Day 74 ? The Flat Tire From Hell - 158.82 km
Getting out of Mazatlan proved to be more difficult than I had assumed it would be. My city map is less than ideal and thus I had one heck of a time finding the freeway. It turned out not to be a surprise that the freeway was hard to find, since it was not a freeway as we would think. Occasionally this road goes through towns where it twists and turns through local streets.
Although the old city and waterfront of Mazatlan is very nice, the outskirts leave much to be desired. The outskirts of the city reminded me of some really bad places I had seen in Peru last year. Doors to houses face railroad tracks not more than five feet away and sewage flows through canals next to the road. I would have stopped to take pictures, but I feared that I might get mugged should I pull out my expensive looking camera.
Finally out of Mazatlan I was surprised as to how green everything around here was. There are plenty of trees and even grass, all of which I was deprived off the last long while in the Baja. Fortunately the deserts are behind me. This area of Mexico receives rain during this time of year, so I was not surprised to see the sky littered with clouds. It was a welcome change not to have the sun beaming directly on me, but this is not to say it wasn?t hot. The temperatures were likewise high, and what made it much worse was the humidity. Fruit stands along the road provided me with some relief. As a price comparison they were selling fairly large bags of mangoes for a mere $1.40 USD.
When the road passed through a certain small town as it does every once in awhile, I ran into a little problem. To be more precise, I ran over what turned over to be a little problem. There happened to inconvenient be located a large nail on the road which happened to find its way straight into my tire. Since I have quite a bit of experience in the art of flat fixing I did not panic, I simply pulled my bicycle up onto the side walk and laid it on its side in preparation.
Not a minute passed by after I had put down my bicycle did there assemble a crowd of about six kids. They watched me intently as I changed my flat, and of course asked me a bunch of questions. No pressure, I?ve done this tons of times! Before putting in a new tube I of course checked to make sure there was nothing else which would cause a flat and even patched the hole caused by the nail with superglue. I put in a new tube, reset the tire, and pumped it up. I set it off to the side as I put away all my repair tools.
Finally ready to put my wheel back onto my bike I noticed that it was once again flat! A flurry of emotions overcame me all at once ranging from confusion and perplexion to embarrassment and anger. I had done everything right, why wasn?t this working? I had even used a brand new tube and not one that I had patched. I once again removed all my tools, once again took off the tire, once again checked to make sure everything was OK, and once again pumped up my tire. But alas, still a flat!
All this time there are six kids watching me, and I felt really dumb not being able to fix a mere flat tire. I once again removed the tire and this time used one of my old tubes which I had patched, fortunately everything worked. I carry four spare tubes down here in Mexico, slight overkill perhaps, but better safe than sorry! Later on in my hotel it turned out that I had done everything right and that these mystery flats were of no fault of my own. The ?new? tube I had used proved to be defective. It had a very small leak right near the stem where the stem was glued to the tube. So much for quality control!
Later on in the day I also got the first decent rain I have had in over a month. Since it was so refreshing I decided to not even put on my rain gear. I figured that I most likely won?t be tenting so I can dry my stuff off.
I am currently in a fairly sizable town roughly two kilometers off of the main highway called Acaponata, which is of course not in my guidebook. Over these last three weeks I have concluded that the Lonely Planet book for Mexico absolutely sucks; the only thing for which it is somewhat useful is larger cities, and even in that case only for finding out what is interesting in them and their included city maps. Here I am staying in an absolutely awesome little hotel called the Hotel Juarez, where I have managed to acquire a room complete with bathroom for a mere $8.50. This is definitely the coolest hotel I have stayed in on my trip. The doors are made of heavy wood and are eight feet tall. The ceiling in my room is the roof itself and lies roughly twenty feet above. I have been provided a towel, toilet paper, and even soap. Unfortunately there is no warm water in the shower, but no matter. The last thing I want to do after a hot day is take a hot shower.
Tomorrow the plan is to make it to Tepic as early as possible so that I can see the city a bit. The day afterwards will be a long one to Puerto Vallarta where I will be taking a day off to see the city. I figure I can take a day off every three or four days provided I do enough mileage during these days to compensate for it. I might as well see something while I?m here!
Day 75 ? The Great Flood - 149.76 km
I knew from the get go that today would be a more difficult day than usual. Not only did I have to bicycle a decent amount of miles, but I also had to gain around 900 meters in altitude, or roughly 2700 feet for you Americans out there. Not only so, but I also wanted to make it to the town of Tepic (pronounced teh-peak) early so that I could actually see something interesting.
I made my way through countless small towns and villages. The villages were truly primitive. Straw roofs are the standard around here. The fruit stands they have are absolutely great though. Mangos seem to be very popular around here; you can purchase a whole case of them for only $4.50. They also sell bags full of what I believe are dried figs. I?ve bought these things three times but I?m still not sure if that?s exactly what they are. Either way they are good and make an excellent snack! Another delicious offering at these stands are cold coconuts, sinfully refreshing I tell you!
I think that I might as well expect rain every single day for the next month. In the morning the sky was clear with not a cloud in the sky, whereas by the afternoon dark clouds loomed overhead. Although it does not rain here for long, when it does rain, it pours. When it did start raining I was on the open road, thus not having anywhere to hide. Needless to say I got drenched. I stopped at the first restaurant I saw. Let you tell you that I got some funny looks when I walked in there soaking wet.
I always stop at these restaurants in the middle of nowhere by the side of the road. Not only is the food inexpensive, but it is also mouthwateringly delicious. The only downside is that they never have menus, so knowing some Spanish is essential. At this particular restaurant I ordered two quesadillas, one with beef and one with spicy pork. I was warned that they were big, but I decided to get two anyway. They weren?t kidding, these were monster quesadillas! Not only were they huge, but they were also mouthwateringly delicious. Fortunately in the forty of minutes or so that I was here the rain had totally died town.
The next twenty kilometers to Tepic were pretty bad. I prefer to call the city ?The Peak? as opposed to Tepic, and not without reason. The city sits at an elevation of 900 meters, and today I started off roughly around sea level. Sure, the views were absolutely breathtaking, but not without cost. Struggling up these hills was only one-third of my struggle. The second third deal with trying not to die of thirst in these very humid and very hot conditions. The last third of my struggle was not trying to get killed by traffic in the process. Never in the United States or Canada did I have to ?bail? off the road, whereas here in Mexico I have to do it a minimum of three times a day.
After I finally struggled into Tepic I made my way to the center of town, which turned out to be very pleasant. A huge cathedral towers over the town square, which is full of fountains, benches, and shrubs. Around the main square are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and shops. There are also whole streets dedicated solely for pedestrian traffic. Overall it proved to be a very nice place. Since I did not have much time I only visited this general area and moved on.
South of Tepic things got quite ugly. Since it had rained earlier in the day, the streets had flooded. Water management here isn?t exactly the greatest thing in the world, and thus water was coming out of drains as opposed to going into them. Bicycling through several inches of water isn?t the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. What makes it even worse is that there are cars passing you and thereby splashing you in the process. Needless to say, although I had washed my clothes yesterday, I had to do so again today.
