Biking down Cotopaxi

Today i spent the day cycling down the worlds highest active volcano, Cotopaxi. We started with snow, then hail, some rain, and by the time we got to the bottom (4 hours of cycling) i had a big grin in my face. The company that i went with was called the Cycling Dutchman. I had a chance to meet the dutchman himself when we pulled up to his huge mansion to pick up bikes. Here´s the quick story...but its really funny to hear him tell it in a thick dutch accent.
- travelled the world for 5 years...would work summers in the netherlands painting houses and travelled the rest of the time
- when he was in vancouver, he bought a bicycle and cycled down to LA where he fell in love
- not with a girl, but with a boat. he sold his bike, and bought an old decrepid 21 foot sail boat for 400 dollars. painted rich peoples homes in LA for 8 months while restoring the boat.
- sailed by himself from LA to cabo st luca in mexico...took several months...realized half way through his trip that he didnt really know how to sail...got lost for weeks without land in sight...the only maps he had with him was a world map (just a piece of paper) and a map of india...almost got run over by a huge tanker but somehow managed to reach his destination.
- travelled south and met a girl in ecuador and fell in love
- they went back to the netherlands to paint for another year and then moved back to quito
- he bought 5 bycicles, and old pickup truck and started the first volcano cycling business in latin america. of course everyone though he was crazy taking people to the top of a volcano and cycling down...but the business grew.
- he now lives in a pimp mansion in quito with his wife and 2 children (who are fluent in spanish, english, dutch and french)...other people do most of the work and he collects money...loves ecuador (claims europe is shit).