You dont leave until after one and there is a lot of climbing today. It rains hard. You find shelter in a, um, shelter. The rain eases up and you continue on your way. Not far to San Gabriel Mixtepec now where apparently a hotel exists. It rains hard before you can make it there though. You get into town and find a couple nice restaurants on the north side of town to wait out the rest of the rain. It is still early but maybe not early enough to make it to the next town an hours drive away. How many kilometers is it? Many kilometers.
There is a hotel in town. But it doesnt exist. The building exists. The sign exists. But when you go to ask apparently it doesnt. There is some kind of unofficial hotel almost opposite the non-existing hotel so you stay there for cheap enough. Its not much but at least they have hot water in the shower.
To the summit.: Just before San Pedro
Thursday September 13, 2007, 101 km (63 miles) Total so far: 3,876 km (2,408 miles)
You set the alarm for a quarter to seven and although it does wake you you decide to remain semi conscious in the nice warm bed. Tortas make a nice breakfast. You enjoy some very nice local coffee too.
It is 19 km to the next town, Santa Rosa. Theres not much there but you could probably pitch a tent there or at the restaurants a few km before and after town. The road keeps heading up until you reach the summit 37 km later. It rains hard and there is nowhere to hide. You continue on until a few km after the summit you come to El Vidrio. Theres not much there but you find a restaurant to shelter out some of this rain. Apparently there is a hotel in town but youll be damned if you saw it.
The views up would be nice if they werent clouded by, um, clouds. The rain doesnt seem to ease up at all here so you press on. Not far down the mountain the rain stops and you cruise in luxury. You hit a stone and your front tire immediately goes flat. The tube is fucked. The tire is fucked. The rim is fucked. Luckily you picked up a spare tire yesterday and of course you now have a few spare tubes. The rim is fine as long as you dont mind a clunk, clunk, clunk, every time you use the front brake. Looks like you have a few things to replace in Oaxaca.
Thirty km down in the valley is San Pedro. It is a descent enough sized town with a hotel. But its not on your map. From there it is a grueling 34 km up hill to almost the summit. It gets dark. It gets very dark. Energy levels drop and you start walking. Well you still are going two thirds of your pedaling speed. Besides, after riding in wet cycling shorts all day your inner thighs are red raw.
You find a restaurant. It is open but no ones about. Barking dogs soon wake the owners though and dinner is served. They even let you sleep inside for the night. Dinner costs thirty pesos with a free hammock. They dont have any change and you only just have enough so give the rest over anyway. Its not much of a tip but they are grateful and it makes you feel like less of a sponge.
Oaxaca: Danny: TV personality
Friday September 14, 2007, 121 km (75 miles) Total so far: 3,997 km (2,484 miles)
The hammock is small. Too small. It is cold up on that mountain too. You dont sleep much. Its another two km uphill and then seventeen all the way downhill to Vega. The road is mostly fine but best not attempted at night as potholes and such do exist. Yesterdays troubles mean that it is difficult to use the front break. A dog suddenly jumps out and attacks on a rough section of road. Not fun.
Vega is a descent enough sized town with TWO hotels. After that its another dozen km uphill. You have no energy. You even attempt hitchhiking. But fret not as this is the last real long section of uphill. Then back downhill again. Then up and down again. There is another large looking town but its not on the road so you skip it. There are a few more towns now with places to eat but you dont see any more hotels until after 85 km coming into a large town not far before the 131 joins up with the 175. You try to find food but it proves too difficult. Really.
Traffic increases a lot now. For the last two days it was virtually nil. Now it is plentiful. Buses overtake very closely and blow their horns when they have the world to maneuver around. Something hits you. Someone threw bread at you from a bus. On the 175 the road is wide with wide shoulders. But the shoulders are crap and often used for parking making them more of a hazard than anything else. Cars expect you to use them even though they are crap and get aggressive when you dont.
It rains. A bus is at least two meters away but drives through a puddle splashing water all over you. Probably calculated. You get into town and find a hotel. Sofia will get here tomorrow so you tell her to meet you at nine tomorrow. You hang out and drink beer. They are doing promotions for Victoria beer and you are filmed saying La Victoria se mia. Or something like that. They give you a bracelet which doesnt fit.