I am currently staying at a small motel south of Tepic in the town of Xalisco. The anything but luxurious ?Motel Las Vegas? cost me a staggering $8.50. I must say that this is the first motel I have ever been in where there are no keys to the rooms, you simply lock them from the inside. Tomorrow I will make it to Puerto Vallarta where I will be taking a day off.
Getting out of Mazatlan proved to be more difficult than I had assumed it would be. My city map is less than ideal and thus I had one heck of a time finding the freeway. It turned out not to be a surprise that the freeway was hard to find, since it was not a freeway as we would think. Occasionally this road goes through towns where it twists and turns through local streets.
Although the old city and waterfront of Mazatlan is very nice, the outskirts leave much to be desired. The outskirts of the city reminded me of some really bad places I had seen in Peru last year. Doors to houses face railroad tracks not more than five feet away and sewage flows through canals next to the road. I would have stopped to take pictures, but I feared that I might get mugged should I pull out my expensive looking camera.
Finally out of Mazatlan I was surprised as to how green everything around here was. There are plenty of trees and even grass, all of which I was deprived off the last long while in the Baja. Fortunately the deserts are behind me. This area of Mexico receives rain during this time of year, so I was not surprised to see the sky littered with clouds. It was a welcome change not to have the sun beaming directly on me, but this is not to say it wasn?t hot. The temperatures were likewise high, and what made it much worse was the humidity. Fruit stands along the road provided me with some relief. As a price comparison they were selling fairly large bags of mangoes for a mere $1.40 USD.
When the road passed through a certain small town as it does every once in awhile, I ran into a little problem. To be more precise, I ran over what turned over to be a little problem. There happened to inconvenient be located a large nail on the road which happened to find its way straight into my tire. Since I have quite a bit of experience in the art of flat fixing I did not panic, I simply pulled my bicycle up onto the side walk and laid it on its side in preparation.
Not a minute passed by after I had put down my bicycle did there assemble a crowd of about six kids. They watched me intently as I changed my flat, and of course asked me a bunch of questions. No pressure, I?ve done this tons of times! Before putting in a new tube I of course checked to make sure there was nothing else which would cause a flat and even patched the hole caused by the nail with superglue. I put in a new tube, reset the tire, and pumped it up. I set it off to the side as I put away all my repair tools.
Finally ready to put my wheel back onto my bike I noticed that it was once again flat! A flurry of emotions overcame me all at once ranging from confusion and perplexion to embarrassment and anger. I had done everything right, why wasn?t this working? I had even used a brand new tube and not one that I had patched. I once again removed all my tools, once again took off the tire, once again checked to make sure everything was OK, and once again pumped up my tire. But alas, still a flat!
All this time there are six kids watching me, and I felt really dumb not being able to fix a mere flat tire. I once again removed the tire and this time used one of my old tubes which I had patched, fortunately everything worked. I carry four spare tubes down here in Mexico, slight overkill perhaps, but better safe than sorry! Later on in my hotel it turned out that I had done everything right and that these mystery flats were of no fault of my own. The ?new? tube I had used proved to be defective. It had a very small leak right near the stem where the stem was glued to the tube. So much for quality control!
Later on in the day I also got the first decent rain I have had in over a month. Since it was so refreshing I decided to not even put on my rain gear. I figured that I most likely won?t be tenting so I can dry my stuff off.
I am currently in a fairly sizable town roughly two kilometers off of the main highway called Acaponata, which is of course not in my guidebook. Over these last three weeks I have concluded that the Lonely Planet book for Mexico absolutely sucks; the only thing for which it is somewhat useful is larger cities, and even in that case only for finding out what is interesting in them and their included city maps. Here I am staying in an absolutely awesome little hotel called the Hotel Juarez, where I have managed to acquire a room complete with bathroom for a mere $8.50. This is definitely the coolest hotel I have stayed in on my trip. The doors are made of heavy wood and are eight feet tall. The ceiling in my room is the roof itself and lies roughly twenty feet above. I have been provided a towel, toilet paper, and even soap. Unfortunately there is no warm water in the shower, but no matter. The last thing I want to do after a hot day is take a hot shower.
Tomorrow the plan is to make it to Tepic as early as possible so that I can see the city a bit. The day afterwards will be a long one to Puerto Vallarta where I will be taking a day off to see the city. I figure I can take a day off every three or four days provided I do enough mileage during these days to compensate for it. I might as well see something while I?m here!
Day 75 ? The Great Flood - 149.76 km
I knew from the get go that today would be a more difficult day than usual. Not only did I have to bicycle a decent amount of miles, but I also had to gain around 900 meters in altitude, or roughly 2700 feet for you Americans out there. Not only so, but I also wanted to make it to the town of Tepic (pronounced teh-peak) early so that I could actually see something interesting.
I made my way through countless small towns and villages. The villages were truly primitive. Straw roofs are the standard around here. The fruit stands they have are absolutely great though. Mangos seem to be very popular around here; you can purchase a whole case of them for only $4.50. They also sell bags full of what I believe are dried figs. I?ve bought these things three times but I?m still not sure if that?s exactly what they are. Either way they are good and make an excellent snack! Another delicious offering at these stands are cold coconuts, sinfully refreshing I tell you!
I think that I might as well expect rain every single day for the next month. In the morning the sky was clear with not a cloud in the sky, whereas by the afternoon dark clouds loomed overhead. Although it does not rain here for long, when it does rain, it pours. When it did start raining I was on the open road, thus not having anywhere to hide. Needless to say I got drenched. I stopped at the first restaurant I saw. Let you tell you that I got some funny looks when I walked in there soaking wet.
I always stop at these restaurants in the middle of nowhere by the side of the road. Not only is the food inexpensive, but it is also mouthwateringly delicious. The only downside is that they never have menus, so knowing some Spanish is essential. At this particular restaurant I ordered two quesadillas, one with beef and one with spicy pork. I was warned that they were big, but I decided to get two anyway. They weren?t kidding, these were monster quesadillas! Not only were they huge, but they were also mouthwateringly delicious. Fortunately in the forty of minutes or so that I was here the rain had totally died town.
The next twenty kilometers to Tepic were pretty bad. I prefer to call the city ?The Peak? as opposed to Tepic, and not without reason. The city sits at an elevation of 900 meters, and today I started off roughly around sea level. Sure, the views were absolutely breathtaking, but not without cost. Struggling up these hills was only one-third of my struggle. The second third deal with trying not to die of thirst in these very humid and very hot conditions. The last third of my struggle was not trying to get killed by traffic in the process. Never in the United States or Canada did I have to ?bail? off the road, whereas here in Mexico I have to do it a minimum of three times a day.
After I finally struggled into Tepic I made my way to the center of town, which turned out to be very pleasant. A huge cathedral towers over the town square, which is full of fountains, benches, and shrubs. Around the main square are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and shops. There are also whole streets dedicated solely for pedestrian traffic. Overall it proved to be a very nice place. Since I did not have much time I only visited this general area and moved on.
