Shotgun!...

Same seats! I get the long bike! What...Its mine. Yaahu.


  We have resumed coarse, Phazers on stun. Brakes disconnected?  Check.


Stay tuned for more Belezian back road pedal kicking! 

A massive little distance

Sorry to leave ya'll hanging. I know its been quite some time since I've scratched out any travel reports. So this should get us across the gap and back to crawling. Some of these pictures are blurry from swimming with my camera, so don't try to clean that spot on your screen, it wont help.

We had plowed headlong into the Caribbean at Puerto Morelos. We spent a few days on the beach there, camping, swinging in hammocks and fishing, only a short beach skip from town.
Kelly's Ma, Jane had decided to come and spend here vacation with us. So when it was time, we broke camp and rode up to meet her at a scary yet stupefying "All inclusive" resort. I'm sure we were the first filthy cyclist to crash this gate and begrudgingly be omitted to the inner sanctions of such pomp and splendor. As out of place as I felt I was more than ready to shred the buffet and gallop about in a fuzzy bath robe!

Jane was unfortunately slightly delayed due to storms on the East Coast. Though when she did get in, we spent a really pleasant time Eating!!, resting, drinking and hanging out. I thought I played a good undercover dirtbag, though I did get busted once when the fancy restaurant dress code called me out on my lack of long pants.

At the end of the week we said good-bye to Jane and happily remounted our bikes. With a mad dash through bustling Cancun, we hopped the ferry out to Isla Mujeres. The overly optimistic plan was to catch a passing sailboat out to the Cuban rock. Unfortunately our window of time was small since we were running on the last days of our 180 day Mexico visas. Then further information pretty much closed the window completely. Kelly had talked to a few folks with sailboats possibly going out that way but being that we are Americans no one would even consider giving us a lift.

Its not illegal for us to go to Cuba, its just illegal for us to spend money there. That's between us and the U.S. Treasury and we felt they didn't need to know. Some get sniffed out by returning to the U.S. right after a visit to Cuba. An immigration official may find entry and exit stamps from Mexico and no other country's stamps between(Cuba normally won't stamp American passports just the travel visa). Though other things like bureaucracy, strange laws and the infamous embargo also play a fat hand at being pains in the neck bone. If we went out with someone on their boat we could very well not have been allowed off of it. We wanted to see a bit more than the Havana marina.

So we let our romantic dreams of hitchhiking to Cuba float away in the Caribbean riptide. We felt better for at least trying. The few days we spent on Isla Mujeres were really quite nice but eventually we sucked it up and headed back to Cancun to catch a flight to Cuba.

We sat down with a Cuban travel agent and started hacking through an itinerary. We knew it was gonna be expensive but as it just kept cha-chinging skyward we began to squirm and scratch our heads. Airfare costs, oversize luggage fees for the bikes, daily insurance charges, visa fees, exit fees, all with peak season upcharges heaped on! We could ride aquatic bikes in one day to Cuba but it started to feel much farther away than that. We were looking at it costing 5 to 6x our average monthly budget for 30 days all said and done. My teeth began to itch. I wanted to go but it started to seem foolish to spend so much on a side trip. In the middle of haggling and debating prices the travel agent throws in that he has a friend that would pay our flight costs for "transporting" goods. (A Cuban midnight express flashed through my brain) Nothing illegal he said, just supplies and things for those in need. Save money and help out by delivering medication or supplies? It seemed like a great option and I actually read of others doing this before. We were all for it but we needed to wait for him to get a hold of his contact. He asked us to check back in a few days when he said he may be able to give us an answer.

We prepared ourselves for a stay in the bowels of Cancun. But first we needed to get our visas extended. Naively we thought, or just hoped, that we could show up at an immigration office, explain our story and get a few more days tacked on. The immigration office downtown was closed so we rode the busy freeway out to the airport. After lots of explaining and reexplaining we were told "officially" not to worry about it. They said if it's a month or so over that's one thing, but just a few days, its no big thing. So we became illegal immigrants in Mexico.
We rode a long ways north of Cancun and camped for a few nights. Spending a day and night on one of the most quiet and peaceful beaches we had found yet.

Back at the travel agent's, he still had no word for us, he'd gotten no contact from his contact.
We resigned to spend a few more days waiting. We don't use Couch Surfer often but at times it has proved to be a great way to meet people and get a place to crash. Gaspar and Michael were truly fantastic in hooking us up. We stayed for many days running errands and still hoping to get to Cuba without it costing us 7 left arms.

