The climb up into the mountains wasn’t bad but the hills after that were relentless. Fortunately traffic was light and there were a couple places to grab some water. I didn’t even stop for lunch so I’m looking forward to dinner tonight. A sign indicating the continental divide (3,600 feet) was at the top of the first big hill and the views back to the Caribbean Sea were amazing.

At about the halfway mark I arrived at Lake Fortuna. Not sure how much of it was natural since a massive dam held the water back but it was pretty nice looking. There were a few touristy shops selling all kinds of food/drink so I bought some candy. The surprise of the day was at a checkpoint. The guard actually asked to see my passport. It ended up being kind of a pain because my stupid Pacsafe money belt broke (both zippers) so now it’s kind of buried in my front pannier.

The weather cooperated all day except when I started the big descent. Rain came down in buckets right up until I found a cheap, little motel to stay at ($10). My detour into Chiriqui Grande for a hotel could have ben avoided. Not too far after the turn toward the mountains was a little motel. Oh well.

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Not sure if what I’m in yet is rain forest but it seems like it to me. On one of my many siestas I got to see lots of colorful little birds flying around. Not too many pictures today. I had to save my energy. Ran into 4 more “vine-across-the-road” stops staffed by one or more young girls. The first 2 were within 200 yards of each other and I was going downhill (fast) and didn’t feel like stopping. So I kept pedaling and they dropped the vine when they saw I wasn’t going to stop. It wasn’t long after that that I started feeling like a world-class jerk. They lowered the vine so its not like they were going to kill me for not donating a little and we’re not talking about a lot of money. I’m not a fan of their methods but if I were in their shoes I’d probably do the same. So at the next one I stopped and gave up a few pesos. The last one I rode right by because they didn’t hear me coming until it was too late. I turned around and gave them some pesos too.

Palenque is my home for the next 2 nights. Found a place with internet and hot showers (not that I needed it) for US $16 night (Hotel Shalom). Tomorrow I’ll go check out the ruins. I only saw a little of the town so far but it seems a bit rough. The buildings/sidewalks are in general disrepair and the streets are a it of a mess. Kind of surprising for being so close to one of the biggest archeological sites in Mexico.

Feeling a little better. My nose has finally stopped running and the cough isn’t nearly as bad.

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Had some interesting people encounters today. While stopped just past a store to take a picture of a valley about half a dozen little kids came running over to ask for money. Once I said no most of them just stood there watching me while a couple of the alpha kids played with the things strapped to the rear bike bags. I packed my camera back up and started to ride away. I turned to wave and saw one of the boys looking like he was going to throw something at me. Sure enough the little brat threw a small rock and hit me in the back. It’s not like I could go back and beat his little ass so I just yelled “Hey!” and made like I was going to turn around. They just stood there like Children of the Corn so I left. I’m not entirely convinced that he wasn’t just playing but it’s hard to say.

Next up was an 8 year old highway robber. At one of the rare flat spots I saw a girl standing beside the road holding the end of a vine that stretched across the highway. As I got closer she pulled the vine so it was 3 feet off the road. I could have barreled right through I suppose but I had no idea who was sitting in the trees watching. I didn’t understand anything she said except 5 pesos so I gave it to her. She lowered the vine and off I went.

One encounter I didn’t have was along the access road to the cascades. The 2 mile road is a bit notorious for robberies and several bicyclists I know advoided coming down here because of it. I kept an eye out but it’s downhill the entire way and there was no way I was stopping for anyone. Made it here without seeing a single person and boy was it worth it.

The series of waterfalls and pools that make up the Cascades del la Agua Azul are beautiful. The first thing I did when I got here, after posing for some pictures, was get a cabana, change into my swimming shorts and jump in. The water was perfect and a lot colder than I thought it would be. I wish they had a set of waterfalls every 20 miles along the road.

This place is packed with Mexican families camping and enjoying the park. Lots of tents and people BBQ’ing. There might have been a couple hippies camping but I avoid them. I would have liked to have camped but I’m by myself and there are too many people around to leave my stuff unattended. Had a great dinner at one of the many restraunts before taking a nice walk up along the river.

Still a little sick. This cough won’t go away and I still have the sniffles. Maybe in the next town I’ll grab some medicine.

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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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The only exciting event on the ride today was having 2 dogs come running after me. I had to bust out my bamboo stick but no contact was made. I found out later they came after K/M too. The long descent was down a canyon that provided some gorgeous scenery. It’s cool seeing a line of green grass/trees growing in an otherwise very arid place.