South of Tepic things got quite ugly. Since it had rained earlier in the day, the streets had flooded. Water management here isn?t exactly the greatest thing in the world, and thus water was coming out of drains as opposed to going into them. Bicycling through several inches of water isn?t the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. What makes it even worse is that there are cars passing you and thereby splashing you in the process. Needless to say, although I had washed my clothes yesterday, I had to do so again today.
I am currently staying at a small motel south of Tepic in the town of Xalisco. The anything but luxurious ?Motel Las Vegas? cost me a staggering $8.50. I must say that this is the first motel I have ever been in where there are no keys to the rooms, you simply lock them from the inside. Tomorrow I will make it to Puerto Vallarta where I will be taking a day off.
By the way, I managed to find the hole in my air matress using a cup of water and my bathroom floor
Unfortunatley, I was not able to properly patch it
A tire tube patch did not work, so I used super glue, which is only a temporary fix
Unfortunatley, I was not able to properly patch it
A tire tube patch did not work, so I used super glue, which is only a temporary fix
- Oct 30, 2000
- 42,589
- 5
- 0
At least you know where the leak is.
When in Puerto Vallarta, you can do it properly. Your back will thank you for it.
Day 76 ? Up In The Clouds to Down By The Sea - 154.90 km
Although today it was technically a downhill day in which I was losing 900 meters of elevation, it was truly anything but. I still experienced a rollercoaster ride of constant ups and downs. To make my life even more challenging, I got rained on from the very start. I left my hotel at around eight, and no more than three minutes later did I have to suit up in my rain gear. Quite an inconvenience considering I still hadn?t dried off from yesterday!
Undeterred I pushed on. It ended up raining for over two hours, and I mean some serious rain. This was the strongest rain that I had encountered on my whole trip. It?s the kind of rain where you pull off the road when driving a car, not that anyone here would consider doing such a fallacy! Seeing as my rain jacket has lost its waterproofability, I ended up being totally drenched. This is not to say my rain jacket is useless, since it still does keep me warm. I stumbled into a small restaurant near the road and ordered a much deserved breakfast!
I must admit that today?s views were absolutely spectacular. I was not able to stop in many places since there simply is no shoulder and I really don?t want to get hit by a car. In the morning I was still at high elevations and thus was treated to views of peaks in the clouds and lush valleys below. As I made my way lower and lower, things began to get not only hotter, but terribly humid. It was so bad that just standing in place I would be dripping with sweat, yet alone when I was biking!
When I finally made it to the coast I was terribly relieved. There is always a cool breeze near the ocean which provides some comfort. A word of warning out there to anyone who likes to book vacations at resorts in large tourist cities like this; make sure your hotel isn?t in the middle of nowhere! The sprawl of hotels here started exactly 21 kilometers from downtown Puerto Vallarta. You will pay hundreds for a posh hotel whereas I will pay a mere fraction of that price and be found in the heart of downtown. Sure, my hotel may not be luxurious, but I have all the luxuries I want at home!
While bicycling into Puerto Vallarta a ray of light temporarily blinded me; when I looked up I saw the ever welcoming green letters which read ?Starbucks?. I could not believe it, this was one thing I was not expecting to see here. Not being able to resist the urge I rushed inside and immediately ordered a mouthwateringly delicious strawberry frappuchino. The prices here are unfortunately the same as in the United States, but it was so worth it anyway!
Today I just made it into Puerto Vallarta and found myself a nice little hotel in the center of town. This is a very touristy town which in many places does not feel like Mexico at all but rather like a very commercialized area of California. The hotel I am staying at is not the cheapest place in town at $18, but I really couldn?t manage to find anything less expensive. I must say that this place is very nice though. There are four floors of rooms overlooking a courtyard in the center where there is even a small pool. The only downside is that my room is on the third floor and I had to drag all my stuff up there! Tomorrow I will be taking a day off to see the famous city of Puerto Vallarta.
Although today it was technically a downhill day in which I was losing 900 meters of elevation, it was truly anything but. I still experienced a rollercoaster ride of constant ups and downs. To make my life even more challenging, I got rained on from the very start. I left my hotel at around eight, and no more than three minutes later did I have to suit up in my rain gear. Quite an inconvenience considering I still hadn?t dried off from yesterday!
Undeterred I pushed on. It ended up raining for over two hours, and I mean some serious rain. This was the strongest rain that I had encountered on my whole trip. It?s the kind of rain where you pull off the road when driving a car, not that anyone here would consider doing such a fallacy! Seeing as my rain jacket has lost its waterproofability, I ended up being totally drenched. This is not to say my rain jacket is useless, since it still does keep me warm. I stumbled into a small restaurant near the road and ordered a much deserved breakfast!
I must admit that today?s views were absolutely spectacular. I was not able to stop in many places since there simply is no shoulder and I really don?t want to get hit by a car. In the morning I was still at high elevations and thus was treated to views of peaks in the clouds and lush valleys below. As I made my way lower and lower, things began to get not only hotter, but terribly humid. It was so bad that just standing in place I would be dripping with sweat, yet alone when I was biking!
When I finally made it to the coast I was terribly relieved. There is always a cool breeze near the ocean which provides some comfort. A word of warning out there to anyone who likes to book vacations at resorts in large tourist cities like this; make sure your hotel isn?t in the middle of nowhere! The sprawl of hotels here started exactly 21 kilometers from downtown Puerto Vallarta. You will pay hundreds for a posh hotel whereas I will pay a mere fraction of that price and be found in the heart of downtown. Sure, my hotel may not be luxurious, but I have all the luxuries I want at home!
While bicycling into Puerto Vallarta a ray of light temporarily blinded me; when I looked up I saw the ever welcoming green letters which read ?Starbucks?. I could not believe it, this was one thing I was not expecting to see here. Not being able to resist the urge I rushed inside and immediately ordered a mouthwateringly delicious strawberry frappuchino. The prices here are unfortunately the same as in the United States, but it was so worth it anyway!
Today I just made it into Puerto Vallarta and found myself a nice little hotel in the center of town. This is a very touristy town which in many places does not feel like Mexico at all but rather like a very commercialized area of California. The hotel I am staying at is not the cheapest place in town at $18, but I really couldn?t manage to find anything less expensive. I must say that this place is very nice though. There are four floors of rooms overlooking a courtyard in the center where there is even a small pool. The only downside is that my room is on the third floor and I had to drag all my stuff up there! Tomorrow I will be taking a day off to see the famous city of Puerto Vallarta.
In the front it's still same tire and tube from Alaska, in the back second tire and seventh tube (I fix my tubes tho)
Biking all day every day for a couple of months, that's gotta give you some good legs!Originally posted by: Safeway
Have you lost a noticeable amount of weight, or gained a noticeable amount of lean mass? More defined legs? Too bad you can do curls and raises while biking.
Originally posted by: Safeway
Have you lost a noticeable amount of weight, or gained a noticeable amount of lean mass? More defined legs? Too bad you can do curls and raises while biking.
Ya, I was going to say that he's gotta be losing some weight. However have you read some of his eating logs? The dude eats like a 2 pound hamburger or 2 huge quesadillas in a single sitting.
i can do it for one day but continuing it for a long time need devotion and perseverence ...............
wish you good luck..........but take care of your self....
wish you good luck..........but take care of your self....
