PowerCycle

06/05 Something kind of strange happened during the night. About a block up the street from where I bought some water I saw a bull tied up to a telephone pole . Nothing terribly unusual there. It mostly just stood there as people walked or rode their bicycles by, every once in a while letting out a little bellow. Well this morning I went over to the store and where the bull once stood was a carcass. It actually looked like someone had butchered the thing right in the street. I didn’t ride over to get a closer look but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. Either that or someone ran it over with a lawnmower.

The ride north through the rain forest was a little disheartening. When I was flying over the Yucatan into Merida I could see where huge swathes of forest had been leveled to support the burgeoning population. It shouldn’t have surprised me when I saw it up close even though they try to mask the damage by leaving a strip of trees next to the road. You can’t hide much from a guy on a bike though (or Google’s satellite view which is what I used to see the damage on Vancouver Island or in the Yukon or in Alaska or in northern Alberta, etc.). If anything this trip has sure made me realize how brutally destructive we are.

Apparently I had a map/GPS/brain meltdown yesterday. I rode right by the archeological site of Mayapan. My GPS was right but the stupid IMTB map showed it way further to the northeast. I don’t know why I didn’t trust my GPS or clue in when I rode right through a town called Mayapan. I don’t remember seeing a sign so I’ll only take 99% of the blame.

It was wickedly hot again today. Getting up at six helped but the clouds usually burn off after lunch and then it gets toasty. I did some math and I spent about 40% of the time it took me to get here resting. For a 50 mile ride that makes for a long day.

I’m staying here for 2 nights so I can go check out the most famous of the Mayan sites, Chichen Itza. Looking forward to it.

Update: At the coffee shop I popped onto the internet for a minute to check the news since its been almost a week. AP had a story about the Gulf oil spill that I didn’t even want to keep reading. God I hate every one of those greedy SOB’s who caused this. Since moving to Florida in 1992 I’ve traveled countless times to the Gulf coast from The Keys up to New Orleans. To think of the devastation this is causing makes me sick. I can’t even imagine how bad this is going to get.

GPX Track