Staying in a motel that has something that no other motel has had so far–an air conditioner! There’s even a pool in the back. I passed on a swim because the water looked a bit too risky but the teenagers that came over are having a great time back there. K/M are here too. Riding with them is great because they are excellent cooks.

Sleep was hard to come by last night. If I got 2 hours rest I’d be surprised. The gas station had a lot more traffic than I thought it would and the 3 dogs that stay there barked all night. I think I’m going to set up my tent just a little further from anything prickly next time. The tent survived but I backed into a cactus getting inside and that does not feel good.

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The second thing was my rear tire. It’s not dead yet but there is a tear on the side wall where it presses up against the the rim. The tube isn’t exposed yet but it won’t be long. It lasted 6000 miles. I have a spare Schwalbe Marathon Plus tire and can pop that on if need be. I need to find a way to get 2 new Schwalbe’s now. The Schwalbe Marathon Extremes seem like they’ll be the best ones for me. Oaxaca is the next big city so I might end up having to stay there a few days. I should get there tomorrow. Getting a bike shop to order me a couple will be fun.

Long day today. Big climbs but very little sun so I was happy.

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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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Lucked out twice today. The second time was when I lost the liter of water I’d bought so I’d have enough for the night. Fortunately it fell off when I pulled off the highway so I just had to walk back a little ways to get it. It kind of sucked that it fell off right next to a rotting donkey carcass though. I guessed it fell there because I swerved hard to get upwind.

The first lucky thing happened when I found a bike shop the same day that I noticed a 1 inch gash in my front tire. The same front tire that lasted almost 12,000 miles. It was time to part with it though. The guy at the bike shop spoke a little English and I found out he was from Fort Myers. He was pretty impressed that I rode all this way so he’s going to hang the tire up on his wall. I bought a US $10 replacement with a sweet red pin stripe on it. The make is Winsor (never heard of it). I was going to have him adjust my derailleur but he scared me a little when he started talking about popping links off the chain. I declined that fix for now.

Update: OK make that 3 things. The sheep were being herded by Alfredo. I saw him walking up the creek bed so I went over and asked if I could camp here for the night. He was cool with it after a little reassurance. I don’t think he would have seen me but he had a rather large machete and I didn’t want to surprise him. He said something about policia like maybe he thought I was one. Somehow I think drugs were a concern of his because he made some kind of motion like he was injecting something into his arm. I could see this area being pretty good for growing cocoa (did I spell that right?) so maybe the police have raided this place before? The craziest part was we actually had some semblance of a conversation. He didn’t understand when I tried to say acampar (camp) and when I showed him the word in a phrase book he still didn’t understand but I think he might not be able to read.

Had a great ride on Mex-95 today. There was one little climb but a couple wicked downhills that had me hugging the curves. A headwind kept me from breaking any speed records though. Nice shoulder the whole way. Hope it lasts. The scenery was gorgeous. Riding down canyons with huge hills on both sides can’t bee beat.

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The seat change made a big difference. My miles were low for the day but even if I’d ridden longer I think the discomfort would have been tolerable. The skinnier seat is the way to go it looks like.

The highway is still horrible for riding on. Further north it wasn’t as bad because there wasn’t drop if you did run off the road. All day today I had to ride with a shoulder drop and fairly busy traffic (car/truck passes at least every 20 seconds). The toll road, with its wide shoulder, would be nice but I don’t think the scenery would be nearly as good. It also skips a lot of the little towns that I like riding through.

Rosamorada is another town that only has one main road leading from the highway down into the town center. Navigating in smaller towns like this is so easy because the tallest building is always the church and it always sits next to the town square which is where all the stores and most of the motels are. The motel I found was only US $7.75. No hot water but the room is much bigger than the place last night. This place doesn’t have a toilet seat either. I might have to start packing my own.

You get tell not a lot of Americans visit this place because the entire time I was walking around people stared like I was from another planet. A few people tried to ask me things but I have no idea what they were saying. Sucks for both of us because I always have a bunch of questions from things I’ve seen during the day and there’s no one to ask.

In one of he outdoor bars I dropped in for a beer. The bartender and 2 customers were up at the counter (guy and girl). The guy kept trying to pimp out the girl to me which made for an uncomfortable drink because he kept using the p word to describe her and the group at the far table probably heard him (a kid was sitting at the table too). Needless to say I didn’t hang around.

I was going to have PB&J for dinner but this guy set up a hot dog stand right below my window and boy does it smell good.

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