I get questioned almost daily about where i sleep and before i left people wondered how i was going to camp everyday. This is my primer on "guerrilla camping basics." Camping can be cheap, however campgrounds in the United States can easily cost $20 or more, the price of a good hotel in Mexico. In Mexico campgrounds are few and far between, good for destinations, impractical for daily travel. Where i end up at the end of the day depends on weather, wind, road conditions, personal whim, therefore around 4pm i start considering where i am and anything i may need - water, additional food, a beer. By 5:30pm i want to get earnest about looking because o'dark is 7pm. Primary concerns are 1. safety 2. comfort 3. convenience 4. aesthetics. Safety generally means i don't want to be harassed or have anything stolen. To this end i don't camp in towns and generally like to be out of sight. However, if a problem does arise i want to be able to run for help . . . so not too remote (depends on how fast and far you can run). Field edges, orange groves and light woods work well - i love orange groves because they include breakfast! People may be working in these areas but not at night and if they show up at 6am, they are not the owner and will not care. This is the last campsite at the edge of a field, off the side of a dirt road, and below the road grade. No one can see me.
Comfort is a two trees to sling my hammock, shade, and a block for the wind. If i must pitch a tent then i need level ground but not so low that it collects water. oh yeah, watch out for cacti! I prefer the hammock for comfort and it requires little space.
Convenience typically means i don't want to push/carry my 100 lb rig up or down steep slopes or through heavy brush, and a place to set up my kitchen. The hammock make a comfortable seat to prep and cook a good meal.
Aesthetics, nobody wants to camp somewhere ugly. Facing west is nice because I like to watch the sun set and it provides the long light to work by. Again, my last camp site. The moon was full that night and passed over a break in the tree canopy bright enough to wake me. I am going to sleep by 8pm so i usually wake in the early morning around 3 or 4am for 45 minutes. I listened to a raucous party on the far side of the fields and wondered what's the occasion as i drifted off with the foggy realization of roosters and sheep. I woke with first light to watch an extremely small hummingbird feed on the pink flowers of the tree i was tethered to 'til coffee called.
Pedaled into the city after an unpleasant afternoon of gusting headwinds, heavy traffic, shoulders filled with gravel bars and piles of busted pavement. Then i found out its Carnivale in Coatzacoalcos - when does lent actually start? . . . I am getting the impression that if you travel around you can party 'til Easter Sunday. Consequently, hotels in the city were packed and took some searching to find a place. Overall, the city seems "chingon," as i was told it would be.
Nice to be on the Gulf again after 1600+ miles inland over hill and dale. I am looking forward to some coastal riding, beach camping, swimming and seafood.
another song i have heard endlessly for 25 years in Latin America
Tuxtepec is not the most scenic city but i have a great view overlooking the river at the back of my hotel. A great place to write, have a beer and enjoy the sunset. Last night i watched a boat paddle along the near shore while a boy stood on the bow casting a fish net. A small ferry moves back and forth carrying people and their goods. As mentioned previously, i found the place notable for people missing limbs but that is not unusual in a place with timber and heavy agricultural equipment. I saw one guy on a bike with a wooden leg from the mid thigh down. There are a lot of shoe stores, as well... maybe they sell singles? Overall, an easy place to take a break, eat, and walk around.
quick music note: Bob is quite possibly the most popular musical performer ever - i have never been to a place where he is not ubiquitous.
Well, I left Cholula, Puebla, finally, after eight pleasant days of eatin' and chillin'. I will miss my favorite quesadilla lady, who made the most perfect huitlacoche and chicharrone quesadillas with extra jalapenos and cheerfully answered all my culinary queries (note the hand made blue corn tortillas). But i gotta get out of Mexico one of these days.
Matt Kelly and I agreed on a nice crack of noon start with the excuse that we would let the day clear. Matt, a Chicago boy, that has been on the road for over seven months starting in Alaska. Matt's site, pedalpanam.com, is worth the visit. I was pleased to have some ride company for the first time in my travels and it is nice to share notes with someone who has as much crap piled on his bike as i do. I admit that i let Matt do most of the navigation and relegated myself to moral support - anyone who has ridden with me, Dave and Todd . . . is not going to believe that but honest, as long as we're headed in the right direction. Additionally, Matt's dual citizenship made him a good cultural translator.