Updates may not come for a few days
Laptops hard drive died
My laptop hard drive isnt your regular 2.5 inch, its a 1.8 inch
So my best bet is to buy a laptop and salvage it
Will let you guys know as soon as possible, however it may be a few days
Laptops hard drive died
My laptop hard drive isnt your regular 2.5 inch, its a 1.8 inch
So my best bet is to buy a laptop and salvage it
Will let you guys know as soon as possible, however it may be a few days
Could you guys read up and see if that would work
Taking a hard drive from a iPod and using it as a regular hard drive (after formatting it to NTFS file system of course)
I dont want to blow a bunch of cash on an ipod to take it apart and not have the drive work with my laptop
Or even better, could someone manage to locate a store in Acapulco that sells these little drives, because I havent had any luck
Ill check back in a day or two, this sucks!
Taking a hard drive from a iPod and using it as a regular hard drive (after formatting it to NTFS file system of course)
I dont want to blow a bunch of cash on an ipod to take it apart and not have the drive work with my laptop
Or even better, could someone manage to locate a store in Acapulco that sells these little drives, because I havent had any luck
Ill check back in a day or two, this sucks!
Well, I managed to get my laptop back into somewhat working condition, but my hard drive is on it's last dying legs; bad sectors, etc.
I have to keep a constant backup and hope it doesn't die on me
Day 77 ? Lounging Lazily - 0.00 km
Today was simply a relaxing today. I awoke at the same time as always and headed out to see the city of Puerto Vallarta. Dark clouds were billowing overhead and I knew that rain was not far off. I would not be deterred by a little hydrogen combined with oxygen and continued to explore, only I had to be careful where I pulled out my camera.
The city of Puerto Vallarta stretches for more than twenty kilometers, however the main area of interest and not coincidently the area were I was staying is the historic center. The streets here are narrow, laid out in cobblestones, and nearly always one-ways. On foot this is not a problem but on a bicycle it tends to make things a little more confusing. The city itself is also very tourist oriented with many American franchises. At times I felt as if I were back in California. Some of the American franchises I saw today include but are not limited to: McDonalds, Burger King, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Wal-Mart, Sam?s Club, and the Hard Rock Café. The interesting thing is that here they charge the same prices as in the United States!
I spent hours upon hours wandering through the streets, along the waterfront, into churches, and of course amongst shops. I made sure to buy plenty of souveneirs for myself, all of which I haggled viciously for! When traveling by car or plane you can pretty much buy anything you want without worries, but on a bicycle you have to think twice. I went to a store to package my box up and send it off. They only offered UPS and said it would cost me around $70 USD, so I kindly declined. I made my way to the Mexican Postal Office and decided to send my package off there. I was of course asked to open my package and show the contents before being able to ship it. Shipping this box home by air mail cost me $28, I just hope it makes it! I must say I found it quite amusing when the woman at the post office put 25 stamps on that box.
After a day full of laziness I made my way back to my hotel. Along the way I passed a church in which a mass was just starting. Seeing as I haven?t been to mass in a Roman Catholic church in over two and a half months I felt obliged to attend. Sure, I didn?t understand too much of what they were saying, but it was a very pleasant experience either way. My mom would be proud!
Day 78 ? From the Coast to the Jungle and Back Again - 144 km
Fortunately the road out of Puerto Vallarta did not prove to be confusing and I managed to navigate it with relative ease. For fifteen kilometers out of the city the road followed the coast, winding up and down hills next to posh hotels, restaurants, and beaches.
The road soon bent away from the coast into what proved to be fairly challenging and quite painful mountains. For over twenty kilometers I trudged nearly almost always uphill. To make my life even more interesting it rained for the large portion of the day. Without a rain jacket you end up getting wet and quite cold, and thus risk getting sick. However with a rain jacket it is so incredibly hot that it?s crazy. I ended up simply rolling the sleeves of my rain jacket up and opening some air vents which seemed to make wearing it bearable.
After this excruciatingly long uphill I was treated to a much needed and well earned downhill through lush tropical forests. The road then flattened out considerably, which provided fairly easy and relaxing biking. I decided to stop at a nicer restaurant near the side of the road in order to grab lunch. For $5.50 I had a dinner that was truly something to behold. Not only was it delicious, but it was huge! One thing that really amused me today was that in this restaurant a soft drink was more expensive than beer! A soft drink in a bottle cost $1.20 whereas a Corona in a bottle cost only $0.90. That?s Mexico for you!
It is with great regret that I say that my cyclometer has counted its last wheel rotation and thus last kilometer. This thing has been giving me problems from the very beginning, but it seems that now the situation is beyond repair. This is quite inconvenient as now I do not know my speed nor how much I have bicycled, the only thing it is still useful for is it?s clock function. Therefore my mileage readings from henceforth will be based upon the mileposts I pass along the side of the road.
Finding a place to stay today wasn?t as easy as I anticipated. The main road is located a little ways away from the coast and side roads stretch out to the coastal towns, which are a few kilometers away. Today I am staying in the town of Perula which proved to be more expensive than I had anticipated. Perula is a small but touristy town located on the coast roughly three kilometers off the main road. I ended up paying $18 for a hotel room, but I must say that it is a very nice place. They originally wanted over $30, but they overheard me talking with some people about my trip and were very impressed, so they gave me a large discount. I managed to get a very nice place for the same price as the not so nice places.
I have to keep a constant backup and hope it doesn't die on me
Day 77 ? Lounging Lazily - 0.00 km
Today was simply a relaxing today. I awoke at the same time as always and headed out to see the city of Puerto Vallarta. Dark clouds were billowing overhead and I knew that rain was not far off. I would not be deterred by a little hydrogen combined with oxygen and continued to explore, only I had to be careful where I pulled out my camera.
The city of Puerto Vallarta stretches for more than twenty kilometers, however the main area of interest and not coincidently the area were I was staying is the historic center. The streets here are narrow, laid out in cobblestones, and nearly always one-ways. On foot this is not a problem but on a bicycle it tends to make things a little more confusing. The city itself is also very tourist oriented with many American franchises. At times I felt as if I were back in California. Some of the American franchises I saw today include but are not limited to: McDonalds, Burger King, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Wal-Mart, Sam?s Club, and the Hard Rock Café. The interesting thing is that here they charge the same prices as in the United States!
I spent hours upon hours wandering through the streets, along the waterfront, into churches, and of course amongst shops. I made sure to buy plenty of souveneirs for myself, all of which I haggled viciously for! When traveling by car or plane you can pretty much buy anything you want without worries, but on a bicycle you have to think twice. I went to a store to package my box up and send it off. They only offered UPS and said it would cost me around $70 USD, so I kindly declined. I made my way to the Mexican Postal Office and decided to send my package off there. I was of course asked to open my package and show the contents before being able to ship it. Shipping this box home by air mail cost me $28, I just hope it makes it! I must say I found it quite amusing when the woman at the post office put 25 stamps on that box.
