To Salina Cruz by Bus

I took the bus to Salina Cruz because the road from Oaxaca to here is a twisting winding mountainous narrow two lane road that is just too dangerous to ride a bike on. The bus took just over 6 hours and it lived up to the warning from the bus company that you should not take this bus if you get motion sickness. The first part of the way was on a road with a shoulder that you could ride a bike on. It lasted 30 kilometers going through a flat valley with lots of agave farms. Then we passed a military checkpoint and the road became a narrow two laner. It also started the long winding climb over the first of many mountains. The twists and turns started. They did not stop for five long grueling hours. Up and down right and left. Hairpin curves that the bus took so fast that everything was sliding right and left including our bodies. The ride absolutely killed me physically. It was a gorgeous ride to see all the mountains and valleys roll by but I was starting to feel like a milkshake. The scenery was very arid with dull browns being the main color. I tried to take pics but from the moving bus it was not easy to capture the images I wanted to get.

When I arrived at Salina Cruz a city of 250,000 or so, I went straight to the first hotel I found and checked in to lay down with a belly full of anti-inflammatory pills to try to quell the pain I had from the bus ride. I expected to be recovered by this morning but I am not. I could not sleep from the pain and cramps. It was hot and I was sweating and feeling sorry for myself. Not a good night. I had planned on going to the beaches near here and hanging out for a couple three days but that will not happen now. I will jump on my bike in the morning even if I need assistance to do so. Riding my bike is the best therapy I have found to yank me out of the abyss I fall into when my pain skyrockets and my mind plummets into the abyss. I could rest for days and still be crippled but one day of hard riding and I seem to recover enough to keep functioning. So I will ride tomorrow no matter how bad I feel.

From my hotel I watched a parade go by last night. It was mostly young kids dressed up in colorful costumes riding on flatbed trucks and throwing candy to the kids on the street. It made me laugh especially the kid that was running alongside the parade with a bag full of candy trying to collect as much candy as he could every time they threw some. There was also a show in the town square a block from my hotel that was kids doing local folk dancing and singing songs etc. This morning as I hobbled to the coffee shop I saw a huge market that I would love to walk around if I could walk. I have seen no other tourists here and the people are very indigenous looking for the most part. On my short one block walk today, everyone said buenos dias to me and smiled at me. Very happy friendly people in general is all I have seen so far. The political graffiti on the other hand is pretty intense and violent. There were lots of ones about taxis and mototaxis, lots of election promises regarding reform and ending corruption, a few about lack of water and a lack of democracy, and some against education being privatized. I wish I could stay here for a while and get to know this place better, I think I would like it here.

Leaving Oaxaca in the Morning

Today I rode my bike out to see the ceramics at Santa Maria Atzompa which has a long history of ceramics going back 5000 years or so. I planned on buying some coffee mugs for my hosts here in Oaxaca. When I arrived after a nice bike ride through the outskirts of Oaxaca I parked my bike in front of a little shop to go inside to start looking around. I heard some unusual noises and looked out across the street and it looked like three guys play fighting. It only took a few more seconds to realize it was a real fight. The sounds of fists smashing on skulls and to the belly causing alarming vocal sounds made me immediately check out what was going on. My first instinct since I was a long term bouncer at a bar was to go break up the fight but I held back. I decided the best thing to do was to just get back on my bike and get the hell out of there before I was jailed as a witness or something. By then the two guys had knocked out the third guy and one of the men picked him up in a head lock and dragged him towards their vehicle. Right about the time they were going to chuck him in some of the unconscious guy's friends showed up and started interfering and asking questions at the two attackers. That is just about the time I had my bike turned around and I was heading away from the area at a fast pace. As I left, I heard someone calling for police on their cell phone. I just kept riding away. I hope it worked out ok for the guy that was getting the crap knocked out of him, unless he deserved it of course.

