The coast of Oaxaca - Pictures

Coasting down from the Sierra Sur to the coast

Trying to cool off

Cyclist's delight: roadside coco frio and some shade

Carnival in Puerto Escondido

Just what we were looking for... a vacation from our vacation

How nature says "do not touch"

Lisa playing games

Remote beachcombing suprise.  We usually just find seashells

Moonrise from our beach camp

Lisa and Debbie playing improvised backgammon in the shade of the palapa

Buying fresh fish (sierra) from the local fisherman  Soon to be ceviche!

Miles and miles of empty beaches

Sunrise over the Pacific

Lisa testing the waters

We'll miss the Oaxacan beaches

Huatulco

Talk about a short day of riding. We rode 4k before deciding to spend the day and night in Zipolete, the town over from Puerto Agustinillo. Side note, if you happen to head to Mizunte, there is a little shop next to the cosmetics store called Pan Primera and they have amazing chocolate croissants made fresh for only 10 pesos. We took a morning walk to Zipolete for a fresh croissant and coffee stop at Arquetecta. Good coffee with an open seated area on the beach and looks out to the ocean. It was such a nice morning.

Most people we talked to about Zipolete did not have great things to say. The beach was supposedly too rough, the people too seedy and just not that nice of a town. Yes, the people were a bit rough, but friendly nonetheless. The beach was fantastic (and is a nude beach mostly consisting of old men, which cracked me up) and we spent a bit of time taking turns from reading and taking dips in the ocean. The town wasn't much to talk about, but the food looked great with plenty of little restaurants that seated people on a pedestrian only road. We actually cooked a dinner that wasn't ramen.

Heat, heat, heat into Mazunte

Today was hot, hot, hot. More humid than anything, every pore on our bodies was beading sweat. Only covering a little over 60k, relatively flat road with a few rolling hills, we still feel whooped and need to drink more water regardless of our bodies not feeling so dehydrated because we are in such a humid climate. So different fromt he desert when we have constant thirst. A short 300 foot climb followed by a quick descent, we arrived in Mazunte, the most southern point in Mexico where one can see the sun set and rise over the ocean. Hearing mixed opinions about this town, we did not know what to expect. Our first stop was a natural cosmetics store, using plants such as avocados as their main base for many of their products. I have an allergy to sunscreen and can only use one brand that I know of which comes all the way from Australia, containing 8 ingredients, 7 which are plants and the sun protector being zinc. I did not properly prepare, resulting in my sunscreen bottle running on empty. I have been mixing the sunscreen with lotion to stretch every last drop. I am so thankful to have come across this store! My allergy is so intense that putting just a bit on a part of my body causes it to go systemic and hives cover every inch of my body for three days. Ugh. What a pain. But nonetheless, I have been saved by this store and used a sample coming into town and have yet to break out. First thing tomorrow morning we will be at the store and I will purchase two bottles. Saved again!

Riding down a side street that led to the water, we saw many more people than anticipated. A circus convention is in town where they provide lessons in juggling, ball balancing, yoga, etc. I can imagine one can learn a lot at this gathering, but it was just not our scene and the prices at the restaurants and accommodations were jacked up. We do not blame them for doing so, it's a great way for them to earn extra cash. A quick stroll through town and we continued on our way to Puerto Agustinillo for a cheaper accommodation. Although we saved on our room, we were craving fresh fish, something we have not had since being in Mexico. Dinner on the beach of grilled fish, veggies, rice, chips and salsa and accompanied with cerveza. It was fantastic. We did surpass our daily budget, but oh well, we were tired and wanted something nutritious and are thankful to have had such food.

Back to our hotel, we sit outside our room as it is a good 10 degrees cooler (trying to use the fan to air the closed up room). We will read our books and head to bed early after a deliciously cold shower. Today was surprisingly exhausting.

9,000 feet down

Started our morning with a cafe de oila, too sweet for our taste buds. I couldn't even finish it. Nonetheless, breakfast was tasty and with a bit of a late start we were cruising downhill, still gliding smoothly on the newly paved road. Another few k's and we were back to the broken roads with achy hands and extreme heat. I knew it was too good to be true. The descent was nice and we could see the rolling hills of the rainforest as the night allowed for the mist to dissipate. Such beauty surrounding us and natural music filling our ears, making every pedal uphill worth it.