After waiting a week we were no closer. The travel agent still had no word. We'd been stewing, waiting and holding our breath. All I wanted to do was get on my bike and ride. Kelly, when looking at a world map, was the first to ring the dinner bell of reason. We had so much in front of us to put ourselves out for such a small distance. We would really be losing sight of the big picture. It would be different if Cuba was our end goal, but we have a lot, lot farther to go.

All that said, it brings us back around to one of my favorite things: We decided to just get on our bikes and keep riding! Cuba my dear, you'll have to wait.

The repulsive crowds and entry fees for the Tulum Mayan ruins had us sneak some peaks over the fence and call it good. As much as we have liked learning about Mayan history and seen the places where these once great civilizations stood, the way they are handled and buried in such tourism, we can't swallow them easily.

The good thing that did come out of our visit to Tulum was meeting a German cyclist named Silke. She has been riding south since the Alaskan panhandle and plans on continuing south to Tierra del Fuego, climbing mountains long the way. At 47 she is a real inspiration and wonderful person to ride with. She's a stout legged grandma who constantly crushes a tall gear and seems nowhere near her age.

The 3 of us continued on towards the Belize border together. Unlike the thousands of miles of rural Mexico Kelly and I have ridden, touring cyclist are in no drought along this busy hwy at the end of the country. Our second day with Silke we heaped up with 3 other loaded bikes and riders. One guy from Poland was going the other way but Sara and Evan were pedaling in the same direction as us. They were from Alaska (Minnesota) and were escaping the winter for a while. So 3 became 5. We rode as a swarm for the next several days, searching out great camp spots and talking into the night around fires.

We crossed into Belize, mine and Kelly's first new country in over 6 months. We had no problem leaving Mexico, the immigration official had nothing to say about us being over our visa time!

Corozal was our first Belizan town of girth, though after that we turned onto a fantastic series of dirt backways. Off the beaten path and in small villages we explored the Northern coast and then made our way down to Ladyville. There we said good-by to Sara and Evan. They were bound for a Guatamalan language school. We hope to meet up with them again later!

Silke, Kelly and I plowed the remaining distance to Belize City and right through to the water taxi port. Just in time, jumping aboard the last water taxi out to Caye Caulker that day. Caye Caulker is village on a small island about 25km out in the Caribbean.
It was this night on this small, carless but crowded island that we got some truly awful news. I went off to check my email quickly while Kelly hung out with some other travelers we had met. I found out then that she had a massive family emergency and needed to get home. With as straight face as possible I got her to a phone so she could hear from her family that she had lost her youngest brother. Never before have I seen someone I love go through so much pain. I don't even have words for what a truly horrific ordeal this has been for her and her family. So I won't say much more about it. You can read the tribute she wrote to him on her page.

The next day we caught a flight up here to New Jersey so she could be home for the funeral. We have been here for a few weeks and leave in a few more. We'll be back to our bikes, trip and Belize soon!

What the hell is that?

As we rounded a corner in Belize I saw 3 guys struggling out of the sugar cane with this...thing. We stopped in the road and they basically plopped it at our feet.




Just a python that ate a bit to big of a lemur and exploded. Thats all.

They said they had to go back in for the other half of the python.

No 2 are ever the same

There is just something about a nice quiet little passage vanishing into the distance that will never get old.





If I was into snow flakes instead of traveling? I guess I would spend a lot of time groping around at higher elevations during certain times of the year with a magnifying glass. But instead I think I'll go ride my bike