We spent most of the afternoon trying to get Puebla out of sight and both realized we could have been more efficient about it but the riding was nice through rolling hills and small towns with light traffic around a good sized reservoir. We wanted to ride around the reservoir but Mexicans are not any better with directions than Americans and we got directed down to a ferry across the reservoir that meant we just spent the day in a scenic detour but it was scenic and folks were pleasant. The rest of that afternoon we rode through hot dry country with quite a bit of rock debris on the road from local marble and onyx quarries. We shared a hotel room in Tecali de Herrera, the only hotel, i have never seen so much onyx in one place. The next day was a fantastic day of riding winding along level farming valleys and riding along dirt roads that had more bike and burro cart traffic than motor vehicles. We stopped at a small market for lunch and i had the best taco ever! Double tortilla wrapped potatoes, pork, and jalapenos with a cervesa fria all for . . . 22 pesos! (13 pesos=$1). Did i mention that i really love Mexico?! We checked out the local church that was in the process of reapplying gold leaf and were overwhelmed by the perfume of flowers. The church was packed with fresh flowers of every type. We asked if it was related to Lent we were told it is always like this. . .wow. . .you would need a wholesale warehouse to supply this place for a week. We, also, checked the tiles, Matt is a tile aficionado and now he has me always looking down, but that is a good thing to do in Mexico. Eventually, we arrived in the city of Tehuacan by mid- afternoon courtesy of a stiff tailwind and stayed in friendly pension. Tehuacan is a nice city with a really pleasant plaza and good food that i did not take a single picture of . . . oh well. Appeared to have an obvious middle class and would be an easy place to spend a few days. The next morning Matt and i parted ways for our respective climbs - his to Oaxaca City, mine over the mountains to Tuxtepec. We will be running into each other again further down the line. I rode out of Tehuacan averaging better than 32kph, leaving the city was downhill so i was faster than traffic. I like that. I would prefer to avoid the cars than have the cars avoid me and i can take my own lane - i know the little boy in the back of a truck was impressed when i blew by them - grins all around. My bike feels really good and solid cruising at 50 to 70kph - all 40 kilos of the beast. I finished up a hot fast day at the base of what promised to be a long steep climb and rested in the small town of Teotilan. I woke up and got out by 8 am to provision and begin my climb before the sun came around to beat down on me for the afternoon. I was looking up the street at my climb, everyone smiled knowingly in some version of "you go man," or "you poor bastard." I smiled and waved. The road was steep and continually curved as it snaked its way up the slope. Within the first hour i came upon a large truck that had stalled in the middle of a switchback corner. I swung wide because he kept rolling back trying to get the truck into gear. Coming along aside the driver looked desperate and asked me to block a wheel. I dumped my bike off, dug up a big wedge rock for a big truck, and stuck it behind the wheel. No sooner than putting the truck into gear and giving the gas there was an explosion of bolts, "CLANK!," the drive shaft hit the pavement. The poor guy was screwed. Stuck on a steep corner on a steep slope with no transmission. I said i was sorry, wished him the best of luck, and continued my grind for the next few hours. His was not the last distressed truck i saw but his situation was by far the worst. The road had lots of nuts and bolts laying around and was a truly wicked 30+ km ascent of continual turns minor landslide debris and a precipitous edge. The climb reminded me of the Andes to come but those climbs will be dirt and those slopes will be lightly scattered with the remains of buses and trucks too difficult to remove - no matter how precious scrap metal becomes. I topped out in the early afternoon and the cacti were gone replaced by small scale farming and trees, ah trees, trees mean shade but the temperature was noticeably cooler. I enjoyed a beer and coke while taking in the view before a blistering descent that sent me screaming by jake breaking dump trucks and railing through endless s turns as everything became greener and greener and denser and flowers appeared in profusion. Towns passed with a blink trailed by hollers and whistles. I doubled my distance in a fraction of the time and wound up having a couple beers in a steep little valley with these two amiable characters that made for a nice welcome to Oaxaca. We chatted and they directed me over to a set of cascades a short distance up the valley. I was tempted to stay longer but i still had a climb up to Huatla and the day was getting late. And a climb it was! The road itself was fine but accessing Huatla was akin to Lombardi in San Francisco minus the turns or for you Binghamton folks - think Sherwood times four - a beastly push on foot past locals watching kids play soccer. All the sympathy did not make it hurt any less. Huatla was having a carnival of sorts in the main plaza but i was too beat to pay much attention beyond the food stalls. The next morning i shopped in the market and was approached by a curandero. The area is famous for mushrooms edible and other wise (also great local mescal!). He offered spiritual healing but my spirit is good and i was not in the mood to trip my ass off with strangers. The region grows