Things learned on a bicycle tour

Brian and I were talking the other day about the things you learn on bicycle tours.  This is a partial list of the things we have learned in the last 10 days:

-Mexican Bakeries are THE best.  Never pass up the opportunity to buy a pastry or some bread.

-Grocery stores are basically non-existent along our route.  We buy most of our supplies at "tiendas" or "mini supers".  The food available always varies, and we are lucky if vegetables and fruits are included in the selection.  This of course leads to creative menu planning.  

-NEVER ever drink coffee from a mexican truck stop.  This will without a doubt end badly.  

-If a hotel does not exist in a town, it does not mean that there are not rooms available...

From Felipe Carrillo Puerto, we were on the road bright and early to get some miles in before the heat.  The day presented some "points of interest" finally and we took a break at the equivalent to a truck stop for some late morning cookies and coffee.  Luck would have it that I realized that drinking instant coffee is the same as drinking the water immediately after I had chugged down two cups...and it got me.  I was thankful for the travel prescriptions that we brought with us later in the day.  We also met Rico the Dejon at the truck stop.  We aren't exactly sure what a dejon is, but it looked like a mix between a raccoon and anteater.  Rico was the pet of the truckstop's owner and climbed all over the place.  it was really weird.

stretching break along the highway

Later in the day, we stopped at a fruit stand for a bag of tangerines and mangos.  Best 20 pesos spent on the trip.  We ended in Limones, which didn't amount to much.  The town was small and saddled the highway.  There were no hotels, and a few people told us we could camp inside the fence of the small pyramid they have.  We were shooed away from the pyramid by the town drunk and eventually found a man who rents rooms thanks to the help of a nurse from the public health building.  

our "cuarto" in Limones

From Limones we headed to Muhahual.  We experienced our first military checkpoint and had all of our bags inspected before we could continue.  We had an extreme headwind the entire ride and the sun strong with little shade along the way.  Definitely the toughest day yet.  Muhahual was a nice town though.  We spent two nights camped along the malecon, a beachfront walkway.  

We departed Muhahual this morning unsure of where we would end.  We were planning on some beach camping along the old coastal road, but reached our destination early enough that we decided to continue.  Tonight and tomorrow we will spend in Xcalak.  It's a tiny town without much tourist development.  The main attraction here is the scuba diving.  We have scored a nice little campsite for 35 pesos a person and we can't complain.  From here, we will head back to Muhahual for a night and inland after that.  

Old Coastal Road to Xcalak

Old Coastal Road

Old Coastal Road

The Beach Life

Hola from Fellipe Carrillo Peurto!

We've been living under the radar for the last couple days and I can't complain one bit.  After Tulum, we spent two days in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere.  It was an absolutely gorgeous ride along the coast with much less traffic than we had seen the days before.  Taking two days to ride the biosphere gave us the opportunity to camp on the beach - our own private beach!! Everything about it was perfect!  We arrived around noon and had plenty of time to relax.  Did I mention Brian proposed when we arrived?!  Like I said, everything was perfect!

 Coconut water

 Sian Ka'an coastal road

 Topes, so many topes

 camping on the beach

 The ring

 Killing time before bed, shadow puppets!

 Camp, Sian Ka'an biosphere

 Beach riding

 Hannah, Sian Ka'an bioshpere

Coastal Road to Punta Allen

Coconut transportation

Ocean on one side, Lagoon on the other

Entering Sian Ka'an biosphere

Caribbean sunrise

Back on the mainland, Into the deep jungle all by ourselves

Jungle, No cars in site for hours

Beach riding

Our second day in the biosphere ended in Punta Allen - a small fishing town of about 400.  We camped on the beach at a guesthouse, ate fajitas and liked it so much that we stayed another night!

This morning, we took a motorboat across the lagoon to continue into the biosphere from Punta Allen complete with dolphin siting and everything!  From there, the first 30 miles were on dirt as we headed away from the coast and farther in the jungle.  Even through the road was rough, it was nice to have the road to ourselves.  When we hit the highway again, it was clear that we left the sea behind.  The last 30 miles were HOT - flat, but hot.  After pounding out the miles, we finally made it to town, found a hotel, had ourselves a taco feast (a spicy taco feast!) and are now happily sitting in the air conditioning and watching TV in spanish.  The man at the taco stand was even surprised at how many tacos Brian could put away!!

