PowerCycle

02/21 I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present… downhill for 35 miles. Still had the killer wind in my face but once I get going there’s no stopping me. OK, food and cold drinks will stop me so I had to make a pit stop for some fresh coconut juice and watermelon (hold the chili). Yum.

It’s hard to believe I’ve spent the last 365 days sitting on a bike seat (OK, technically 3 seats). I don’t really have anything profound to say about it but a few things surprised me. The first thing was the reaction people had to seeing me cruising past them. This was really noticeable in the southeast US and in Mexico. It doesn’t bother me nearly as much these days but getting stared at (intently) used to drive me crazy. This happens a lot in Mexico especially because I’m taking routes through some pretty out of the way places. I doubt too many 6′ 3″ white guys on 150 lbs bicycles ride through.

Having random people come up to you, sometimes when you really want to be left alone, was also tough sometimes. That was hard to get used to since I tend to be fairly solitary to begin with. People did end up being a lot friendlier than I thought they would be. If someone is watching me ride by I almost always wave and about 99% of the time get one back. Honks, waves and whistles are still a daily occurrence. It’s kind of nice.

This shouldn’t have surprised me but I was really shocked by the footprint people have left on the land. 6.8 billion people will do that I guess. You really end up appreciating the few places that aren’t fenced in or paved over.

As I mentioned today was a pretty easy ride. I dropped another 3000 feet so now I’m at 4266 feet. It’s so much warmer. I could get used to this altitude. Being able to sit inside without having to wear a long-sleeve shirt, pants and the thickest socks I own is a treat. Before leaving town this morning I took advantage of a car wash place and had my bike cleaned. What a difference. I can’t even remember the last time I washed it. Looks good now though.

Izucar de Matamoros is my half way point to the next stop: Xochicalo. This city is pretty nice so I might stay here tomorrow as a present to myself. They had a big car show in the central plaza so it might be safer for me to be off the road while all the hung over teenagers drive home tomorrow anyway.

GPX Track

Weather in Puebla when posted:

Temperature: 14 °C, Humidity: 44%, Wind Speed: 10km/hr, Cloud Cover: n/a

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 10:25 pm and is filed under Leg 2. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.