So today we left Jesus' house and rolled out. I slept great as I normally do in my hammock. We began our death march in to the headwind. I had no idea how hard it was blowing but it was the worst of my life. We finally cane to a fork in the road where we thought the wind my turn a bit and I saw for the first time since Baja 2 other cyclists coming towards me. I was stoked. I introduced myself and immediately felt a kindred spirit with these two guys named Levi and Scott. They started riding their bikes from Maine. They both just finished graduating from Georgetown and they ran track there. Levi ran the mile in 4:01, the 5k
in 13:55 and the 10k in 29:00. For those of you who dont know that is fast!!! Like try out for the Olympics fast.
They were coming toward me on the road because they said the wind had blown them off the road so they turned around. We all decided to stop and have breakfast and figure out a gameplan. The wind was blowing so hard it defied description.
Apparently according to the locals all the wind from the gulf of Mexico funnels down this alley we are in that is about 100 miles wide. At points they said it gusts to 250 kilometers and hour. For those of you who don't know the metric system that's 130mph. They said that January and February were the worst months. Perfect. Today was exceptionally bad they sad. They said it was over 100mph winds today. I'm from California and the wind always seems to die down at some point but today it was just full on relentless. I woke up and thought I would get an early start but it didn't help. The only comfort I found was in knowing the government knows it is windy so they built a windfarm here which I took a picture of.
We all decided to try and get a ride through this windy section of death. The locals said people die here in auto accidents and turn over cars all the time so we thought it would be safe to get a ride. One guy agreed to give us a ride but his manager called and told him not to take the route today because the gusts were hitting 250km an hour. UNBELIEVABLE. Amazingly the buses were still running so the 4 of us decided to take it. A huge bus full of 50 people was getting blown all over the road and I saw another bus in a ditch off the road being helped by a tow truck and another car blown off and people were helping it. It seemed like complete chaos. Like out of a movie. I was a little concerned but told myself that the bus driver must know what he's doing and that was that.
Well we did make it to Arriaga on the bus. We got off and the wind seemed just as bad. It was terrible. By this time it was 7pm, dark, and we had no where to stay. Dane and I stopped by a bar and asked if there was a place to camp and a guy said to go next store. Well it turns out the joke was on us as the local dude sent the 4 of us into a brothel. I sort of laughed but it made me sad to see women doing that with their life. I mean that's somebodies daughter. I have a daughter. I'm a happy go lucky guy but I found the episode to be just pretty sad.
Well we got directions to the town center and were looking around for a place to stay and for the second day in a row a guy in a bicycle rode up next to us and offered to let us stay at his house. Talk about random. His name was Ricardo. There must be a bond that well traveled cyclists have that makes us want to help each other. I just don't get it. A complete stranger comes up to us, says hi, and within 45 minutes has given us his entire home and left us the keys. We had clean water to drink, places to hang our hammocks, and Levi and Scott made a meal with their cookware to fill us all to the gils. We laughed and talked about how fortunate we were...AGAIN.
There have been so many times on this trip where I could swear that the Universe was conspiring on our behalf. Friendly faces, open homes, boat rides, car rides, free meals, and thumbs up as we ride. Call it karma. Call it being in the flow. Call it God's favor. Call it whatever you want it doesn't matter to me. I would describe it as just a fountain of grace coming my way. I accept it. I appreciate it. I am thankful for it. I am humbled by it. Who am I to receive so much? It's a good question that I'm not sure there is an answer for but I do know that I'm thankful for all the kindness people have shown us on this journey thus far. In Spanish you say " gracias pod tu amabeliedad con migo" which means thank you so much for the kindness you have shown me. I have said this at least once a day for a month...
So we rode 65 miles today. We are 105 from entering Guatemala. Don't have much time to blog now. Will catch up later
Ride4water via Iphone4