Heading to Limones tomorrow - 40 highway miles.  After today, it shouldn't be too difficult.  One week in and we are healthy and happy.

The road was hot. The road was flat. The road was boring.

The end.

I guess more has happened than that, but it sure seemed like the road really wasn't going to end yesterday.  We made it to Cancun on Dec. 20th after almost a full 24 hours of traveling - if you are doing the math, that means we spent a cozy night in the Atlanta airport falling asleep to the soothing sounds of TSA announcements and industrial cleaning equipment.  Everything went smoothly at the airport and we were on the road within 2 hours of arriving.

Ready for the airport/Preparing for the -10 degree Wyoming weather with limited clothing

Dec. 20th was also the hottest day of my life (while Dec. 19th was literally the coldest day of my life in Wyoming).  We rode 12 miles to Puerto Morelos and it felt amazing to make it to our hotel, take a quick dip, eat dinner, and SLEEP.

Our mess at the airport

We began riding on Friday unsure of our exact plans. Tentatively set out for Tulum.  We set out early in hopes to beat some of the heat, but quickly realized that may be an unattainable goal.  Luckily there is a breeze which helps while on our bikes.  We have been on the same highway since we left the airport.  There wasn't anything too interesting along the way so we ended up making great time with the tailwind.  At points throughout the day we looked to make things more interesting which resulted in a quick ride through some sprinklers lining the driveway of a resort, rejoicing when it rained just a few drops, and replacing the word rain in as many songs as possible.  I have to say the most entertaining of all, was the view in my rear view mirror as Brian tried to hide from the sun in his safari hat underneath his helmet.  Surprisingly, both of us are riding in more clothing than I thought we would - my long sleeve sun shirt and quick dry pants are the winning  combination thus far as nothing else is quite as breathable.  Temperatures during mid-day have been right around 90 degrees F.

What the road looked like ALL the way from Tulum and of course one of my more attractive moments in the heat.

We arrived in Tulum early yesterday afternoon and quickly learned that finding a room would be more difficult than we intended.  The "end of the world" has drawn a few music festivals(and way too many hippies for our liking), so we ended up camping in the courtyard/backyard of a hostel.  It has worked out quite well really.  We took the day off today and visited the ruins and the beach and then came back for lunch and some grocery shopping before relaxing for the afternoon.  It looks like we will be camping for the next couple days in the Sian Ka'an biosphere.

The physical proof of a tailwind is always beautiful to touring cyclist!

We promise to work on the quality of pictures.  We are definitely still trying to get back into the groove of touring - but it's happening slowly but surely.

Until the next time (for old times sake),
Peace, Love, and Bicycles

Tulum Ruins

Brian educating himself

The beach at the Tulum Ruins

Overlook at Tulum Ruins

I work better under pressure

No seriously.  I must not procrastinate, but it's just the way I do things when it comes to preparing for a big change.  Unfortunately, (maybe more like fortunately) Brian and I do not function the same way. 

Not only is our date of departure two days away, but our plan of action has taken a somewhat dramatic turn within the last week - which has only added to our list of things to do!

Exactly one week ago today, Brian and I received an offer that we couldn't refuse.  It boils down to the fact that we will be returning to Jackson sooner than we originally intended - 4 months early to be precise.  Kind of crazy how things turned out.  I guess you could say we are disappointed that the trip won't take the shape we had originally intended, but more so we are incredibly thankful for the opportunity that has presented itself and excited to start another chapter in our lives.

We have decided to make the most of the time we have (and the plane tickets we bought) and head to the Yucatan Peninsula for a loop full of delicious food, white sandy beaches, and tons of Mayan ruins (with our bikes of course!!)  Take a look at Brian's map in the route section.  Bikes are packed and everything else has taken its place in boxes and bags until we return to Jackson in January.  

This past week has been stressful to say the least and I believe I have felt every single emotion you can imagine while dealing with this change so late in the game.  That being said, I am beyond ready for this vacation.  I am extremely grateful that we are still able to take an extended trip, and ecstatic that we will be spending it in the Yucatan.  

We still have to finish crossing things off our list tomorrow, but at this point my biggest worry revolves around the fact that the high on Wednesday is 16 degrees, and I will be decked out in my chacos on the taxi ride to the airport!

Only one picture this time, but it's a good one!  You have to feel some sympathy for the ginger heading to the beach/jungle!