I rode on into Oaxaca Centro and went to the bus station to make sure I knew where it was. Then I rode around looking at the town. Today was a national holiday so most things were closed except for the restaurants and stuff that cater to tourists. I did not stop except to go into the cathedral to look at the stairway to heaven. The murals which are always on the rear wall as you walk in crack me up with their portrayal of the sins and temptations that must be overcome to make it to heaven.

After my chuckle at the church mural, sorry they do not allow cameras so no pic, I headed south with the idea of seeing if my computer charger was in yet. It was already two days late in delivery but they had promised me it would be there today. It was not there. I asked for my money back and surprise to me they gave it back easily. Then I went out again trying to find another one. I went to Walmart. I hate shopping at Walmart and only will do so in an emergency which I considered this to be since I go a bit crazy without a working computer. To my delight and dismay Walmart had one that fit my computer. I bought it and at a third of the cost that I had paid at the other store. Damn you Walmart.

At this point I was too burned out to ride up the hill a few miles to see the biggest tree in the world for circumference. I instead pedaled back to my host's home and packed my bags. The road to Salina Cruz is just way too dangerous to ride a bike on so tomorrow it is bus to the beach time. Oaxaca to Salina Cruz. Salina Cruz I am told has a beautiful beach with lots of hippie types and surfers living in palapas along the beach. There is a naked beach there too from what I hear. I will find out Sunday because tomorrow I get there almost at dark. I will be beat up from the bus ride no doubt. The warning from the bus company that people who get motion sickness, should not take this bus is a bad sign. Might be a bit winding and bumpy, I hope I survive it. More Later. Sorry no pics

Hanging around in Oaxaca

I have been in Oaxaca now for 4 days staying with a family friend. I have been pretty lazy here. I guess I have caught the Mexican manana syndrome. I did order a new charger for my computer to see if I can make the old beast last me a couple of more months at the least. That is supposed to be shipped to here by Thursday afternoon. Of course that is a Mexican Thursday afternoon which might mean next Monday. I already paid way too much for the part so I am pretty much committed to staying here until it arrives.

I rode six miles up a long steep, maybe 12% grade the other day to go see some Precolumbian ruins that are being excavated now. Before I went I got permission from the main office to ride my bike up there and around the site. I can only walk a very short distance so if I can't ride my bike I can't do things. The office gave the ok so I rode up the mountain expecting to see the ruins and the nice view. The only problem is they have a guard near the very top that has job of not allowing any bikes past the entrance area. I explained to him that I had permission to enter on my bike from the main office. He told me that nobody told him I had permission so he would not let me go by to see the ruins and view from the top of the mountain. I tried to argue with him but he the was not budging on his blockade. I gave up and just rode back down the hill. Such is life. I enjoyed the climb at least and I have seen extensive amounts of ruins already all over Central and South America so it was no big loss.

The next day I rode all around Oaxaca to see what was here. Oaxaca is known for ceramics in a style that they have been making for around 5000 years now so I guess it is a tried and true method and design. I can not carry ceramics on my bike so I just look around. I rode down one street that was all chocolate shops and another that was lined with hookers of all sorts. Each neighborhood seemed to have its area specialty like that. Tons of cell phone shops and auto parts stores everywhere. I enjoyed the ride even though the streets are kind of rough riding between the narrow pothole filled roads, heavy traffic and cobblestones everywhere. I plan on riding out to see the Tule tree tomorrow which is the largest diameter tree in the world according to the info I have read on it. Other than that I plan on just eating and resting so that hopefully I will not have a problem with my knee when I get back on the road again...more later

Ride Day 174 to Oaxaca

Today I ate a big breakfast of eggs, beans, tortillas and coffee before leaving my hotel to hit the road. I decided to take the toll road despite the bike sign that says no bikes. Entering the toll road there was a police car sitting there so I asked him if this was the right road for me to take and he said yes so I took that as permission.

