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.

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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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03/09 2 new tires are on the way. I emailed every US distributor in California listed on Schwalbe’s web site and most wrote back pretty fast. No one had the model that Schwalbe recommended though: the Marathon Plus Tour. Schwalbe did offer to send me the tires but shipping would have cost $100. I settled on the same model I have on the rear wheel now, the Marathon Plus. Rivendell Bicycle Works is sending them and I should have them Friday; maybe Monday. Shipping was $40.

I’m having them shipped to a bike shop that I found online. It was my first stop where I got here. The owner speaks English/Spanish but had no motivation whatsoever to help me order the tires. I’ll name names after I pick them up from his store. Bike shop people are either really nice or really dickish. There doesn’t seem to be a middleground.

I cheated and jumped on the toll road today. My GPS showed all kinds of tight, winding turns on the free road and that’s not good sign with all the hills. My legs were starting to feel it and another day of heavy climbing would have hurt. There were some long climbs on the toll road but these roads were designed to nearly identical standards as the US Interstate Highways System so cutouts were made to avoid really steep grades. There are also bridges. There are virtually none on the free roads. If a valley is in the way you are going down it and then right back up.

My friends Marten and Karin are a couple days behind me but we talked tonight and I should have some company for the weekend.

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03/07 Today was all about the animals. In the courtyard of the motel I stayed in last night there were about a dozen birds of various types in cages and just walking around. One of the birds would make this God-awful screeching noise every 20 minutes. Luckily it went to bed about the time I did. In the morning I walked by a huge peacock sitting on top of a swing set. It was pretty cool looking and seemed pleased with itself for getting up there. I guess they can fly but only for short distances. News to me (thanks Wiki).

Next up were 3 dogs that decided to chase after me. I got to bust out my new bamboo stick but it was just for show. They act tough until you stop and give them a piece of your mind. The Dazzer failed on all three and I just changed the battery too. There was a guy standing in a house off the road and I thought the dogs might have been his but its hard to tell who owns what dogs in Mexico. Personally I think all sales of dogs (as pets) should be banned and existing pet owners should have to get their dogs registered (with tags). If someone wants a dog and can demonstrate that they can actually take care of it then they can adopt one. I’m not sure if the police do anything here but enforce drug laws but maybe they could ticket people for keeping dogs in abusive situations (maybe enforce traffic regulations too)?

Anyway, the situation is way out of control and a lot of the “domestic” dogs are kept in horrible living conditions (like on the roof of someone’s house with no shade or chained up to a tree). You never see anyone walking their pet dog around the cities (OK technically I saw this once but I think it was a gringo). Every dog I’ve seen is some combination of the following or dead: underfed, pregnant, overly aggressive, chained up outside, barking incessantly (aka ignored) or running around the streets. If there’s a secret underground society of people that take care of their dogs I’d love to hear about it.

Then there was the donkey (burro). It was standing at the side of the road when I rode up. It was scared of me and tried to walk away but some jackass had tied its 2 front legs together so it couldn’t even hobble 2 inches. I was so pissed off when I saw that. I rode by it at first but then turned around to take a picture. There wasn’t a house nearby so I don’t know who it belonged to. It’s very common to see donkeys tied up to trees/fences so they can graze in a small area but I’ve never seen one with its front legs tied together. I’m sure it loves it when an 18-wheeler blasts by within a few feet. Keep in mind this was in the middle of the day, it’s in the 90’s and there’s zero shade. There’s no water nearby either. 1/4 mile up the road I saw another one with a freaking ribbon tied around its front legs so it couldn’t move. Must be a local thing.

In Huajuapan I was riding down the street minding my own business when I happened to look over and saw a bull about 10 feet away and closing fast. It was being led up a side street by a bunch of guys holding ropes. I booked it over to the other side of the street and watched. The bull was not very happy and I suspect its future is bleak. Behind the bull there was a mini-parade with people in costumes dancing and music playing.

On the bright side there were no issues with teenage girls today.

The terrain is getting more desert-like the further south I go which is almost the opposite of what I expected. There’s not sand but cacti are very common and the only green spots are near rivers. It’s very hilly and I’ve been getting up earlier and earlier to get the miles in before the afternoon heat kicks up. Even just riding 40 miles with these hills is tough. Tomorrow I’m going to get up at 6am and try to be on the road by 7am.

PS: Government people and the police…I’ve been ragging on you a fair bit lately… please don’t run me over. I know Mexico has some big fish to fry but there are some easy wins here.

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03/03 Poverty really sucks. It’s been getting worse as I travel south and in one of the towns it was pretty bad. As soon as I pulled up to a store to buy some water about a half dozen women came over trying to get me to buy something. I ended up buying 3 tortilla shell things with chili (and chicken?) inside but I didn’t really like the taste so I ate the first one there and then gave the other ones to a woman and her kid a little ways down the road.

I discovered what kind of traffic the trails in the area get that the kid with the slingshot was trying to tell me. At 7am this morning I heard something walking outside my tent so I sat up and looked out. Apparently the very few trails alongside the road are used by cattle ranchers to move their herd up and down the canyon. About 20 (big) cattle proceeded to walk within a foot of my tent as they lumbered past. Fortunately none of them stepped on me or my bike that was laying next to the tent. The rancher came up last and didn’t seem to care that I was camped there which was good.

Awesome scenery again today. I’ve never loved and hated anything in my life as much as I’ve loved and hated this highway. The constant up and downs can be brutal but damn is the view nice at the top. I’d probably do it again even knowing how hard its been. I did a little number crunching and in the last 10 days I’ve climbed almost 30,000 feet–a little higher than Mount Everest.

The weather has been phenomenal for days. It’s hot but there’s usually a nice breeze. The night got pretty cold (no frost) and the stars were out in force. It took me 5 seconds to spot Mars.

Staying in a kind of expensive (US $35) resort/motel but I was going through internet withdrawal so it’s worth it. The other couple places were almost the same price and they had no net access (OK, one place did but the manager didn’t know what the password was for the wireless). More dumb teenage girls thought my attempts to ask for a menu at the restaurant here were pretty funny. There must be a thing with teenage girls in this part of Mexico because I’ve never had anyone actually laugh before. I should have walked up to them and gave them a big freaking hug because my shirt smells like death.

One of the housekeepers just decided to peek in front window that was open with the curtains closed. She got a treat because its warm in here and I just got out of the shower.

Pictures on the way tonight (unrelated to last paragraph). Need to go eat.

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