coffee, and trees are scattered about in small plots and is a good indicator of the higher altitude. When i departed in the late morning i was climbing again for several hours through little villages of men dressed all in white and women in colorful embroidered clothing. I started to really notice the altitude and was pleased to finally top out and gaze down into the cloud covered low lands. Within the next couple hours i would be in the far distance well below those clouds. Humidity rose as i descended the coastal side of the mountains and once again everything began to bloom. Epiphytes abounded in trees and reminded me that i may finally see orchids blooming outside of a green house. I went from high altitude coffee growing to bananas to sugar cane, corn, and rubber trees within a matter of cyclicious moments. The air was alternately sweet with ripening corn, as tassels browned, and the sweet browness of harvesting sugar cane. We must consume lots of sugar to grow so much cane. I noted that Mexican sugar cane harvest seems less wasteful than US harvest simply based on how much was not in the road. In Mexico the cane is cut by hand then loaded onto trucks mechanically. By 6pm i waded along a fence line into the midst of a corn field to camp, stringing my hammock 'tween a couple slender trees. I was a couple hundred meters off the road to be private. After dinner and fiddling with my new harmonica, it started to mist so i strung my tent fly over my hammock - good idea. The rain lasted the night and thru the next day but i was comfortable and well fed. Later the next morning, pedaling along through the misting rain, i realized the slender trees were rubber trees and noticed large groves scattered across the broad valleys and climbing the rocky hillsides. People were obviously surprised to see me and very friendly. I crossed a large reservoir and crossed over the hills bordering it before coming into Tuxtepec, Oaxaca - a largely commercial and administrative city. I have noticed lots of chains saws and other forestry equipment for sale, as well as, an inordinate number of people missing limbs and other body parts . . . no coincidence there. Strangely, for a landscape seemingly so rich people seem noticeably poorer.
The Cateye Strada has been an annoyance to begin with because it is far to easy to clear the mileage and the single button is just an annoying poorly functioning gimmick. But this morning i woke up to check the time on my cycling computer and the entire thing had cleared! Odometer, clock, wheel diameter, everything. . . How?, you ask. No idea. I parked it in a cheap hotel room, woke up and it was done for me . . .
lots of these trusty old things around with 28" tires . . . sweet! The city of Cholula has more bikes in use than anywhere i have seen. There are mtn bikers meeting in the main plaza in large numbers on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as roadies, and bikes shops abound. I believe i could replace/fix pretty much any problem with my bike in this town.
Ah! sweet vindication boys - take note all you doubters, all, and i mean all, are riding steel single speeds with mustache bars - i see hundreds every day - this is my personal ride choice. Ok this guy has the loudest boom box in Cholula under his boiling corn, it rivals the freakin' gas truck that comes through every morning at 6am - but he is an evening to midnight to vendor. Even the Mexicans on the street are aghast at how loud he is . . . but he does good business. He must to afford batteries for the additional x-mass lights up front. I bought ear plugs a while ago. Many businesses are run from bikes and one of the tricycles pictured in this post cost 2900 pesos new or about $225.
Armando and I went to the Carnivale, in Huejotzingo, on Sunday to witness the mayhem. The celebration was an endless parade with elaborate costumes, many of which resembled French soldiers as a form of commemorating the defeat of the french in the battle of Puebla in 1862. The same commemoration as Cinco de Mayo. However, they lost the war and ended up with a Hapsburg Austrian, Maximilian, as a ruler for a brief time. Mexico got good beer and the oom-pah beat, and then executed him after three years.
I am unclear why this guy has an alligator on his back but i saw alligators, skunks, raccoons, squirrels, a bobcat - you name it but no stuffed cats or dogs. The overall celebration was deafening because everyone was carrying muskets and continually shooting off charges. Armando and i bought earplugs in pretty short order - i can't believe everyone in Mexico is not deaf. The combination of muskets, generalized drunkeness, children everywhere and horses makes for one hell of a party but a little dangerous - and yes that is an ambulance with horse escort. But a good time was had by all. The food was excellent with a great variety, and eventually we had to retire a bit from the noise to eat. I had some tasty sheep's blood with tortillas and salsa - talk about power food! By about 3pm in the afternoon the parade was wrapping up and Armando suggested leaving noting the increasing drunkenness and continued muskets going off everywhere . . . as in everywhere. If the mexican guy says time to go, well, i am not arguing, and we hopped a bus back to Cholula. While i am not Catholic, i am familiar with Catholicism and have always admired the ritual and commitment to the sanctity of life. But Latin Catholicism can really turn religious holidays into a party. Today is Ash Wednesday, besides the smudged foreheads, it is huge market day that encompasses blocks and the main plaza is essentially a fair with abundant food and diversions for children.
