03/23 Took off this morning with Pete riding in front to block the wind for me. Actually the wind wasn’t too bad but it was very hot. We rode on the toll road which worked out perfectly. This is the 1st time since riding with the German girl back in Florida that I rode with someone else for the entire day. Having some company was a nice change. It is a little harder to see things in front of you I found out. Toward the end of the day Pete had us on this epic detour (:)) down a road that’s seen better days. I ended up running into a pothole that caused my front pannier to pop off. Something on it snagged my rear tire on the way by and sheared the value stem right off. Kind of remarkable if you look at the odds of that happening. Of course the air inside went with it so we were delayed a bit while I popped a new tube in.

Nothing much in the way of scenery. The mountains were OK but I like trees on them and these are pretty bare. Tomorrow will be different. There are boat tours that run you up the Rio Grijalva, Mexico’s 2nd largest river so you can see the Canon del Sumidero. It’s an 18 mile long fault with canyon walls that reach heights up to 3,280 feet. The tour is about 6 hours so we’ll hang out here for another night.

US $7.94 for the el cheapo room at the motel we’re staying at. It’s the worst room I’ve ever stayed in though. Funny how that happens. I guess I can just say the worst thing about it to put things in perspective. There’s a used condom on the floor by the bathroom. The strange part is the fact that there were no curtains on the front window and it faces right out into the street. I hope I wasn’t expected to put on some kind of performance tonight because I’m too tired. I’m definitely using my sleeping bag tonight. Pete’s in the next room so I can yell over if any bugs try to devour me–one section of the adjoining wall doesn’t quite make it up to the ceiling. I’d change motels but the timing of the tour kind of screws things up a little. It’s the Hotel Posada de Sonia if anyone wants to visit.

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03/22 Today was one for the record books. Climbed 5000 feet and had what’s sure to be my slowest day ever– average speed: 7.8 mph. The wind was to blame for the slow speed. The entire day consisted of non-stop headwinds that had me clinging to my handlebars at the side of the road on more than one occasion. The road conditions today were bad too. No shoulder which is about the worst thing when the wind is blowing you around.

Yesterday was a rest day so no movement on the bike. Just hung out in town and watched coverage of the health care bill online. Pretty exciting.

Right when I arrived in town and found a cheap motel Pete rode up. We grabbed some beers and will probably head out to grab some food in a bit.

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03/20 Moderate winds again today which made for some easy riding. I’ll be in the mountains and hopefully out of this 90 degree heat with 80% humidity. I was used to it in Florida but when I was riding there it was on a 25 lb mountain bike; not on a 150 lb touring bike.

Nothing crazy on the ride today. You can tell the tropics are getting close. Lots of green trees everywhere. Great roads for almost the entire day. Wide shoulders are so much better to ride on. People have been very friendly for the last few days. Lots and lots of waves from people passing by. For the first time a police truck gave me a honk. That was kind of cool.

A little after I got here there was a knock on my door. Pete, a bicycle tourist riding from San Diego to Bolivia, heard from the front desk lady I was here. We’re heading the same way but I kind of want to hang out tomorrow and relax. Not 100% if I’ll do that. It’s hard leaving a room with an AC, Internet, cable TV and a place to buy beer next door.

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03/19 It doesn’t matter how much water you have with you– when its scorching out nothing beats a cold drink. I almost hugged the lady in a little out of the way restaurant just past where I thought the town of Santo Domingo would be. For the last 20 miles I’d been drinking warm water from my bottles which does nothing to cool me down. I need to find a sock to wrap the bottles in– I hear that helps a little.

This area, also called the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is reputed to be one of the windest areas in the world. Luck was on my side though, I just had a light breeze all day. Boy was it hot though. Tomorrow will be a short day because there’s a climb back into the Sierra Madres waiting for me after the city of Tapanatepec.

Being such a windy area I wasn’t surprised to ride by several large wind turbine farms. What did surprise me were just how many turbines weren’t spinning. Maybe 20% were operating in some capacity. Shockingly, there’s some controversy behind it. The Spanish companies came in after getting the government contracts and gave the Mexican landowners (farmers/ranchers) contracts that they couldn’t understand (most can’t read or write– this is one of the poorest states in Mexico). This was just fine with the Spanish companies. They just promised a steady income from the electricity generated in exchange for rights to the land. The farmers bought it.

It turns out that they ended up paying the farmers a fraction of what landowners in other countries would get paid, the electricity generated wasn’t used locally so prices remained unchanged (its being sold to huge companies like Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola and Cemex) and they rendered much of the land useless for the farmers by building 50 foot wide roads and fencing off huge tracts of land. They also didn’t do a very effective environmental study because many endangered birds use the area during migration and now they are all messed up.

So the turbines not working are because some of the Mexican farmers are refusing to let the Spanish companies back onto their land to fix the broken ones or get new ones online.

Karin and Marten decided to stay in Salina Cruz for an extra day so I set out on my own this morning. Maybe I’ll run into them further down the road when I find a place to hang out for a couple days. They hooked me up with a great present so every day I’ll have something to remember them by. The picture is below but its a waterproof Ortieb bag just perfect for keeping dried food in. My oatmeal has a new home. Thanks guys!

Finding a motel in Niltepec was an unexpected treat. A cold shower never felt so good. The shower was a suicide shower but the heater wasn’t working. I didn’t care. The room even has an AC. Now if I could just keep from setting the kickstand on my bike down on top of my foot I’d be pretty happy.

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03/18 Salina Cruz is so not a beach resort town. After out flanking a massive political rally I headed into town to see the ocean and find a motel on the beach where I could relax in a hammock and down a cerveza or two. The closer I got to the ocean the more decrepit the condition of the buildings became. I quickly realized staying on the beach wasn’t going to happen.

A huge wall runs almost the entire length of the town so I had to ride up a small hill just to see the ocean. The water looked clean enough but damn was the beach ever a mess. It was completely deserted which didn’t surprise me. There was garbage and an amazing amount of broken glass in the sand for as far as people could throw it. The city is known more for its the huge oil refinery so maybe people avoid the water because its not as clean as it looks? The only public buildings open that overlook the garbage beach were 2 rundown restaurants, both of which were empty. What a shame letting a resource like the ocean go to waste. If they cleaned the beach up someone could make a killing by opening a nice bar/motel.

The wind wasn’t bad at all and its supposed to weaken a little tomorrow. It picked up a lot once I got here. There’s no way I’d be riding in it now. I know of 3 riders now that had to hitchhike in the last couple days to avoid the wind because its been so strong.

I was eating in a cafe when I saw K/M ride by so I ran out to get them (and probably scared my waitress). They are staying here at the hotel now too.

The political rally I mentioned was in full swing when I rode up to the tail end of it. There must have been 5000 people walking up the street while a guy with a microphone led them up the road while he yelled out whatever it was had them marching in the first place. The amazing thing to me was the complete lack of police. I didn’t see any; not even in front blocking cross traffic. That was pretty cool. The mood of the crowd was very calm which was good because if it was an anti-American gathering I was severely outnumbered.

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