After a day full of laziness I made my way back to my hotel. Along the way I passed a church in which a mass was just starting. Seeing as I haven?t been to mass in a Roman Catholic church in over two and a half months I felt obliged to attend. Sure, I didn?t understand too much of what they were saying, but it was a very pleasant experience either way. My mom would be proud!
Day 78 ? From the Coast to the Jungle and Back Again - 144 km
Fortunately the road out of Puerto Vallarta did not prove to be confusing and I managed to navigate it with relative ease. For fifteen kilometers out of the city the road followed the coast, winding up and down hills next to posh hotels, restaurants, and beaches.
The road soon bent away from the coast into what proved to be fairly challenging and quite painful mountains. For over twenty kilometers I trudged nearly almost always uphill. To make my life even more interesting it rained for the large portion of the day. Without a rain jacket you end up getting wet and quite cold, and thus risk getting sick. However with a rain jacket it is so incredibly hot that it?s crazy. I ended up simply rolling the sleeves of my rain jacket up and opening some air vents which seemed to make wearing it bearable.
After this excruciatingly long uphill I was treated to a much needed and well earned downhill through lush tropical forests. The road then flattened out considerably, which provided fairly easy and relaxing biking. I decided to stop at a nicer restaurant near the side of the road in order to grab lunch. For $5.50 I had a dinner that was truly something to behold. Not only was it delicious, but it was huge! One thing that really amused me today was that in this restaurant a soft drink was more expensive than beer! A soft drink in a bottle cost $1.20 whereas a Corona in a bottle cost only $0.90. That?s Mexico for you!
It is with great regret that I say that my cyclometer has counted its last wheel rotation and thus last kilometer. This thing has been giving me problems from the very beginning, but it seems that now the situation is beyond repair. This is quite inconvenient as now I do not know my speed nor how much I have bicycled, the only thing it is still useful for is it?s clock function. Therefore my mileage readings from henceforth will be based upon the mileposts I pass along the side of the road.
Finding a place to stay today wasn?t as easy as I anticipated. The main road is located a little ways away from the coast and side roads stretch out to the coastal towns, which are a few kilometers away. Today I am staying in the town of Perula which proved to be more expensive than I had anticipated. Perula is a small but touristy town located on the coast roughly three kilometers off the main road. I ended up paying $18 for a hotel room, but I must say that it is a very nice place. They originally wanted over $30, but they overheard me talking with some people about my trip and were very impressed, so they gave me a large discount. I managed to get a very nice place for the same price as the not so nice places.
- Oct 30, 2000
- 42,589
- 5
- 0
2/3 of the time through the trip.
How difficult would it be for your next care package from your folks to include a replacement cyclometer?
How difficult would it be for your next care package from your folks to include a replacement cyclometer?
Adul
Elite Member
Day 79 - The Day The Rain Slept In - 142 km
Being as I had gotten rained on for the last five days I figured I would be in store for the same today. Hence, in the morning I chose to not put on sunscreen for the first time as long as I could remember. I figured since when it rains I'm wearing a rain jacket and it's cloudy anyway, that I should be safe. Unfortunatley my predictions are not always accurate, and this was one of those times where it failed. In the morning the skies were blue, but I figured that would soon turn around and the dark clouds would roll in. Hour after hour passed by and the weather remained clear. Before I knew it I was red as a raddish! Fortunatley I did not burn, just turned a little red!
The road to Manzanillo proved to be more difficult than anticipated, which seems to be happening quite a lot lately. I never realized that the coast of Mexico was so mountainous; and here I thought it would all be smooth sailing! Although it did not rain today, which was a nice change, it was still terribly humid. At times the humidity and heat here combined make it seem much worse than bicycling through the desert! Fortunatley the road conditions were fairly good. For part of the road I was directed onto a section of the toll highway, which is always nice since they have very broad shoulders.
Just like with Puerto Vallarta and the other touristy beach cities, the large luxury resorts started to appear about 20 kilometers before the city of Manzanillo. Sure, these hotels may be nice, but I really wouldn't want to stay in one of them. I prefer my half run down hotel in the heart of the city any day! Tonight I actually managed to find a hostel of sorts. Although rooms are priviate the bathroom facilities are shared; but hey, what do I care? For $8 a night I'm not complaining!
While walking around the town of Manzanillo I stopped into every computer shop I could find. My hard drive in my laptop is on the brink of death, and thus I need to buy a new one. I have to backup my data daily to avoid catastrophe. It's quite an inconvenience when I want to update my website and my computer dies on me. I have actually been looking for a new hard drive for the last few days or so without any luck. This particular shop had a laptop hard drive for sale; and 80 gigabyte hard drive for a mere $110. Although this isn't terribly cheap it's still a great deal for Mexico!
I continued to visit the city and then finally made my way back to my hostel, which according to my guidebook is in a shady part of town. Whoops! When I opened up my laptop in order to change my hard drive I first experienced a sense of shock, and then began to curse out loud. It turns out that since my laptop is an 'ultraportable' model it does not have a regular sized laptop hard drive, but rather a special smaller one. I have had several laptops in the past and none of them had ever had this, so I was totally oblivious to it! This however turns out to be a real problem, since these little guys are next to impossible to find, especially here in Mexico. I had trouble finding a normal laptop hard drive, so something like this would have to be special ordered. Technically I could special order something like this a few cities ahead, but my Spanish isn't that good and it will cost me an arm and a leg.
I have managed to get my laptop back to somewhat working condition, that is to say sometimes it works and sometimes it gives me the dreaded blue screen of death, afterwhich I have to run anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of diagnostics to get it to work again. I will try to make this drive last somehow to Panama, but if worst comes to worst I will buy an iPod and salvage the drive from it, which is the same kind as in my laptop. iPod's are much easier to find, but this solution would also cost me an arm and a leg.
Day 80 - Toll Roads: Forbidden Yet Not - 106 km
Today in the morning I got a very late start for several reasons. I had not gotten much sleep due to several reasons. Primarily, I had to stay up late while fixing my laptop. In my room there was only one power plug, so it was a choice between the fan and my laptop, I chose the laptop. This unfortunatley increased the temperature of my room to near super-nova. When I finally did finish up and go to bed, I was awoken by a very loud grasshopper who found himself into my room. I warned him to be quiet, but unfortunatley he would not comply and I had to hunt him down. Add this to the fact that my bed was as comfortable as sleeping on a bag on sand and it's a wonder I got any sleep at all! Finally in the morning I had to return this laptop hard drive that I just bought since I have no use for it and also go on the internet to try to solve my computer dilema. Fortunatley the shop accepted it without too much trouble, because they like myself were not aware of these smaller hard drives being used in laptops. The only thing they charged me is $5 as that is the fee they pay for a chargeback when using a credit card.
To make matter worse today is the first day of my trip where I even't felt too well. Although I did not throw up, I had to frequent the bathroom several times a day and rendevous with my dear friend Immodium. Yesterday at a small store I decided to buy myself buns, cold cuts and cheese in order to make sandwiches; I suspect they are the cause of my sickness as I did not really eat anything else that could make me sick. Although I drank plenty of fluids today I ate barely anything because I both did not feel hungry and I really didn't have an appetite for food. Fortunatley it was only a discomfort and not any major pain that would put me out of comission for a day or two.
