Tough climbing in the morning with a long and steep ascent. My crank starts getting loose again and I hope to fix it in Quito. At noon I cross the Equator, a nice feeling but foremost an important milestone. From now on days will get longer and so will my daily riding time. In Quito I head to a bikeshop that was recommended. The nice guys quickly figure out that both bottom bracket and crank are damaged. The heavy rain and road floodings had made them uneven. It would be possible to continue riding for a few hundred km but then there won’t be any bike infrastructure. Unfortunately, I use a compact crank that is very uncommon here. The bike shop and even a few customers basically call every bike shop in Ecuador and two hours later we have the only fitting crank in the entire country. With a smooth Cazadora I still cycle another 60 km until it is dark. Total time loss is half a day but it could have been far worse. Big thanks to Dos Ruedas in Quito!