cheaters” who wanted to also ride there). Occasionally when the shoulder went missing or was blocked I’d be back with the other vehicles. However, speeds were never very fast so this was all fine.

At 27km, I saw sign for Panama City! Yeah!

Just thereafter was entrance to “Bridge of the Americas” which crossed over the Panama Canal.

From reading other blogs I anticipated this would be the most hectic part of the ride. Two narrow lanes. A pedestrian walkway that was unusable and a high narrow bridge. Several other blogs outlined three choices:

• Some chose to take a bus from earlier in Panama to Panama City to avoid this
• A few tried last minute to hitch a ride across the bridge. I didn’t find a journal where this was successful
• Pretty much everyone else gritted their teeth and rode across the bridge. Some writing it was a tough experience.

However, my ride turned out easier than anticipated. There was still a fair amount of traffic so speeds weren’t high. Pretty much everyone gave me enough room so never felt particularly vulnerable. I did however, decide not to stop or get any photos from the bridge of the canal.

In contrast, I found riding past those stopped trucks to be a bigger deal.

Hooray, I was now in the city! I found some quieter roads and even a bike path that went out along the water.

Here was a set of tourists out for an organized bike ride. I had several such groups coming the other direction and appreciated having my bike bell to give warning (it would have been sad to have ridden all way to Panama City and then get involved in a bike path accident with a tourist).

I stopped and got an obligatory photo of bike with Panama City skyline in background.

Looked like it was low tide.

After that found my way to an inexpensive hotel I had reserved for one night on Expedia. Hotel was fine, so I’ve reserved for rest of the week as well. I’ve now and a not very long “must do” list:

• Buy an oversized duffel bag so I can combine panniers into fewer pieces of luggage
• Get a bike box and/or have bike shop box up my bike
• Find my way to the Miraflores Locks and watch a boat or two go through the canal

Not particularly ambitious and already got the first one done on the list. This afternoon I figured out the Metro system and rode out to Albrook Mall. Found a reasonable duffel bag there. Tomorrow will go in search of bike shops…

For now, happy to have arrived in Panama City.

p.s. Some may wonder why I’m flying to Colombia rather than bicycling there? There is a region between Panama and Colombia known as the Darien Gap where there is no road. this article has some good descriptions and photos of the Darien Gap. Hence, pretty much all Pan American cyclists get around the Darien Gap. Most popular ways are either to take a boat from coast of Panama to Colombia/Ecuador or to fly from Panama City. Since I’m flying anyways, figure I can take a stop over in Colorado to get bike serviced, replace worn parts, file my taxes and otherwise prepare for the South American portion of the journey.

Another day of riding the Pan American and ending at the beach.

My route through Panama is not the most exciting ride, but the road is direct and goes where I need to go. Definitely good to start out early as the first 20km were both relatively cool and less windy. The shoulder of the Pan American continued to be OK most of the time. One exception are occasional bridges. In that case, I check my mirror and in plenty of time, go into right side of the travel lane. Still watch my mirror, but traffic pretty much gives me room.

The other exception were a few places today where the shoulder was extremely rough. Fortunately, these would occur for a kilometer or two and then suddenly I would be back to smooth shoulder again.

After 10km, was to town of Nata. Occasionally see dogs like this one along the road, but fortunately vast majority are well-behaved. I suspect dogs that chase too many things on the Pan American are at risk of being hit.

Signs have started mentioning Panama City more often. After “Mexico” and “Guatamala”, I’m now more used to the capital city just using the name without “Ciudad” prefix. There was nice truck stop at 23km and chance to take a break.

Coming to Penonome I passed these windmills. Unfortunately, the road turned more into the wind and there were perhaps 10km of a slow upwind slog. After Penonome, the road turned more than 90 degrees and I benefited from tailwind instead.

There continue to be fruit stands like this one selling “pipa fria”. Also see small pickup trucks full of melons on the road. Saw an interesting exchange today where a small autobus honked and flagged over such a pickup. Both vehicles pulled over to the right shoulder. Folks got out and a watermelon was sold. After that everyone back on the road. This was one of the upwind stretches so I had plenty of time to see it unfold.

The last three kilometers brought me off to a more isolated beach area. Apparently, there are exclusive resorts out here costing many hundred dollars a night. I have a more humble hostel, though suits my needs perfectly well. Only issue seems to be that after first letting me take my bicycle into the room (I’ve reserved an entire room rather than bunk in shared room) – one of the two staff decided it was no longer OK to keep bike in the room and the other of the staff decided it was perfectly fine to have it in the room. Will see how this settles out.

Short easy ride that brought me back to a larger town and the Pan American Highway.

Back on the road early. Two places with some hills today but overall flatter terrain. Somehow my bike odometer lost the profile file, but remember the distance and expect only around 300m of climb total.

I’ve noticed more pay phones in Panama. Not sure if I didn’t notice them in earlier countries or if there are still just more pay phones here. Panama uses the “Balboa” as its currency. However, one Balboa is exactly one dollar and both forms of currency can be used. In practice all the bills I’ve seen are US, but I’ve got a mix of Panamanian and US coins. Will need to be careful to get rid of the Panamanian ones before departing.

Something else I noticed today is a lot more honking. The road continued narrow, but had more traffic than yesterday. Again, not sure if the Panamanians do more honking of if this was a side effect of the road I was on.

One of the small places along the way. I stopped only once as distances were short. At 46km, I found my way into and then through town of Santiago. It was a bit of a mess to find, but by 48km, I was back to the Panamerican Highway and 1.5km later found a reasonable hotel that had been recommended in Lonely Planet.

There are signs here to respect bicycles, though still a busy road. Not far from here is a large mall and afternoon adventure will be to explore that mall.

Had a highway to myself today as I cycled on road under construction. Nice contrast from yesterday.

Breakfast in the hotel before getting on the road. Once again, trying to get some riding in before the heat, though the last 15km my odometer still recorded over 40C (104F). A little higher than air temperature as this is over pavement – but still quite warm.

After 3km of riding through the town of David, I was back on the Panamerican. The surface was smooth. There was curb and gutter so still narrow, but once I left town, there was a nice new smooth shoulder to ride.

At 23km, there was a sign directing all traffic to the left to make the left two lanes two-way traffic. I stayed right.

This gave me an entire smooth road to ride without any traffic. Occasionally, I would pass construction workers and occasionally there were barricades. However, for the most part, I was on a new smooth road all to myself. It was great cycling. Only once did I get myself into trouble – I came to a bridge and construction workers indicated the bridge was under construction and not open. Not to worry, I backtracked 500m and got back on the regular highway lanes.

At 43km, I stopped for a bite to eat. After this it definitely became warmer. It was also moderately hilly. No big hills but enough short steep hills to record 656m of climb for the day.

Another example of road construction along the way.

The last few kilometers before turnoff to Las Lajas, there was several kilometer long backup of vehicles. Not sure if there was road closures or other reasons, but I was still able to bypass it.

Turned to the right and found my way to nice little hotel. Has a restaurant and even a swimming pool. However, happiest that the room has air conditioning.