Cholula is a beautiful little city. The church pictured above is built on top an older pyramid that dominates the city - besides the volcanoes, of course. There are many churches and beautiful public plazas or zocalos that are well used, and i have never seen a place with so many bikes! (that is another post) Also, notable are children everywhere - obviously a very safe place for kids. One of my favorite sculptures of suffering Christ looking contemplative.
The city and surrounding area is noted for its tile work.
The rain cleared after a day in Jacala, and i was finally up on the central plateau still rolling through the mountains but it was no longer simply up and up. The climate dried considerably and i was back in cactus and thorny scrub country - beautiful but prickly. I dropped through canyon country with impressive roads clinging to the sides of steep mountains that sheared into cliffs.
The canyons gave way to broad iridescent green irrigated valleys and lots of grazing sheep. Somewhere through here i picked up a stomach bug of some type. Initially, i chalked it up to a poor nights sleep then i lost my entire dinner the next night . . . First thing to come to mind is, "shit, i hope i don't have dysentery!" But there would have been a lot more shit, then throwing up, then fever . . . been there, done that, small consolation. The same night i was woken by federales - don't know how they found me out in the middle of the fields, but that is there job, and they figured out i was not a narco trafficante - just an illin' gringo - friendly guys really. I was not sick enough to stop riding and i was pretty driven to get to Cholula, Peubla and take an extended rest. I just had to stop really quick and duck behind cacti - no they are not that big and yes they do have lots of spines. Almost worse than intermittent queasiness were the nonstop doubled tractor trailers and buses on a road with no shoulder, as in none, nothing, zip, nada, often just a ditch. I was approaching Mexico City and on a "libre" road versus the "cuota" roads that you pay considerable tolls to drive. The entire experience was leaving me a little frazzled and i wanted to be able to eat something other than bread. I detoured onto some secondary
roads. Rough dirt roads, no traffic, and into some mountains that was a welcome relief. My stomach calmed considerably, as well, without trucks and buses honking at me and driving me off the road. After four hours of riding dirt roads, and periodically asking folks if this really was the road to Texmulacan, I looked up and saw Itzaccihuatl, all 5,230 meters of her, and the adjacent, smokin' Popocatepetl at 5,426 meters. I forgot all about my stomach. I finally arrived in Cholula, Peubla, that evening and easily navigated the city to find the home of Armando, cyclist and a warm showers member. He was a gracious host and offered me his own bed, however he was recovering from a respiratory infection and i was not going to kick the guy out of his own bed . . . for two nights. The photo above is taken from the roof of the charming Hotel Coronitos that i stayed in for the past week - great view of Popcatpetel.
Medicinal Note - grapefruit extract is some powerful stuff! I went to a natural medicine store and bought some extract of grapefruit (pomelo) in pill form and my stomach was cured in 20 minutes! literally . . . all i can say is wow. Time to eat! I was see through thin.
I get questioned almost daily about where i sleep and before i left people wondered how i was going to camp everyday. This is my primer on "guerrilla camping basics." Camping can be cheap, however campgrounds in the United States can easily cost $20 or more, the price of a good hotel in Mexico. In Mexico campgrounds are few and far between, good for destinations, impractical for daily travel. Where i end up at the end of the day depends on weather, wind, road conditions, personal whim, therefore around 4pm i start considering where i am and anything i may need - water, additional food, a beer. By 5:30pm i want to get earnest about looking because o'dark is 7pm.
This is the last campsite at the edge of a field, off the side of a dirt road, and below the road grade. No one can see me.
Aesthetics, nobody wants to camp somewhere ugly. Facing west is nice because I like to watch the sun set and it provides the long light to work by.
Again, my last camp site. The moon was full that night and passed over a break in the tree canopy bright enough to wake me. I am going to sleep by 8pm so i usually wake in the early morning around 3 or 4am for 45 minutes. I listened to a raucous party on the far side of the fields and wondered what's the occasion as i drifted off with the foggy realization of roosters and sheep. I woke with first light to watch an extremely small hummingbird feed on the pink flowers of the tree i was tethered to 'til coffee called.