I'd rather leave more unsaid than roads unridden

Extracting a thorn from my side

A few thousand Kms ago my rear hub started acting like it wanted to go somewhere other than with me. When I put pressure on the pedals there was a rather disgusting auditory crack. It went hand in hand with regular slipping, sometimes just a bit of one rotation but at times it was like freewheeling in both directions. This clutch slipping, spin class action didn't happen all the time but definitely almost threw me over the bars on more than a few occasions.
I knew the cassette/hub body was shot. That was obvious but the hard part was getting a replacement. Its a proprietary part for Halo hubs. There is no walking into a bike shop to buy a new one, at least not in Mexico. I contacted Halo directly and they were fantastically helpful. It was no problem to explain my situation and have them jump onboard with sending me replacement parts ASAP. These were coming from England so I had them shipped to a bike shop way ahead in Oaxaca.
In the mean time I flushed out the hub body with WD-40 and then soaked some chain oil into its bearings. This helped a lot. The popping and crackling stayed but most the skipping stopped. I thought it was case closed and just needed to get the 1000 or so Kms down to Oaxaca. As annoying as it was, she held together and we made it down.
I hit the bike shop with my fingers crossed... No dice. Nothing ever showed. Not while we were in the city that week or ever. Halo sent it but it never made it. So very typical for the Mexico mail system, we have since learned. Halo had no tracking # and the post office and bike shop did nothing but shrug their shoulders at me. What was I to do but ride on?
We had met Wolf and Javier and really wanted to cycle south with them. My plan was to return to Oaxaca on the bus when I got an e-mail from the bike shop. I'm still waiting on that e-mail.
As the Kilometers went by it got worse and worse. Just about every time I engaged the drive train there would be a crunch and a loss of half a pedal stroke or so. I expected every day to be left stranded A.K.A having to hitch hike.
We were now so far away from Oaxaca that it was more in bus fare than the price of the new part. So I contacted Jeff in Durango and he ordered me one from BTI. This was relayed to Kelly's mother who flew down to visit on her vacation and she hand delivered it to me. It was nice to hold in my hand the one piece that would give back my faith in Samu as a reliable rig and the confidence and smoothness in my cadence. As a bike mechanic this was a long run of cruel torture- A problem with my own bike I could not fix.
Here in Cancun, the Benotto dealer turned over their shop to me. This is what I found:
Shattered chunks of steel



the remnants of my cassette/ hub body



The rat bastard on left. 3/4" wrench not actually used for anything.

new bearings ass well!

I just wanna say THANX to Halo in their valid attempt at help me out and to Jeff at Papa Wheelies for being a Pal and gophering for me. And to Kelly's Mum in hand delivering some much needed supplies to us!

Oh Mexico, you erratic and wonderfully savage rudder

We've now ridden the whole whip. Scribbled the length of the southern fin. Rolled our tread across the gilded face of our latin neighbor's outback. Yes... We've ran the gauntlet on the bottleneck and have found ourselves gaping at a turquoise ocean! It seems a lifetime now that we have crammed into this last 6 months in Mexico. The faces of so many friendly people and the labyrinth of dirt and paved byways. The memories are as vivid in my brain as the smell of this coffee next to me. If only I could expel onto this keyboard some of the beauty, adventure, friends and experiences we have met here. In a country under so much speculation and a place we were warned so strongly against. I really have nothing negative to mutter, no piss to moan, no bitch to pitch on the band wagon of nay say-ers. Yes there is corruption, pollution, crime and poverty, but what country doesn't have that?
As for Mexico, all in all... As we pedaled through her, stumbling in our learning and understanding of the language, cultures and landscape. Never once were we shunned from the bosom or rarely shown anything but kindness and hospitality. We got stared and laughed at a lot but thats cuz we look goofy and talk funny.
I wrote this mainly for a few reasons: 1)We both really enjoyed Mexico 2) We are at the bottom of it. 3) To put in my 3 pesos for all the cyclist wondering if they should or if it means instant death CYCLING BIKING BICYCLING MEXICO
I think you know how we feel? hint: sandy, greasy, dirty, firm in the tush, tan, happy

Whats the happs latley?

DOGS

Bikes

TRAILS


Fires

Handlebar bag tortillas

and Loving this girl!

Old rock heaps

Climbing through the ruins at Palenque I found some graffiti from the early 1800's. Its nice to think that that is like yesterday in the building's lifetime. I play the same game for massive old growth trees, like wondering what the world looked like when they were just saplings. Though with these old civilizations its more like being the eyes of a certain stone. To see the beginning, the floor plan, its first foundation. Generally all that eventually lead to the distasteful hierarchy, heartless slavery, the sacrifice, the wars, battles fought and the city's general life and living conditions. Also to not even know about bicycles and coffee to even miss them?






