Muddy Warrior

Well, the trip continues without us making any progress. We are still in Colima, Colima, staying with Efrain and some good friends. We surprised the geologists last night by showing up at a barbeque they were hosting – “You guys are still here!?” Yep. Tomorrow we are leaving however. I think. Apparently some of the people at the party were biking through town and people started cheering for them and yelling something about Davis. They must have mistaken the other cyclist gringos for us! We’re apparently famous after our radio spot and 2 newspaper articles (I only could find one). Of course, I was misquoted as usual in it.

Andy has decided to head off on a solo mission – after finally meeting up with us after his Chiapas mission, he let us know he wants to ride on his own. Good luck, Andres! ¡Que le vaya bien!

Today we went to a Temezcal (sweat lodge) on the mountain. Lee would really dig it! We painted our faces with mud like warriors, and then I rolled around in more mud, just like a little piggy! Coated in mud and barefoot, we went for a hike through the jungle. Lots of coffee was growing, as well as tons of other plants, flowers and orchids. We yelled across valleys and bathed in the river. Then we returned to the lodge where the rocks were hot and we did some ceremony. The actual sweat was underground, and it was really hot and dark. We sweat and sweat and sweat some more. We also chanted and beat drums. Afterwards, we jumped into the “cenote” or cold pool in the beautiful garden. Wow! Do I feel GOOD!

¡Buen día, Colima!

¡Buen día, Colima!

That’s how I debuted on Mexican Radio. Cliché, I know, but fun to say. We met some friends here in Colima and one of them, Daniel, has a sports talk show here on University of Colima radio, Radio Universo 94.9 FM. He thought our trip was impressive, as well as the intention behind it, so he brought us in for a live interview. People seem to be impressed that we wanted to travel through Mexico without polluting it, so we discussed how and why we travel in an eco-groovy fashion. Obviously, bikes don’t pollute like cars, but what else do we do to have a smaller impact on the globe? Well, we charge our batteries with a solar panel, but I emphasized on the interview that the most important decision you can make that will change your impact on the planet is choosing a meat-free diet. Today, I saw this article and it explains why quite well.

Inevitably, the conversation waxed political when Daniel mentioned that we were the antithesis of the commonly held impression of people from the U.S.A. You know, people who consume with reckless abandon and get fat on hamburgers and corn syrup while they support wars of aggression and elect neoconservitive imperialists. Well, that’s okay – we are kind of like ambassadors for our good people up north (There are lots of us!). One must tread lightly however; political activity by foreigners is banned in the Mexican Constitution. So why do people always have to mention bush, forcing you to defend yourself? I feel like this will go on for a long time, kind of like how Germans always feel the need to defend themselves and their country against preconceived notions people retain from their experience with Nazism. How could you let such crimes take place in your name? Etc…

Anyway, we had a fun photo shoot afterwards and will be featured in an article in the sports section of some statewide newspaper. There have been some great photos of us taken by strangers in cars, in town, at sweat lodges, anywhere, but we don’t have copies. Oh well, they’re out there somewhere (send me some if you have any). We also have taken quite a few – be sure to check out the photo page on www.flickr.com/photos/simini
Our most recent jaunt was up the mountain in Colima to the base of the Volcano of Colima, the most active volcano in Mexico. It’s a beauty and it gasses (not full on eruptions, but cool) a few times a day. However, it did erupt as recently as in May of 2005. We climbed to about 2000m on our bikes with our geologist friend Laura and camped up at a lagoon with a great view of the volcano. It turns pink during the magnificent sunsets that happen as a result of the particulates in the air (some ash, but mostly from burning sugar cane). It took us all day to climb up to the lagoon from Colima (about 400m up) but only an hour or so to tear down the mountain back to the city. Good clean fun.

Radio Universo

Radio Universo
Originally uploaded by SpokenWorld.

Here's us live in the studio

pxl in front

pxl in front
Originally uploaded by SpokenWorld.

A typical day

Every day we ride is different, but there are some generalities that may paint a mental picture of our routine. Most days we wake up in some kind of camp, a restaurant, beach or field of some sort and we dry the dew off our sleeping bags. Sometimes we make a small cookfire for coffee and oatmeal or we eat a cold breakfast of granola and fruit. By 9am we are usually all packed up and ready to hit the road. A stretch and safety break and we are off. We probably weren’t far from the road we were to travel on, so we get on the way quickly. After riding for an hour or so we find some shade and stop the bikes, put on some tunes and snack a bit. Usually we eat fruit (bananas - so many kinds of them too!) and peanuts with chili powder and salt. We refill our water bottles, maybe stretch more, then get back on the road. When we ride by people they whistle, wave, sometimes cheer and go wild. We sound our horns at them and wave. We ride for another hour or more then take our lunch - a longer break with a slightly more elaborate meal - avocado, tomato and tortillas. Also, more spicy peanuts. Often we will spend a few hours climbing crazy mountains, sometimes gaining 600m in elevation in an hour or so. That is a bit slower going, like 15 km/h, then on the flats, but the reward of making a high speed technical decent makes every grunt worthwhile. We will ride until a half hour or hour before sundown, taking short hourly breaks, and then find a new camp. If we eat at a restaurant we may ask if we can stay there overnight (This usually works well, this week we stayed in a restaurant owned by a coyote who knew the US better than I. He worked helping 3000-4000 Mexicans a year across the border into the USA). Otherwise, we’ll find a good camp, collect firewood and make a cook fire. We have one of two meals that we usually have for dinner: either pasta with a sauce of tomato, onion, garlic, chilies, corn or whatever we happen to have and canned beans with avocado, salsa similar to the pasta sauce and some avocado. That’s a pretty good description of a typical day, omitting some kind of wonderful randomness that happens each day. Surprises abound and I can’t describe the happiness I feel lately. Pxl and I are in Manzanillo and Andy is back in Puerto Vallarta, he’ll be catching up to us soon. We’re off to Colima next to visit an active volcano. ¡Hasta Luego!

San Mateo

San Mateo
Originally uploaded by SpokenWorld.

Big ups SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA
and SAN MATEO, JALISCO!

Why bicycles are great

Some reasons that bikes are so wonderful, please comment with more reasons!
* They don't smell bad like cars
* They don't kill butterflys or other animals on the road
* People cheer for you when you pass
* People tell you about other cyclists they've seen
* They give you nice legs
* They go really fast down mountains
* You don't need to buy gas
* You get mad props from everyone when you get into a town
* You can stop almost anywhere
* They are fun
* Military checkpoints are easy to pass through
* No toll on toll roads
* They let you see the world that you are traveling through
* Sometimes you can break the speed limit
* You can come and go as you please - no tickets, lines or schedules
so many more...