The ride started out with a big steep grade that got me sweating right off the bat. I rode on and after some rolling hills another big grade came along that had me wondering what I was getting into. i could see the big mountains in the distance in the direction I was heading. I was starting at 7000 feet so I had to be careful about my health at this high altitude. I stopped to cool down and catch my breath whenever I was feeling the need. I kept riding over rolling hills and then hit a really big grade. I sweated up it in the 90 degree heat wondering if I had enough water to make this ride today. It took me about an hour on this climb and my knee that I hurt during my seizure in Puebla three days earlier was starting to bother me a bit. I was wondering if maybe I bit off more than I could chew today.

About 40 or 45 miles into the ride I came to another toll plaza, number 77, and was resting there next to my bike when a Mexican man with his two daughters came over and started to talk with me. He told me the road ahead got harder and that he would give me a ride if I put my bike in his pick up truck. It did not take me long to say yes with my doubts I already had about the ride today. I loaded my stuff in and we took off. Glad I did as we immediately climbed a couple thousand feet up on a long steep grade of two lane highway that was under construction. It would have taken me the rest of the day to make it to the top of just this one grade. Then the grades just kept coming one after the other. This would have been a very difficult ride in this heat with limited water available for me. We stopped a couple times for his daughters to get drinks and stuff and once for him to have a short business meeting in a small town.

My generous driver refused gas money and dropped me off about 15 miles from my friend's house in Oaxaca. I had the gps for her house but it was still tough to find her place mostly because the streets were rarely marked with names.
I eventually found her place by stopping and asking for directions from lots of people on the street. I asked a lot of people because I had to use a consensus approach because the people will give you directions even if they have no clue where something is. In the end I found her place and that is where I am not. I will rest up here a few days so that my knee can rest a bit more since it told me I was too early to ride on it today. a few pics of the mountains and one of my driver...

Ride Day 173 Puebla to Tehuacan

I was up and packed but when I went outside it was still too dark to ride safely so I had to wait a half hour. I went and got a coffee and sandwich for breakfast while I waited for the sun to come up. I took off earlier than I should have on cobblestone roads. I had to go very slow to keep from hitting big stones or holes in the street. Mexico is kind of a crazy place with no liability so people leave wide open holes and other hazards like that which could seriously injure you if you are not paying attention. The problem is there is so much to pay attention to that inevitably you will have accidents. If you look down too much you will hit your head on a low hanging whatever. I did hit a few rocks too hard so I worry a bit about my bike when I do that. I did not blow any tires but that has as much to do with luck as with any skill.

It took me over two hours to navigate out of Puebla mostly because I had to go slow on the rough roads but also due to stop lights and traffic cops directing traffic. I was getting winded already and I was not even out of town yet. Riding at 7000 plus feet when I have not acclimated to the altitude could be dangerous especially with the strenuous work of riding a loaded bike up and down hills. I stopped and rested a few minutes here and there just in case. I don't want to keel over again only one day after the last time I did.

Finally I made it to the outskirts of town and the road became blacktop which seemed smooth to me after all the cobblestones even with all the potholes in the blacktop. Then a shoulder appeared! My speed picked up and I was feeling good. That lasted only about 15 miles then the shoulder disappeared and it was two lanes of road with no room for a bike and fairly heavy traffic. I managed to make progress but I frequently had to jump off the road and ride along the ditch which was dry but full of debris and broken glass. The hardest part of the off road riding was the soft sand that made me swerve all over the place. When the traffic gave me a break I went back up on the road surface. Sometimes I had no other option except the road surface and I had to just ride in as straight of a line as I was able to on the far right hand side and just hope I did not get hit. Sometimes the bus went by a bit too close for my comfort. My hands were getting sore from gripping the handlebars with such terror. My teeth were clenched for a good part of the ride also. Did I say the ride was a bit tense? Nerves of steel were required. Riding safely was a full time job. Not a single pic today, staying alive was more important.

I made it to Tehuacan which was about 80 miles of riding for the day. I started looking for a place to camp but then I gave in to a hotel for the night. I will ride again early tomorrow if my body permits me to. I did enjoy the ride today since it has been quite a long time since I was able to ride. 150 miles or so to Oaxaca which will be my next stop. Two days ride in this heat unless I am really crazy...