Palenque




Bonampak

A little slip into the seething and looming jungle

We`re now spilling out of Chiapan highlands and plowing down towards the Guatamalan border. Though we wont be crossing into Guatamala yet, and really just licking the border while heading up to the Yucatan. This route of jungle canopy, waterfalls, swimming cenotes, and maya ruins has got us as giddy as the spider monkeys we´ll see along the way. We´ll be up dating our route with the SPOT but I won´t have a new posting here for a few weeks. I´m developing an allergy to computers so hopefully some time cycling in the jungle wilds will cure it?

I just wonder how many will become ninjas?

1 out of every 1000 baby sea turtles survive. Turtle poaching was made illegal in the 90s but still they are hunted quite often for their meat and eggs. Not just by humans but seems like every other animal also wants to make snack out of them. I licked one but it really didn't taste very good.

We wanted to help out and do what we could to increase the chances for some of these little guys. So we went to the turtle sanctuary in Puerto Arista with intention of putting in some volunteer time. But we found there was not much for us really to do(at least at this one). William and his uncle Toni who who pretty much run the place had crashed the truck into some poachers a little while before we got there. So there was no going out to collect anymore eggs at the time. All there really was to do was lay around in a hammock and wait for the previously rescued incubated eggs to hatch. Just before sunset the little guys that hatched that day were counted and carried down to the awaiting ocean. It was a fantastic scene to watch them scramble into the surf, see them swim off to their new under sea world and only hope that the ones we touched would have a better chance at survival. Don't skip them into the water, they don't like that!

Samu's first 10,000 miles and something of a long awaited review

Samu the Savage Mule has come of age. With flapping colors and gear spinning persistence, together we have heaved across this milestone. Let this post stand as his bike-mitzvah and my way for saying thanx for carrying me the distance. He is the brain child of many past tours. A compiled frankin-bike built from the hard learned things that failed or I would have like to have done differently before. His theme is beefy off-road self sufficiency. His length supplies the extra space for carrying the supplies while the wheel base supplies the stability for the weight of extra supplies.(su-P-lize!) And he is fun to ride.
A few of his highlights are:
A 48 spoke rear wheel with meaty "Down hill" rim by Halo (nothing takes a beating more than the aft wheel. If there is one place not to skimp on the touring bike build, its this wheel. More spokes= stronger wheel. Popping spokes and a collapsing wheel is the thorn in the side of so many touring cyclist. In my opinion, if yer going out for the rugged long run, its best to put the extra spokes in the wheel in the beginning... not one at a time later on, on the side of the road!)
Mechanical disk brakes (Why build a fatty wheel set and then cut their life short by wearing through the rim's braking surface. Also for better stopping power in wet and muddy conditions.)
Schmidt Dynamo Hub This front hub has been effin' fabulous. Hands down the best dynamo hub on the market. There is virtually no drag while it cranks out 6 volts of power. I rely on this dude for superior lighting as well as charging various batteries while I ride.)
Spiderflex Saddle By far the most durable and comfortable "nose less" saddle to be found. It takes some getting used to but is far more comfortable in the long run. Plus it will keep yer Nads from getting operated on.
Outboard bearing crank set There is a lot of debate in this matter. Many argue on the side of square taper cranks and being able to find bottom bracket replacements easier in far flung places. As this has some truth. Square taper cranks have been around since the 30s and the outboard bearing crank system only hit the mass market in 2003. But the nice thing about the out board bearing is being able to replace just the bearing and not having to get a whole new bottom bracket cartridge/ spindle. The bearings are lighter weight for carrying spares and can be tapped out and repressed in any kind of mechanic shop. I'm running Shimano XT hollow tec2 cranks and here is the story to prove my point: I bought them used off an unnamed douche bag down hiller. So I don't know what the wear on the bearings were before I got them, but in any case I rode for a year and a half and 10,000 plus miles on them through every condition. Though just the other day I noticed a bit of play between the cranks at the bottom bracket. Further inspection showed one of the bearings crunchy and needing replacement soon. Oaxaca, the next big city I found a shop with after market 24mm Enduro bearings at a 1/3 of the price of the new Shimano BB. A bit further along in Puerto Escondito at Tello's shop. I pulled the cups out of the frame and tapped the press fitted bearings out with a punch and hammer. I found that a 1 1/8 headset crown race was the perfect diameter to use as the drift (you never want to push on the inner race of the bearing). So this steel crown race lined up nicely with the outer bearing race to press fit it back into the cup. I put two blocks of wood in the bench vice and the cup, bearing and drift inbetween them. The bearings slipped right back into the cups and I had them back on the bike in minutes. This was such a easy process and I soon realized that I could have left the cups in the frame and used only a flat head screw driver, a rock, a block of wood and my little crown race drift and done this on the side of the road. Plus the new Enduro bearings are a bit beefier that the stock ones. These bearings can be ordered from any bike shop in the U.S. or bought at most bearing companys. They´re like carrying the weight of a golf ball and four plastic spoons (standard pic-nic issue white). Yea, Shimano tells you right on the cup "do not dissasemble" but what ever. They also tell you that their chains are not compatible with any other and I've been running a half Shimano half Sram chain with no explosion problems.
Other things of note: 8 speed drive train for longer chain life. Shimano Saint rear derailure. Salsa bash guard (this has saved many bent and mangled teeth on my outter ring) Titec H-bar and Ergon grips for paw, shoulder, and assneck comfort, Schwalbe tires.
And for the big "what the hell is that" feature Xtracycle is a great little company whose been cranking out the long tail bikes for some time now. A great concept and good design for what they are. But any one wanting to get a bit belligerent with one finds themselves with durability issues A.K.A snappage. So this was rectified with the Surly Big Dummy frame. A strong option but then you are locked into the length of it all. I dreamed of something slightly shorter with the option of unbolting it and having a hardtail Mtn bike again or for making a smaller bundle for shipping if needed.
I got my mitts on a good priced broken Xtracycle free radical frame. These bolt into a standard bike frame at the rear drop outs with an extension arm that lays a tongue across the chain stay bridge. The problem is that all the downward force transfers to this little tongue. So if they get over loaded or hammered on in rough terrain this appendage likes to snap right off.
So the Free Radical frame I got was broken at this vital link. (Thanx to the fantastic kindness of Mike Stangl for opening up his metal shop to me!) I set to work hacking it up and expanding on it right away. I brazed back on the broken off tongue and added some extra gussets for strength. Then cut 10 inches off the back end of it and built the top end giving it another connection point to the frame. This is what really made all the difference. It takes all the pressure off the lower link and in addition also stops a shit ton of the torsional flexing when loaded. I feel that its all the bonus of the long tail with none of the draw backs.
P.S. the funnest part was milling down old crank arms to make the free radical connection backing plates.