Mitla.: Need a good rim job
Monday September 17, 2007, 48 km (30 miles) Total so far: 4,045 km (2,513 miles)
Oaxaca city is nice. Saturday day is wasted wandering about the market trying to find a bike shop for some new rims. All without success. You head out Saturday night with a couple of new friends. It is independence day and theres a big fiesta in town. Its a fun, hazy night.
On Sunday everything is free. You take the bus to Monte Alban which is nice and then visit Santo Demengo Cathedral, monastery and museum. You also meet Jacob, another cyclist who started in Alaska.
Monday morning you visit another bike shop to try to sort out those rims. Bike shops here sell. They dont service. So what you need to do is buy the rims at one place and take them to another place to put them on. It sounds a bit complicated, even more so by your lack of Spanish, and more so again because what you want nobody has. Your wheels take 32 spokes and the only rims which cost less than your entire bike all take 36 spokes. So you need to replace some other things too to fit it all on. But nobody sells that and it is all very confusing and you still dont get anything done. Perhaps the next town.
You ride to Mitla where some more ruins lie. There is a bike path leading out of town and then a nice wide shoulder almost all the way there. The ruins close by the time you get there so you will just have to wait until tomorrow. Theres not much to do in town.
San Jose.: Some great descents
Tuesday September 18, 2007, 98 km (61 miles) Total so far: 4,143 km (2,574 miles)
I hope you fancy big long hills today cause thats what youre going to get. But dont worry as there are more descents than ascents. A twenty km detour up the autopiste doesnt help matters. Someone tells you to go back and get on the highway.
You already started the day late with a visit to the ruins at Mitla. They are okay by the way. Not very extensive or anything but nice to see if you are in town anyway. Theres an uphill section on the highway followed by twenty km of straight downhill. Someone painted cyclists returno with a returning arrow on the road before the downhill. Cacti is in abundance out here. Head and side winds dog your day slowing you down even further.
Then get ready for the ascent again. You leave Sofia behind only to find her much later in San Jose where a hotel is found. As you head up the mountains the view to the south is nice. Glad youre not heading that way then. Looks hard. And back down again. You find a town just before dusk. A hotel is found if you ask politely. Time for dinner. And much relaxation.
You already started the day late with a visit to the ruins at Mitla. They are okay by the way. Not very extensive or anything but nice to see if you are in town anyway. Theres an uphill section on the highway followed by twenty km of straight downhill. Someone painted cyclists returno with a returning arrow on the road before the downhill. Cacti is in abundance out here. Head and side winds dog your day slowing you down even further.
Then get ready for the ascent again. You leave Sofia behind only to find her much later in San Jose where a hotel is found. As you head up the mountains the view to the south is nice. Glad youre not heading that way then. Looks hard. And back down again. You find a town just before dusk. A hotel is found if you ask politely. Time for dinner. And much relaxation.
To Jalapa.: Pitching the tent on the roof
Wednesday September 19, 2007, 112 km (70 miles) Total so far: 4,255 km (2,644 miles)
Some more mountains await your day. You make it to El Cameron by twelve and from there it is one long stretch up followed by another down. El Cameron has a hotel. The next hotel is 88 km further at Jalapa. There are places to eat in between but not much else but ascents, descents, and quite a nice view.
You leave Sofia far behind. A driver says she has wheel problems a long, long way away up the mountain. The kilometers drop one by one until Jalapa where you agreed to meet Sofia. There is one hotel in town. Its expensive. You ask for another and are directed to a rooftop which looks nice for pitching the tent. Best to wait for Sofia first though.
Niltepec.: Nowhere to eat in town
Thursday September 20, 2007, 126 km (78 miles) Total so far: 4,381 km (2,722 miles)
You pack up and find a restaurant on the main road for breakfast. Still no sign of Sofia. For once you are able to enjoy something of a tailwind. But before you reach Tehuantepic a freeway presents itself and you take it. This is a mistake. What was once a tailwind becomes a headwind. After thirty km of this the road veers around and the wind is more of a benefit again.
At one point the freeway stops for construction and you need to make a short detour on a smaller road without shoulders and more traffic. You have a strong crosswind to deal with now. This is certainly no fun with big trucks wanting to overtake at inopportune moments. Back on the freeway again you are less concerned with mentally writing your will.
