I felt like I was pedaling through a spaghetti western. The landscape is similar to south Texas but the palms trees are larger, it is more agricultural, and seems somehow emptier. Maybe it is just the unrelenting headwind that i grind through for the entire day only to achieve 40 miles. My only respite is a buffeting side wind that knocks me around the road to be momentarily broken by doubled tractor trailers. I stay in a couple cheap hotels simply to escape the wind and sun. I hear relentless wind can drive a person insane. I finished my days speechless and spent like a husk - you could use me to wrap tamales. The few towns i pass through are dry dusty affairs though some are busy supplying feed and seed to the surrounding ranches.
Eventually crop land gives way to beef cattle, by day four in Mexico i see mountains in the distance and climb my first hills in nearly 2000 miles though with the wind i am lucky to go 15 mph downhill, and that is working, if i coasted i would stop and fall over.
The end of day four i roll into Nuevo Padilla surrounded by orange groves that provide a welcome break from the wind. I buy water and and a 1.2 liter "Los Indios" cervesa all the while answering questions about my trip to a small gathering. I am pleased to notice that my functional spanish is returning and i have no problem being understood. I stop by an orange stand - they are all orange stands in this town - and am given two grapefruits after chatting. I wander out some farm roads into the orange groves and find a perfect spot to sling my hammock
in the corner of some fields beneath an orange tree and large cactus. After preparing dinner i read briefly and i am rocked into blissful sleep by the wind on my hammock. I wake round six in the morning a couple men pass me walking out to the fields along the irrigation ditch with their machetes. We exchange buenas and go about our respective business. After coffee i wander back to town to return my beer bottle, drink more coffee and chat with the ladies selling soft tacos while the morning fog lifts - they appreciate my healthy appetite. People are very friendly and i can safely lean my bike up without fear of it being stolen - besides who can pedal the beast! After a short day of 45km i arrive in Ciudad Victoria and see mountains rising nearly 2000 feet out of the city.
I felt like I was pedaling through a spaghetti western. The landscape is similar to south Texas but the palms trees are larger, it is more agricultural, and seems somehow emptier. Maybe it is just the unrelenting headwind that i grind through for the entire day only to achieve 40 miles. My only respite is a buffeting side wind that knocks me around the road to be momentarily broken by doubled tractor trailers. I stay in a couple cheap hotels simply to escape the wind and sun. I hear relentless wind can drive a person insane. I finished my days speechless and spent like a husk - you could use me to wrap tamales. The few towns i pass through are dry dusty affairs though some are busy supplying feed and seed to the surrounding ranches.
Eventually crop land gives way to beef cattle, by day four in Mexico i see mountains in the distance and climb my first hills in nearly 2000 miles though with the wind i am lucky to go 15 mph downhill, and that is working, if i coasted i would stop and fall over. 
The end of day four i roll into Nuevo Padilla surrounded by orange groves that provide a welcome break from the wind. I buy water and and a 1.2 liter "Los Indios" cervesa all the while answering questions about my trip to a small gathering. I am pleased to notice that my functional spanish is returning and i have no problem being understood. I stop by an orange stand - they are all orange stands in this town - and am given two grapefruits after chatting. I wander out some farm roads into the orange groves and find a perfect spot to sling my hammock 
in the corner of some fields beneath an orange tree and large cactus. After preparing dinner i read briefly and i am rocked into blissful sleep by the wind on my hammock. I wake round six in the morning a couple men pass me walking out to the fields along the irrigation ditch with their machetes. We exchange buenas and go about our respective business. After coffee i wander back to town to return my beer bottle, drink more coffee and chat with the ladies selling soft tacos while the morning fog lifts - they appreciate my healthy appetite. People are very friendly and i can safely lean my bike up without fear of it being stolen - besides who can pedal the beast! After a short day of 45km i arrive in Ciudad Victoria and see mountains rising nearly 2000 feet out of the city.
Hey amigo - Awesome site, awesome travel-log. Thanks for every detail. Your adventure gives me a daily shot of something I need as I plod on with life in the mainstream.
ReplyDeleteGreg, You are there. Take the time now to really smell the roses.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mom