The road from Manzanillo to where I am today was the absolute most confusing thing ever. There were two roads; a toll road and a free road. I of course opted to take the free road, but the signage was so confusing that I somehow ended up on the toll road. To make matters worse, the signs were all directing to smaller towns which were not on my map, thus I had no idea if I was even going the right way! On a positive note, these toll roads the roads are actually very good. They are much flatter and have a very wide shoulder. There are not many restaurants, stores, or cities along these roads, so they are unfortunatley quite dull. However, I think I'll take boredom any day over fear of death around every corner!
The reason I have never taken these toll roads is that technically bicyclists are not allowed on them. About 10 kilometers onto the highway I saw one of these signs, and literally ten seconds later a police officer drives by in his patrol car. I thought for sure that he was going to pull over and yell at me or worse. To my surprise, he just drove past. Technically bicycles aren't allowed since the signs say so, but the toll operators and police officers are aware that it's much safer to ride on this road with a wide shoulder than the free roads. I met some locals who were riding bicycles and they showed me how it's necessary to sneak past the toll booths. You are not allowed to pass through where the cars pass. Therefore you must get off your bike, carry it up a sidewalk and walk around the toll booth. Once again this is perfectly acceptable; we even walked right by a police officer standing guard and said hello to him!
Unfortunatley today I was not spared of rain. Fortunatley it was not very heavy rain and did not last terribly long, but it's always an inconvenience. Even if your rain jacket is waterproof you still end up dreched on the inside from sweating due to the heat. The problem lies in that you have to keep your rain jacket on even after it stops raining in order to prevent getting sick. Although it is hot, there is usually a cold wind. Wearing a wet shirt in this kind of weather probably isn't the smartest idea in the world.
I am currently staying in a small town on the main road whose name I do not even know. Here I have managed to find a pleasant hotel for a mere $9.50. They were originally asking $16, but since the owner is also an avid cyclist and I am an excellent negociator, the price went down. He was very excited when he found out I was Canadian and showed me his Gary Fischer bicycle, which is of course made in Canada. At least today I have my own bathroom and the beds are comfortable!
Day 81 - The Mexican Rollercoaster - 142 km
Today proved to be one of the toughest cycling days that I have encountered thus far. The road was simply horrendous. The road basically went from a small village located either on the coast or in a valley into a ten kilometer climb up a hill and back down again. Repeat this many times and that my day.
There were not many restaurants or shops along the way; I nearly starved trying to find a place to eat lunch since I had barely eaten anything these last two days. At one point I even ran out of water while climbing a hill. Should it have been cool it would not have been a problem. But seeing as it was boiling hot and humid it did not prove to be a very enjoyable experience. The views were beautiful, but otherwise the road was dull and real struggle.
Not far from the town of Nexpa, where I would be staying tonight, I began to see black clouds overhead. I knew it would rain soon, but I hoped that it would be able to hold out until I made it to Nexpa. I was fifteen kilometers from the town when it started to literally pour instantly. There was no warning sprinkles or anything; one second it was dry and the next it was a heavy downpour. It was the strangest thing ever because this has never happened before on my trip. There were always warning sprinkles, even if not for long.
On a rain scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is light sprinkles and 10 is a monsoon I must say that this rainstorm rated at about an 8 on the scale. The rain came down fast and it came down hard. The roads became flooded and I had to struggle through several inches of water. Things became even more interesting when the strong winds kicked in, making the rain essentially come at me horizontally as opposed to vertically. It was so bad that it was practically blinding me. But did I stop? Nope!
I am currently in the small town of Nexpa, population 55, which is located right on the ocean. I am actually writing this down in pen as my laptop is currently non-functional. There was a one kilometer cobblestone access road that one had to take in order to get here. Let's just say that it was so bad that I had to walk parts of it for fear of either ruining my rims or simply sinking somewhere. I am staying in what is thus far the coolest lodging of my trip. I have a private beach cabana complete with two floors, three beds, bathroom, fridge, kitchen, balcony, and hammock. Sure, I won't use half this stuff, but this place is simply awesome! Not the cheapest thing in the world at $14 but definatley worth it.
Being so close to the ocean I felt it would be a shame in order not to go for a dip. I quickly changed into my speedo swimming attire and headed off. Sure my swimming attire may be shocking revealing, but it's very lightweight and packs down small! Upon closer inspection of the water it occured to me how stupid of an idea it would be to go in there. Dark clouds and strong winds still prevailed, thus the waves ranged in at anywhere between four and ten feet. This could produce a potentially very dangerous undertoe in which I wouldn't stand a chance. I decided to simply lounge on the sand in the shallow water, where I was nearly swept away several times!
Day 82 - Roadside Surgery - 183 km
It rained heavily all night, however fortunatley this subsided in the morning. There were still light sprinkles; nothing to complain about. I did however have to walk part of the way out of Nexpa because the road, if you can even call it that, was terrible. The last thing I wanted to do was bend my rim and be stranded here. Sure, it may be nice, but I'd be in big trouble.
Roughly 15 kilometers from Nexpa I had a fairly scary near death encounter. Often there is mud and rocks which has been washed onto the road after a rainfall. I was following closely behind a slow moving bus within a town and was not able to see far ahead of myself. I unfortunatley hit one of these patches and nearly lost control. I managed to unclip one of my feet and place it down on the road. Herein is where the problem starts. Next to this particular section of shoulderless road there was no fluffy grass or even dirt, but rather a eight foot drop which had been eroded away by water. By placing my foot here I essentially went straight into that hole, with my bicycle right behind me. My instincts kicked in and the next few seconds were a blur. I managed to dislodge my other foot, ditch my bike, and make a leap to the side. Here a thorny bush of some sort broke my fall, and I went sliding down into the hole. The pedal of my bicycle fortunatley became stuck on something and prevent my bicycle from plumetting in after me. It would have made a great picture to see my bicycle hanging by a thread, but I was afraid to try and get my camera in order to do so.
Fortunatley I nor my bicycle did not suffer any major injuries, as this could have turned out to be a really, really ugly accident. I was unfortunatley scratched up pretty bad due to jumping into a thorny bush and had suffered a very painful bruise on the back of my leg. I brushed myself off, was very greatful for my luck, pulled out my bicycle, and pushed on.
For the next while I had a constant pain in my upper leg. I mistook it as simply an aftermath from the fall, but scratches shouldn't hurt this much! Upon closer inspection it seems that something had lodged itself into my leg and was located pretty deep within my skin. I decided to remove this in my hotel room in the evening, but that plan did not go through. The pain became so bad that I simply could not bicycle anymore without pain shotting up from my leg. I had to remove whatever was in there now. I stopped at a gas station in order to puchase the necessary supplies and took a seat on the curb.
