Today I woke up at 7am. If it wasn't for my earplugs I wouldn't have slept at all. Some band played loud til about midnight or longer. I went to Starbucks this morning and called Quinn on skype and I gave her Spanish lessons. She mixed up the phrases I was trying to teach her and she said " where's my name!" HILARIOUS. More Spanish lessons for her tomorrow! I think I'll tell her that her Spanish name is Quinnseneta. I think that's a party in Mexico when your turn 15. She'll dig it.
We got a late start and rolled out about 11:30am. I knew it was late and this almost bit us in the behind. Part of the journey we have not researched is the topography. We know how many miles we are going to ride each day so we make it to La Paz by Christmas Eve to spend Christmas in Mazatlan but we don't know HOW much elevation gain or climbing is on each ride. Yesterday we did over 3000 ft of climbing. Surely it wouldnt be the same today right? WRONG. Today we did over 3000 ft again.
I was laughing after the second climb because I thought of Dane. This is his introduction to riding around the world. We are supposed to galavant around the country side riding our bikes with big smiles, sampling local cuisine, and saving the occasional kitten from a tree RIGHT? These first 2 days have been stout on the bike and we have visited suffertown already.
Dane currently has that somebody just punched me in the face and beat me up look. He said EVERYTHING hurts right now. He commented that he hasnt been this tired since High School. Nuff said. We eventually met up in San Vicente and are currently eating ANOTHER bomb home made meal at a little house restaurant.
The owners are letting us camp for free outside so the food and hospitality here are just top shelf.
All this blah blah blah about Mexicans that people see on the news is exactly that- a bunch of blah blah blah in the news. HERE in the real world where I'm at right now these people are driving by giving us a wave. Smiling as we ride by. Letting us camp for free and serving us big home made meals for a pittance.
Unfortunately people believe what they see on the news and hear on the radio. What's even sadder is that when you remind them of this fact they insist this applies to everyone EXCEPT them. They of course are MUCH to smart to be duped.
I think part of why we are treated so well is that people are smart. They see us riding bikes. They see the effort. They see how hard it is to ride up a massive hill when they drive up it with cruise control on. Or to ride long miles. They see us PULLING OUR OWN WEIGHT. They also know we aren't here exploiting anyone. People HATE being exploited. When your not trying to exploit people SURPRISE-you make friends! Sadly alot of people just live life in an exploitative posture.
Ride4water via Iphone4
Location:San Vicente