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Otavalo is a town in the Andean highlands, known for its Otavalo Market in the central Plaza de Ponchos, where traditionally clad indigenous townspeople sell colorful textiles and handicrafts. Nearby, the Tejidos El Obraje Museum has textile exhibits and weaving demonstrations.
Watch artisans do their thing with a quick cooking class bonus.

Our guide and driver brought us to this famous town on the way to spend a couple of nights at a 400 year old hacienda north of Quito. We were treated to a number of local artisans and here's a taste.

We were trying to get back to Quito on 12/31 but it was a long slog with a million stops.
The "Viudas" are very insistent and will block the streets and dance in front of cars until someone pays their toll. They tend to start first thing in the morning of New Year's Eve and continue throughout the day.
Bring lots of loose change to be able to pass the many roadblocks.

It was pretty hilarious, people put a lot of effort into this custom. That's the power of beer.

One more reason that Ecuador is awesome.

Banos is about 3 1/2 hours south and east of Quito Ecuador and it is known for its adventure. Every kind of outdoor adventure is here - whitewater rafting, canopy tours, swings, rappelling, biking, hiking, ziplines, here is a compilation of some of the stuff we did.
We also went to the most amazing spa with infinity pools way over the town.

The falls: https://cascadaelpailon.com/
the swing: https://lacasadelarbol.principalwebsite.com/
amazing spa we went to: https://lunavolcan.com/
where we stayed: http://www.samarispa.com/

As part of a visit to Ecuador in November 2022, we spent 4 days on this boat and it was awesome - multiple guided excursions throughout the day.
The mothership Coral 1:
https://www.gogalapagos.com/coral-yachts/

I was snorkeling recently with my GoPro that was on an extendable tripod but no straps or flotation set up. I would stick it in my pocket to swim faster to catch up to the group that I was with and all of a sudden it wasn't there anymore. It was pretty murky and I was fogging up quickly so I didn't see it, ever. I told my wife that I lost it and not too long after that she announced that she found it. By some miracle she had indeed found it.

MFG Racing in Seattle hosted this classic at Silver Lake in Everett Wa on 9.25.22. The weather was brilliant sunshine and it was just good times had by all.
This race was about chasing demons a bit as the last time I raced here I slid across the finish line on my back, and still had 1 lap to go, so that was not ideal.
Check out MFG:
https://mfgcyclocross.bike/

Also, we do Cross Revolution races on alternate weekends:
http://www.cross-revolution.com/

Here is a solid crew up north in Bellingham:
https://cascadecross.com/

Try it or at least go to a race, it's hilarious and high energy fun.

MFG Racing in Seattle held their season finale 11.20 at Woodland Park, near Green Lake.
This is one of the biggest cx races in the country and this year was packed, plus we got brilliant sunshine and a dry fast track.
This is the rearview of (possibly) the greatest cross performance in the history of the planet.

Check out MFG:
https://mfgcyclocross.bike/

Check out one of my projects thegravelriders.com
https://www.thegravelriders.com/

The sun and fall colors were blazing for the finale of the 2022 MFG season. Woodland Park in Seattle hadn't been raced since Covid so people were stoked to see it back.
This was cat 4 50+, 52 racers.
I choked at the start as usual, this time I didn't have the cameras on yet, so I was doing that up the start stretch. After that, I actually had a great race. I was 38th at the line but finished 25th.

Bike setup:
'18 Cannondale CAADX
Stripped, painted, reborn and rebranded as a stealth 1x GRX machine.
Tires: Vittoria Terreno Mix 33mm
Legs by Peleton

Like gravel riding? Check out my thegravelriders.com site
Ride on,
Eric Norris

MFG Racing hosted once again at the legendary Magnuson Park on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle Wa.
This race is a classic and it was great to get it back after the mess of the pandemic. Great weather, my 2.3 fans were there, good times as always. Hard as hell but good as hell.
https://mfgcyclocross.bike/
This is a re-upload to fix a couple of issues with the last one, thanks for watching.
Eric
https://www.thegravelriders.com/

MFG Racing in Seattle puts on race #5 for 2022 south of Tacoma in Parkland Wa at the Lemay / North 40 grounds.
I got spanked at the start as usual but raced pretty well after that.


MFG Racing:
https://mfgcyclocross.bike/

The alternate event groups -
Cross Revolution
http://www.cross-revolution.com/

The Bellingham crew:
Cascade Cross
https://cascadecross.com/

Wa State: Cross Revolution hosted the state championships on Saturday 10.29.22 at Fort Steilacoom in Parkland, Wa. (I mistakenly stated that it was Frontier Park.) They also hosted their regularly scheduled race Sunday.
This is the first race of the day - cat 4 55+.
After a good start with my only hole shot ever, I ended up 4/5, which I'll take considering how far ahead the first 3 guys were.
Great day, small crowds but that's their problem!
http://www.cross-revolution.com/

GoPro 10 Black
Davinci Studio 18



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Music:
I'd Rather Go Blind _ Playing For Change Band Live
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