Steep Climbs and Beautiful Views

Leaving our little piece of paradise at Greensurf was a little bittersweet, especially when we remembered there wasn't any breakfast food left in our panniers besides coffee and a couple tortillas which we gratefully ate on the beach. Fully caffeinated, we took advantage of the first store we saw. However, the selection was incredibly limited so breakfast turned into Oreos and off brand Doritos.

A couple hours down the road, riding got tough. A combination of small dinner, a smaller breakfast, 100 degrees by 10:30 in the morning, a strong headwind, and a continuous, gradual uphill all attributed to us feeling amazingly crappy. Low on energy, we took some breaks in the shade and popped electrolyte tablets, but the steady climb in the sun was relentless. Not sure when we would have another chance, we took advantage of the next store we found. This time, our nutritious snack consisted of donuts and coke. Funny how when you fill your body with only sugar how quickly it burns through. Luckily we had all downhill to the next town and rolled into a little restaurant, so hungry thoughts weren't operating quite right in our heads.

Nicaragua Bound!

Sometimes stumbling upon adventure is just as wonderful as planning it. After a couple days of relaxation at Lake Atitlan, we were ready to get moving again. Our morning couldn't have been much better, complete with a thick stack of pancakes and reading an email from a Luther student who has become inspired enough from our trip to study abroad in Costa Rica. Probably could have chosen better people to follow, but right on buddy.

Hello from Guatemala!

Hello from Guatemala!

The morning we left Mexico, we were all pretty intimidated by the looks of the mountains. We'd biked over long hills before, but the steep and rigid peaks of Guatemala looked like a whole different monster. Ready to tackle the day, we sucked it up and started to ride. Luckily, we weren't too focused on the road in front of us because we barely noticed the building to turn in our Mexican travelers visa and get the departing stamp in our passport. No signs on the road. It felt weird to be riding past Mexico but not officially in Guatemala either. Just one calm man hanging out on a lazy Sunday morning watching the third Harry Potter.

One Month In

Sometimes your body tells you when you need a break. Knees start to hurt or there's just an overwhelming lack of general energy. This time, however, we took a rest day I didn't realize we needed. We'd been building our miles up steadily and feeling strong but riding that much takes a physical toll, especially when we're still pretty new to the whole process.

Fighting Fires and Finding the "Garden of Eden"

One of the many great things about bikes is they allow your body to become slowly acclimatized to your surroundings. You can only travel so quickly and so far at once meaning, as the air gets warmer or there's less oxygen while going up mountains, the change is gradual and essentially pleasant. Unless of course you bypass the biking for a bit and take a bus.

Pyramids, Birthday Tequila, and Mexican Wrestling

My how days fly by the further you go south! After our kind breakfast in San Juan with the mountain biking friend, the three of us decided to try out a new part of our adventure with the bus station. You might be like us and think "busses? How hard can that be? People use buses everyday!" However, what we needed to focus more on was taking a bus with bikes. We were able to buy three tickets, but the storage underneath was far too small so we ended up waiting another 4 hours for a larger one to Pachuca. Since it was already late, we quickly settled for a little restaurant called "buen comida" since it had to be good food! Lucky for us, they didn't lie and we were so hungry we ordered an extra round of quesadillas.

Road Bumps

We had the longest day yet on bikes yet from the town of Teotihuatan to Puebla, covering approximately 78 miles at about 8300 ft of elevation. Not a bad day considering the bikes alone weigh about 30 lbs with an additional 50lbs of gear strapped to them. After spending two weeks on pavement, covering distance I realized bikes are a fantastic form of transportation; it turns food objects such as snickers bars, tacos, and rice into energy which allows for the begrudging traveler to cover immense distance (if they only have the determination to do so). But just like a car, guzzling in fuel with an energy output, sometimes you fill up with a bad tank of gas, and the car doesn't run quite right. For us, we think it was a bowl of soup, with juice, and a enchilada combo we all got for dinner one night in Teotihaucan. Luckily, we had a planned two days rest in Puebla, where we envisioned ourselves climbing volcanoes near the city, meeting locals, and exploring the city. Instead the three of us have been relatively holed up in a room much to small for three men, three bikes, and gear strewn everywhere. To make matters worse our "economical hotel" comes complete without a toilet seat, and a sink which drains onto the floor to flow into the shower drain.