The places where we have cycled.
I guess we should not have wished so hard for water… Apparently Colorado is having the wettest summer ‘ever’! It has something to do with El Nino and some other bad weather situations and so we are experiencing a lot of thunder and lightning storms on this part of the Great Divide Route.
After being away from friends and family for almost 22 months we are cycling hand in hand towards my mom and dad, who are welcoming us in South Fork. Hugs, kisses, a few tears and a good feeling. The next week we will park our loyal Santos bicycles in a shed at Ute Bluff Lodge and Campground with the most friendly owners and we will hit the road by car!
As we cycle into Pie Town (sounds a lot bigger than it actually is with just 60 souls) we run into Chris and Alex again; father and son bikepacking the Great Divide. They are just about to leave the famous Toaster House and Chris shows us around. We pick ourselves a room, drop all our stuff and run to the nearest pie restaurant, which was about to close. Lucky us, we are able to treat ourselves to a 8 dollar (!!) a piece blueberry pie. I guess you have to be here to really appreciate it…
“Hi y’all folks, how u’re doin?”
“Great, thanks!”
“Where ya from?”
“Holland.”
“Ah, I have a cousin in Sweden. That’s close to Holland, right?”
“Uh, sure, what’s his name? Maybe we know him…”
“Do you hear that?”
“What?”
“It’s quiet…”
Our new beasts on two wheels had a good spin on the flat and straight roads from Merida to Campeche, but it was time to hit the mountains again. Away from the heat and finding cool air and a different landscape. But, before we’d be puffing and sweating our way 3000 meter up, we’d stopped to visit mysterious Palenque.
Long, straight and flat roads, nearly 40 degrees Celsius; here and there a Maya ruin and a colorful Cenote to cool down. Yes, this is cycling in Yucatan, Mexico!
Probably one of the most expensive countries so far! We found out on the first day, when I entered a supermarket for a cool drink to make our suffering in this blistering heat a bit more bearable: 3 EUR for a can of Coke! We knew one thing for sure: let’s get the hell out of here and keep on cycling towards our big surprise..!
Yesterday we received a Facebook message from fellow cyclists Joanna and David (an Australian-German couple); they just arrived in Santa Elena (across the bridge from Flores) and would love to meet us! We have a date for a morning coffee on our way to the Maya ruins of Tikal, but we got along so well, we chatted the whole morning away! And just as we finally say our goodbyes…
The map shows some amazing offroad cycle opportunities in Guatemala; dirt roads, steep climbs, hidden villages and single tracks are here to discover! If only we hadn’t got a stubborn cold…