Armed with only a safety pin, tweesers, tissue paper, a lighter, and a bottle of tequila I went to work. I disinfected my tweesers and safety pin with both the tequila and lighter for obvious reasons. Fortunatley being a future medical student I have been exposed to blood and gore and was thus am not affected too much by it, but when its yourself your working on it makes it a little more difficult; luckily my dear friend tequila also helped with that! I had to rip apart quite a bit of skin as the impregnated object was not only deep but large. A lot of bleeding and sweating later I managed to finally pull out the foreign object. It turned out to be a large thorn, almost a centimeter in length. No wonder I was in pain!
I think that for the packing list of my next trip I will definatley have to add a plastic flask of hard liquor for practical reasons! In the event of a crash where you injure yourself it can act as a painkiller; and in case you need to perform roadside surgery it can act as a anaestetic of sorts as well as a disinfectant for both your tools and your wound.
A very bumpy but fortunatley not too hilly road later I made it to the city of Zhuatanejo. This should ring a bell for you Shawshank Redemption fans out there; if you haven't seen this movie drop whatever you are doing and proceed to a video rental store immediatley to rent it. I am currently in the most pain that I have been in thus far on my trip. The scratches I can live with, but my leg is very sore and I anticipate I will have a very large bruise tommorow. I intend on taking a day off tommorow not due to my injuries, but rather because I had planned on doing so previously. Fortunatley these two managed to coincide!
Being as I had gotten rained on for the last five days I figured I would be in store for the same today. Hence, in the morning I chose to not put on sunscreen for the first time as long as I could remember. I figured since when it rains I'm wearing a rain jacket and it's cloudy anyway, that I should be safe. Unfortunatley my predictions are not always accurate, and this was one of those times where it failed. In the morning the skies were blue, but I figured that would soon turn around and the dark clouds would roll in. Hour after hour passed by and the weather remained clear. Before I knew it I was red as a raddish! Fortunatley I did not burn, just turned a little red!
The road to Manzanillo proved to be more difficult than anticipated, which seems to be happening quite a lot lately. I never realized that the coast of Mexico was so mountainous; and here I thought it would all be smooth sailing! Although it did not rain today, which was a nice change, it was still terribly humid. At times the humidity and heat here combined make it seem much worse than bicycling through the desert! Fortunatley the road conditions were fairly good. For part of the road I was directed onto a section of the toll highway, which is always nice since they have very broad shoulders.
Just like with Puerto Vallarta and the other touristy beach cities, the large luxury resorts started to appear about 20 kilometers before the city of Manzanillo. Sure, these hotels may be nice, but I really wouldn't want to stay in one of them. I prefer my half run down hotel in the heart of the city any day! Tonight I actually managed to find a hostel of sorts. Although rooms are priviate the bathroom facilities are shared; but hey, what do I care? For $8 a night I'm not complaining!
While walking around the town of Manzanillo I stopped into every computer shop I could find. My hard drive in my laptop is on the brink of death, and thus I need to buy a new one. I have to backup my data daily to avoid catastrophe. It's quite an inconvenience when I want to update my website and my computer dies on me. I have actually been looking for a new hard drive for the last few days or so without any luck. This particular shop had a laptop hard drive for sale; and 80 gigabyte hard drive for a mere $110. Although this isn't terribly cheap it's still a great deal for Mexico!
I continued to visit the city and then finally made my way back to my hostel, which according to my guidebook is in a shady part of town. Whoops! When I opened up my laptop in order to change my hard drive I first experienced a sense of shock, and then began to curse out loud. It turns out that since my laptop is an 'ultraportable' model it does not have a regular sized laptop hard drive, but rather a special smaller one. I have had several laptops in the past and none of them had ever had this, so I was totally oblivious to it! This however turns out to be a real problem, since these little guys are next to impossible to find, especially here in Mexico. I had trouble finding a normal laptop hard drive, so something like this would have to be special ordered. Technically I could special order something like this a few cities ahead, but my Spanish isn't that good and it will cost me an arm and a leg.
I have managed to get my laptop back to somewhat working condition, that is to say sometimes it works and sometimes it gives me the dreaded blue screen of death, afterwhich I have to run anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of diagnostics to get it to work again. I will try to make this drive last somehow to Panama, but if worst comes to worst I will buy an iPod and salvage the drive from it, which is the same kind as in my laptop. iPod's are much easier to find, but this solution would also cost me an arm and a leg.
Day 80 - Toll Roads: Forbidden Yet Not - 106 km
Today in the morning I got a very late start for several reasons. I had not gotten much sleep due to several reasons. Primarily, I had to stay up late while fixing my laptop. In my room there was only one power plug, so it was a choice between the fan and my laptop, I chose the laptop. This unfortunatley increased the temperature of my room to near super-nova. When I finally did finish up and go to bed, I was awoken by a very loud grasshopper who found himself into my room. I warned him to be quiet, but unfortunatley he would not comply and I had to hunt him down. Add this to the fact that my bed was as comfortable as sleeping on a bag on sand and it's a wonder I got any sleep at all! Finally in the morning I had to return this laptop hard drive that I just bought since I have no use for it and also go on the internet to try to solve my computer dilema. Fortunatley the shop accepted it without too much trouble, because they like myself were not aware of these smaller hard drives being used in laptops. The only thing they charged me is $5 as that is the fee they pay for a chargeback when using a credit card.
To make matter worse today is the first day of my trip where I even't felt too well. Although I did not throw up, I had to frequent the bathroom several times a day and rendevous with my dear friend Immodium. Yesterday at a small store I decided to buy myself buns, cold cuts and cheese in order to make sandwiches; I suspect they are the cause of my sickness as I did not really eat anything else that could make me sick. Although I drank plenty of fluids today I ate barely anything because I both did not feel hungry and I really didn't have an appetite for food. Fortunatley it was only a discomfort and not any major pain that would put me out of comission for a day or two.
The road from Manzanillo to where I am today was the absolute most confusing thing ever. There were two roads; a toll road and a free road. I of course opted to take the free road, but the signage was so confusing that I somehow ended up on the toll road. To make matters worse, the signs were all directing to smaller towns which were not on my map, thus I had no idea if I was even going the right way! On a positive note, these toll roads the roads are actually very good. They are much flatter and have a very wide shoulder. There are not many restaurants, stores, or cities along these roads, so they are unfortunatley quite dull. However, I think I'll take boredom any day over fear of death around every corner!
The reason I have never taken these toll roads is that technically bicyclists are not allowed on them. About 10 kilometers onto the highway I saw one of these signs, and literally ten seconds later a police officer drives by in his patrol car. I thought for sure that he was going to pull over and yell at me or worse. To my surprise, he just drove past. Technically bicycles aren't allowed since the signs say so, but the toll operators and police officers are aware that it's much safer to ride on this road with a wide shoulder than the free roads. I met some locals who were riding bicycles and they showed me how it's necessary to sneak past the toll booths. You are not allowed to pass through where the cars pass. Therefore you must get off your bike, carry it up a sidewalk and walk around the toll booth. Once again this is perfectly acceptable; we even walked right by a police officer standing guard and said hello to him!