Splatter fest!

Man... Its really been a sweet run. I don´t even know where to begin. Hence the splatter fest. theme! This posting is all over it self. Like a sesame street activity. I´ll let you match the picture to the blurbs.

In Oaxaca we met Wolf and Javier. Two other cyclists mobing about sothern mexico and Guatamala. Together we rode the fantasticly windy, potholed old road to Perto Escondito. The first cyclists we´ve ridden with in Mexico and I think its mutual that it was a damn good time! Cheers and Prost! Good riding with you guys! Take care!

In Zipolite we ran into our friends from the Huasteca (The ones we snuck into ¨the bridge of god¨with) and had some cold beers and loungy beach time.

Fresh water streams, road side mezcal stands, goarging feast, sweet camp spots, epic moutain climbs and breath vomiting vistas! FOMO fits prevail! Its all there all the time. Just going on. Makes me itch all over and feel faint yet twitchy

Tucked into A corner of Peurto Escondito you can find: Bicitodo/Bike Center. At first it doesent look any different than any other simple bike shop. But get inside and Meet Tello and every thing changes! He is an extremely friendly guy who has had a long career of bicycle mechanics and racing. He also leads tours into the surrounding mtns., speaks perfect english and is up on current and high end parts. If you are touring and need service, dont even go to the other shops and have them shrug at your problem while they wrench a tire off a rim with a claw hammer. Just go see Tello at the bike center!

Oh yea... We found the Ocean

We had been on the coast for about a week and still had not found ourselves the hidden beach cove we had been looking forward to. South of puerto Angel we took a random turn down a dirt road that plummeted us back shore side. Though it felt like it, we wern´t completly alone at this beautiful little paradise. There was a small ritzy hotel on the far side of the cove. Kelly went over to just let them know we would be camped on the other side. They said¨"There is No camping, sorry". Well, all beaches in Mexico are Federal propperty which means public. We stayed two nights telling each other "No camping".

Were off now to see about helping out some baby sea turtles make it into the big salty.