You ask someone how far to a hotel. Five km. Excellent. Bullshit. Its ten. The nice smooth freeway becomes a narrow shitty road. You arrive in Niltepec. There are two hotels in town. One is overpriced and you cant find anyone to service the other one. But a wander about reveals the owner and you walk back with him to check in. It is the one year anniversary of his mothers death so everyone is out celebrating. Hes a bit drunk and needs to piss. He does so while walking along, pissing out in front without conviction.
Its a nice hotel. You find some interesting food to eat and wash it down with a couple beers. Sofia is now 100 km behind you. Looks like youll need a couple rest days to let her catch up. But not here. Best to leave this half town to the dogs.
Tapanatepec.: Good roads and tough wind
Friday September 21, 2007, 57 km (35 miles) Total so far: 4,438 km (2,758 miles)
Just a short ride today. Sofia has to catch up somehow and if you keep going at your pace she never will. There is a town, Tapanatepec, just before the long hard slog up the mountain. It looks like as good a place as any to await Sofia for the climb ahead.
The day is hot and the road is crap. It sure is a day of road works. After six km the road widens to the lovable freeway once again but alas it is short lived as all too soon road works hinder the ride. Some minor issues with traffic but this has all become second nature by now. Truck driver seems to be a synonym for arsehole.
There are a couple hotels on route. After a bite to eat you really do feel like moving on. The town is as dead as the last and it would be nice to be somewhere more lively for the weekend. It is only three but you go back to the posada and check in. Good thing too as the heavens soon open up in a torrential downpour.
The plan now, if you can communicate this to Sofia, is to lie in tomorrow morning and hopefully meet up here for lunch. Then together you can ride another thirty or fifty km depending. Maybe.
Up and up and up.: Spanish or no Spanish you still get the same lack of answers
Saturday September 22, 2007, 45 km (28 miles) Total so far: 4,483 km (2,786 miles)
You meet up with Sofia at the Posada at around twelve. After lunch it is all uphill. A guy stops and gives you some local food to eat. He seems to be praying for you. You probably need it.
Some guy wants you to stop and chat. He wants to take you to the lagoon but you insist on cycling. Is it uphill you ask. Lots of curves is all you are able to get. Sofia catches up with you as you grab a bite to eat. She asks herself about ascents and with all her Spanish is only able to find out the same. Lots of curves. But what does that mean? Uphill curves or downhill ones?
Just after a town after 36 km of mostly uphill cycling you find a hospedaje. But the lagoon just ahead is apparently mui bonita so you detour another four km there to find out for yourself. Its nice but theres nowhere to really stay and now you need to cycle four km uphill to get back to the hospedaje.
On the way back you find a bee somewhere in your shirt. Some frantic moments a spent veering all over the road as you try to get it out.
To Tuxtla.: Bad bus driver. Naughty, naughty, naughty
Sunday September 23, 2007, 126 km (78 miles) Total so far: 4,609 km (2,864 miles)
Is it just you or is the traffic today noticeably more aggressive? You leave Sofia at the hotel and continue on. Apparently there is a lot of uphill ahead and she would rather take the bus from the next town. There are a couple of ascents but nothing longer than six or seven kilometers. Cintalapa and Ocozocoautla are both decent sized towns with a few accommodations options in each. You stop at a campsite/restaurant with a pool just before Cintalapa. Three teenage boys approach as you near the restaurant. They arent intimidating but their idiotic attitude loses the place business. Why would you want to eat at a place with three guys staring at you at laughing about English. Theyre probably trying to be helpful. But you dont need nor want them around. You leave and eat elsewhere.
You get to Ocozocoautla, the days destination and are lured in by some hotcakes. With three more hours of daylight left you should be able to make the 36 km to Tuxla. Only six km of it is uphill apparently. Its the first six. You come to a crossroads. There arent any signs so you ask a guy for directions. He is able to point in 180 degrees at once. You cross the road and ask some women but they keep walking before you can get an answer. Fortunately there is a sign across the road so you go there to get your information.
From here a nice wide shoulder is available all the way in to Tuxla. A truck and then a bus prefer to drive on the shoulder rather than their lane, passing way too close. The bus is particularly bad as it overtakes as you fly downhill giving you a long moment of uncertain exhilaration. Do bus drivers do this on purpose?