Unfortunatley today I was not spared of rain. Fortunatley it was not very heavy rain and did not last terribly long, but it's always an inconvenience. Even if your rain jacket is waterproof you still end up dreched on the inside from sweating due to the heat. The problem lies in that you have to keep your rain jacket on even after it stops raining in order to prevent getting sick. Although it is hot, there is usually a cold wind. Wearing a wet shirt in this kind of weather probably isn't the smartest idea in the world.
I am currently staying in a small town on the main road whose name I do not even know. Here I have managed to find a pleasant hotel for a mere $9.50. They were originally asking $16, but since the owner is also an avid cyclist and I am an excellent negociator, the price went down. He was very excited when he found out I was Canadian and showed me his Gary Fischer bicycle, which is of course made in Canada. At least today I have my own bathroom and the beds are comfortable!
Day 81 - The Mexican Rollercoaster - 142 km
Today proved to be one of the toughest cycling days that I have encountered thus far. The road was simply horrendous. The road basically went from a small village located either on the coast or in a valley into a ten kilometer climb up a hill and back down again. Repeat this many times and that my day.
There were not many restaurants or shops along the way; I nearly starved trying to find a place to eat lunch since I had barely eaten anything these last two days. At one point I even ran out of water while climbing a hill. Should it have been cool it would not have been a problem. But seeing as it was boiling hot and humid it did not prove to be a very enjoyable experience. The views were beautiful, but otherwise the road was dull and real struggle.
Not far from the town of Nexpa, where I would be staying tonight, I began to see black clouds overhead. I knew it would rain soon, but I hoped that it would be able to hold out until I made it to Nexpa. I was fifteen kilometers from the town when it started to literally pour instantly. There was no warning sprinkles or anything; one second it was dry and the next it was a heavy downpour. It was the strangest thing ever because this has never happened before on my trip. There were always warning sprinkles, even if not for long.
On a rain scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is light sprinkles and 10 is a monsoon I must say that this rainstorm rated at about an 8 on the scale. The rain came down fast and it came down hard. The roads became flooded and I had to struggle through several inches of water. Things became even more interesting when the strong winds kicked in, making the rain essentially come at me horizontally as opposed to vertically. It was so bad that it was practically blinding me. But did I stop? Nope!
I am currently in the small town of Nexpa, population 55, which is located right on the ocean. I am actually writing this down in pen as my laptop is currently non-functional. There was a one kilometer cobblestone access road that one had to take in order to get here. Let's just say that it was so bad that I had to walk parts of it for fear of either ruining my rims or simply sinking somewhere. I am staying in what is thus far the coolest lodging of my trip. I have a private beach cabana complete with two floors, three beds, bathroom, fridge, kitchen, balcony, and hammock. Sure, I won't use half this stuff, but this place is simply awesome! Not the cheapest thing in the world at $14 but definatley worth it.
Being so close to the ocean I felt it would be a shame in order not to go for a dip. I quickly changed into my speedo swimming attire and headed off. Sure my swimming attire may be shocking revealing, but it's very lightweight and packs down small! Upon closer inspection of the water it occured to me how stupid of an idea it would be to go in there. Dark clouds and strong winds still prevailed, thus the waves ranged in at anywhere between four and ten feet. This could produce a potentially very dangerous undertoe in which I wouldn't stand a chance. I decided to simply lounge on the sand in the shallow water, where I was nearly swept away several times!
Day 82 - Roadside Surgery - 183 km
It rained heavily all night, however fortunatley this subsided in the morning. There were still light sprinkles; nothing to complain about. I did however have to walk part of the way out of Nexpa because the road, if you can even call it that, was terrible. The last thing I wanted to do was bend my rim and be stranded here. Sure, it may be nice, but I'd be in big trouble.
Roughly 15 kilometers from Nexpa I had a fairly scary near death encounter. Often there is mud and rocks which has been washed onto the road after a rainfall. I was following closely behind a slow moving bus within a town and was not able to see far ahead of myself. I unfortunatley hit one of these patches and nearly lost control. I managed to unclip one of my feet and place it down on the road. Herein is where the problem starts. Next to this particular section of shoulderless road there was no fluffy grass or even dirt, but rather a eight foot drop which had been eroded away by water. By placing my foot here I essentially went straight into that hole, with my bicycle right behind me. My instincts kicked in and the next few seconds were a blur. I managed to dislodge my other foot, ditch my bike, and make a leap to the side. Here a thorny bush of some sort broke my fall, and I went sliding down into the hole. The pedal of my bicycle fortunatley became stuck on something and prevent my bicycle from plumetting in after me. It would have made a great picture to see my bicycle hanging by a thread, but I was afraid to try and get my camera in order to do so.
Fortunatley I nor my bicycle did not suffer any major injuries, as this could have turned out to be a really, really ugly accident. I was unfortunatley scratched up pretty bad due to jumping into a thorny bush and had suffered a very painful bruise on the back of my leg. I brushed myself off, was very greatful for my luck, pulled out my bicycle, and pushed on.
For the next while I had a constant pain in my upper leg. I mistook it as simply an aftermath from the fall, but scratches shouldn't hurt this much! Upon closer inspection it seems that something had lodged itself into my leg and was located pretty deep within my skin. I decided to remove this in my hotel room in the evening, but that plan did not go through. The pain became so bad that I simply could not bicycle anymore without pain shotting up from my leg. I had to remove whatever was in there now. I stopped at a gas station in order to puchase the necessary supplies and took a seat on the curb.
Armed with only a safety pin, tweesers, tissue paper, a lighter, and a bottle of tequila I went to work. I disinfected my tweesers and safety pin with both the tequila and lighter for obvious reasons. Fortunatley being a future medical student I have been exposed to blood and gore and was thus am not affected too much by it, but when its yourself your working on it makes it a little more difficult; luckily my dear friend tequila also helped with that! I had to rip apart quite a bit of skin as the impregnated object was not only deep but large. A lot of bleeding and sweating later I managed to finally pull out the foreign object. It turned out to be a large thorn, almost a centimeter in length. No wonder I was in pain!
I think that for the packing list of my next trip I will definatley have to add a plastic flask of hard liquor for practical reasons! In the event of a crash where you injure yourself it can act as a painkiller; and in case you need to perform roadside surgery it can act as a anaestetic of sorts as well as a disinfectant for both your tools and your wound.
A very bumpy but fortunatley not too hilly road later I made it to the city of Zhuatanejo. This should ring a bell for you Shawshank Redemption fans out there; if you haven't seen this movie drop whatever you are doing and proceed to a video rental store immediatley to rent it. I am currently in the most pain that I have been in thus far on my trip. The scratches I can live with, but my leg is very sore and I anticipate I will have a very large bruise tommorow. I intend on taking a day off tommorow not due to my injuries, but rather because I had planned on doing so previously. Fortunatley these two managed to coincide!
Well, there is no next care package!
Those stopped back in the States
I can manage with the mile posts
Whoa! Allow me to hoist a glass of tequila in sympathy! I'm sending prayers that you're okay and no bad consequenses from your accident. How's the bike??
Thanks for the updates. We out here worry about you! You are amazing. I'm following your route on GoogleMaps.
Thanks for the updates. We out here worry about you! You are amazing. I'm following your route on GoogleMaps.
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