04/05 Day 1 post-sickness and I survived. I’m not really 100% yet but a little cough isn’t the end of the world. I did lose some weight from not eating very well for the last week so my energy reserves were low. The 60 miles wasn’t too bad and the only painful parts were the steep, but thankfully short, climbs that dominated the first 20 miles. The landscape changed a lot after leaving San Cristóbal. Rode through some really nice pine forest for a while and then started getting into some very green areas down in the valleys. No rivers or creeks which kind of surprised me. Traffic was pretty steady but even without a shoulder there was enough room for people to squeeze by. Had every kid in one of the small villages yell gringo when I rode by. It was kind of funny. They all waved so it wasn’t a mean-spirited thing.

The weather is very Florida-like here–clear and sunny in the morning and rain showers in the afternoon. This afternoon’s rain didn’t start until after I checked into the motel which worked out well. There’s a guy from Japan staying here (Ken) and we ended up drinking a beer outside. His English isn’t bad but I have to remember to slow down when I talk. It would be nice if when I spoke slower I didn’t end up talking louder too.

Tomorrow I’m going to check out some waterfalls (cascades). They are kind of close to Palenque so I’ll probably camp there. At least that’s the plan.

GPX Track

I was hoping to leave tomorrow but that’s not going to happen. The only thing still not working as it should is my stomach. I need at least one healthy day before I start riding so maybe 2 more “rest” days. This kind of stinks. This is officially the longest I’ve been sick in possibly my entire life. Not sure what I have. A cold/flu started things (runny nose/mild fever) but now I think some food poisoning was introduced at some point too. On a positive note I can rule out any new cases of head trauma. Picture below. Who ever said Thermarests are just for sleeping on?

Met up with Karin and Marten for tea (lame I know but I’m sick). We were in a coffee shop on the main tourist drag so we quickly became targets for kids coming in to try and sell us little trinkets. I managed to “no, no, gracias” the first kid away but this little girl came over with the quietest little voice and saddest face I’ve ever seen. My heart kind of melted a little. These kids are like 6 or 7 and I felt kind of bad so I gave her some change. I suspect she went out and told the other kids because it was like a train after that. Next up were a brother and sister. The boy thought it would be fun to pinch the skin on my hand together so I pinched his hand right back. That went on until we were both laughing. After that adventure we went over and had the best soup at place that I’ll get the name of tomorrow. K/M even met a Mexican guy there that spoke Dutch.

02/08 Had to cut today short on account of my knee. Both have been bothering me a little since I first climbed up into the more mountainous central area of the country. Yesterday they were both a little sore but today my left knee really started to smart. Took a couple Advil and that helped. The seat was raised up a half inch to relieve some stress but I think it was too late.

I found a motel in town and went and got some ice next door (and beer). There’s a girl working there who just moved here a couple months ago from Atlanta (she’s Mexican). She even has a Georgian accent. Small world.

90% of the ride today was flat and on a highway with a nice, wide shoulder. That and a strong tailwind made for an easy day.

Update: This place doesn’t give you a key to your room either. If you want back in you have to find someone that works here. With my Spanish sucking as it does being told you don’t get a key is a strange thing to have someone try to explain to you. I noticed that most people just leave their door cracked open. It’ll take me a while to get used to that.

GPX Track