|
|
|
|
The Journals from the Road
February 24: On the road again-Slit Tire, Lost Keys, and Falling Shoes - Puebla From that title it probably sounds like I had a horrible day. But I actually had a great day. I ended up spending most of the night doing battle with a very tenacious and hungry mosquito. After various light blinding, screen making, and rapid repeated slapping tactics I gave in and just waited in semi-conscious unamusement for my alarm to ring. It did and I jumped up and got ready to go. Teresa was going to drive me out and we wanted to beat traffic so we ended up leaving at 6:15 with all my gear in the back of the car and my bike on her bike rack. She made me a Superfood shake which is a bunch of intensely nutrient foods. She is VERY into eating fresh fruits and vegis and is into natural healing. I doubted a bit of her claims of awesome health until her Charcoal formula saved me twice from bouts with high speed bowels. I decided to bring some of the Charcoal formula with me. This is a travel diary so I have decided to include these details of realism for those of you future and present travelers. After I got everything loaded on my bike Teresa and I said goodbye. Staying with such a knowlegeable gringa was the pefect way to ready my soul for more Mexico travel. Thank-you to a great tour guide, bike tech assistant, vegan chef, Spanish coach, and all around great gal! So back to the ride. I started out of the already very high Mexico City and headed up for the next twenty-five km. By the way, I think I am officially switching to km, as my maps are all now in kilometers. I was taking it very easy as I knew this was my first day back on the road. My knees were giving me some trouble. Maybe they were adjusting to the altitude in their owen way. I took lots of breaks and went slow like a turtle with 24 gears. I got to the top of this pass at about 11:30, nearly four hours after my start. I ate two quesadillas con hongos(tortillas with stewed mushrooms.) Quesadillas here don't necesarily mean tortillas with melted cheese. They could be with mushrooms, potatoes, chilis, pumpkin flower, and on and on. I was back on PeaceBike rations with two plates of beans and rice and fried onions too. After a digestion break I happily headed down the hill. I would, in a pensive daze, let my eyes wander from the luxurious 3 meter shoulderto the beautiful pine forest scenery, until I jolted back to the shoulderless road under construction directly in front of me. After that I was ready for the fallen rocks, construction signs, and odd 'insta-cliffs' that would appear in front of me. As I descended very quickly I didn't quite dodge a very sharp anonymous object which in warlike fashion plunged itself into my tire lacerating its hull, piercing through the new tire linerand rupturing the tube! And this all happened in about half a second. I screetched on my brakes and was happy to see that a big tree was waiting for me to sit down under its shade to fix what neede to be fixed. I realized I would have to use my extra tire because this one had a slit in it almost an inch long. I replaced the tube and the tire and fitted the new set on the wheel and pumped it up. A bit later I met Fernando. He told me he lived in Puebla and that if I needed anything I should call him. I told him I would call or visit tonight. We parted ways and I soon came upon a bunch of brand new shoes strewn all over the highway. I started to pick them up when I saw a guy jogging back from his truck. We picked them up together and I headed out. To be continued... www.peacebike.org An 'edu-venture' around the world for peace. "We seek to connect young people around the world to each other so that their friendships build a peaceful world for us all. |