Melaque to Puebla MX by bus

I decided to take a bus from Melaque to Mexico City to avoid all the problems south of Melaque that everybody has been warning me about. The bus was a red eye leaving at 8pm arriving at 8am in Mexico City. When the bus pulled into the station the driver looked at me with my bike and told me the bus was a first class bus and bikes are not first class but third class. That arrogant attitude so typical of people from Mexico City pegged him right away as to where he was from. The people that live outside of Mexico City do not like the arrogant way the people from Mexico City look down at them. I first just glared at the driver before I started my rant at him. The Mexicans standing around were all staring at me and laughing here and there either at my broken Spanish or at my fury and direct confrontational manner with the driver. The station agent that loads the bus and checks tickets came out and pulled me aside and started to side with the driver but then I talked to him in private for a few minutes explaining that I have ridden many first class bus lines with my first class bike and I was not going to let a Mexico City guy put me or my bike down. He laughed but tried to help me. First he read the back of the ticket to me that said only three bags of less than a total of 55 kilos could be taken on the bus without a surcharge for extra luggage. There was a woman with two giant suitcases and one big plastic garbage bag full of stuff standing there waiting for a bus. I pointed out that she had more stuff than I did but the driver just counted each of my saddlebags my food bag and my bike as six bags. I piled my bags in a stack next to her giant bag and all my stuff was clearly way less than hers. So I told the driver I would go buy a first class garbage bag which was accepted as first class garbage and put my bags in one bag and my bike in another so that I complied with the three bag limit. The driver immediately understood my double meanings of the first class garbage bag. The station agent then pulled out tape and taped my bags together so they only counted as one bag and my bike as a second bag and looked up at the driver. The driver just fumed but walked away in defeat. In the end, I was the only passenger on the entire bus until we got to Guadalajara which made the entire taping up pointless.

The bus ride was uneventful but I watched a few movies. Seven or eight more people got on the bus in Guadalajara. I got a little bit of sleep but not much and we were almost an hour late getting into Mexico City. I picked up my first class bike and went looking for a bus to Cuernevaca which is just south of Mexico City. I did not want to ride my bike in Mexico City. The bus was not leaving for a couple of hours but there was a bus leaving in seven minutes to Puebla another town I could go to to get out of Mexico City. I took the bus to Puebla. After going through a security checkpoint with xrays and luggage search plus a body pat down I boarded the bus. Machetes are allowed through the checkpoint because they are tools not weapons but pocket knives are not. Please explain that to me. The bus ride was quick and pleasant with no arguments required about whether my bike was first class or not.
I rode my bike around Puebla a while looking at the sights and the old city center. I got a hotel room for $14 US and after setting up in my room I went looking for some food. I had just stepped out of the hotel and walked about 15 feet when I had a seizure that made me yell out in pain and drop to the ground writhing in pain. People on the street were screaming and making a major commotion. I recovered control in only about a minute or so but could not get up off the ground right away. A young man helped me up and I told him I was in the hotel so he helped me to my room. I landed on my knee when I went down and that was what was making it hard to walk. I jumped in bed and for the next 12 hours or so I had excruciating pain and constant cramps that were very difficult to get under control. I was hurting. I considered a hospital but I hate them too much. About an hour after my seizure the same man brought me some bbq chicken he had bought for me for dinner. He was very sweet. I needed the food and so I paid him for it even though he told me I did not need to pay him. Then I took a hot shower and went back to bed.
In the morning my cramps had stopped but I am stiff and sore all over. My knee could give me trouble riding my bike but I don’t know yet because I am staying here another day to recover. Hopefully by tomorrow morning I will be ok to ride south from here. We shall see. Sorry no pics cause it was a night bus and I did not take any yet in Puebla, maybe later today if I feel better I can get a few shots of this quaint old city. I feel bad taking pics of all the colonial stuff because the Spanish were such assholes destroying all the original buildings by the indigenous people.