My biggest struggle with Mexico is the "machismo". If Ryan and I have some distance between, and especially if I am riding ahead, I get heckled from the small town Mexicans. It starts with a small whistle, the up and down whistle men often give when saying someone looks good. As this happens often, I keep my head forward and try to ignore. More often than not, the whistles continue along with a "chica, chica, chica. CHICA! HOLA CHICA! HOLA CHICA!" And then the whistling starts that is the same high pitched whistle used when getting a dogs attention. Up until this particular descent, I have been patient and simply smile and wave. I think the heat, combined with the disappointment of so many ups when told it was solely down, and ready to arrive in Puerto Escondido, I just couldn't take the heckling and I somehow got really frustrated and annoyed. For those of you who know me, this does not happen often. Poor Ryan had to deal with my mood. I do not understand how the women in this country deal with such men. It is so demeaning and the only way to make them be quiet is to acknowledge them. As a result, I simply raise my hand and keep my head forward, not giving the satisfaction of true acknowledgement. I know this is part of the culture but I was just having a moment. I know, poor me, right? Gosh, as I write this I realize how silly those feelings of frustration are:-)

Over the Sierra Madres to the Pacific Ocean

8am and still groggy from a fairly awful nights rest. Cockroaches, a few gunshots (celebratory?), constant noise from the youngsters living in the hotel and the load speaker in town carrying on well into the night made for a rough nights sleep. We loaded up and made our way into town to fill our water and eat some breakfast. The corner shop run by an older woman and her grand-daughter working hand in hand with ease and comfort to accommodate the majority of town that seemed to be waiting patiently for their cooking. The older woman slowly grabs the homemade tortilla dough from a large bowl, occasionally dipping her hand in a bucket of water before placing the balled dough between 2 metal sheets and firmly pulling the lever down to make tortilla at a time. Using the wood burning method, she places each tortilla on the hot bowl like surface and easily maneuvers the tortillas every 10-15 seconds to make the perfect tortilla. We ate a large quesadilla willed with frijoles and queso, a local Oaxacan cheese most similar to a stringy and salty mozzarella. Absolutely delicious. The homemade salsa served with each plate is always the best. Next on our list, getting past the next blockade.

Road Block

Although tempted to stay another night in Oaxaca, we took Murakami's words of wisdom in What I Talk about when I Talk about Running and decided to leave the vibrant city when we still wanted to be there in hopes of going back one day. Murakami says to stop running while you are still enjoying it so you will want to run again. Great words to live by! A great author and someone I have come to love reading during this phase in life.

Although we left our room at 11:30am, we did not leave the city until 2. How does that happen? Knowing we have a lot of ups and plenty of mountains to cover before we hit the beach and the town of Puerto Escondido, we stocked up on snacks and dinners. The ride today was fairly simply, only covering maybe 35-40 miles. The sun was hot and our tans hit a new level, which is great because maybe, just maybe we won't stick out so much? Yes, that is a question. In these small towns, all eyes are on us.

The last town before our climb we were planning/hoping to find a hotel or place to stay. Upon riding up to Ayoquezco about 200 or so of the local townspeople, men and women included, had blockaded the road with buses, boulders and logs, and the majority of people were armed with machetes. Uhhhhh.....shit. All eyes turned on us as we slowly pushed our bikes into the crowd unsure if they would even let us pass. The crowd opened up once the town elders in white cowboy hats motioned us through (we also heard a few "andele, andele"). Without any towns up ahead, we were stuck. We pulled into the center of town and right away a young man asked if we spoke English. Phew, someone to help us and let us know the reason for the blockade. It turns there is a land dispute with another local town, which would also explain the pickup truck loaded with men and machine guns. The retaliation is a blockade preventing anyone from coming in or going out. It looks like tomorrow should be interesting.

Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico - Pictures

Colonial Puebla

one of the supposed 365 churches of Cholula

Grillin' papas

Road side Comedor (food stop)

Elotes

Fried grasshoppers

Luche Libre Mexican wrestling masks

Carne Asada!

The Ruins of Monte Alban, Oaxaca

Crossing the Sierra Madres

Crossing the Sierra Madre range......up, up and more up. We had been warned by all those we came across that getting over the Sierra Madres was A LOT of climbing. We also emailed with a guy who has spent almost two years on his bike who suggested this route rather than taking the highway, stating somewhere in the email that this climb in "rewarding". I think his idea of an award and our idea of an award are two very different things. The sun was blazing and we hit the major ups in the dead heat of the afternoon. Not quite knowing what we were getting into, and up until this point we had come across a town with at least a small shop and often a food stand, we were not prepared with food and water. Not in the least. Three hours into climbing and we were exhausted, hot, even more burnt than yesterday, thirsty and out of water. Because of the way the road twisted and turned around every canyon and ridge, we were never quite sure what lie ahead or where the top would be and the climbing would stop. Hitting our maxed out point and then some with night falling, we came across one house being build on a papaya farm high on a ridge. Two men were just finishing their days labor when we asked for water and they gladly filled our bottles. They rode off on a donkey and we were left to figure out where to sleep. Two dogs barked at our presence in the backyard, but with nowhere to go and no place to hide our tent, we swept a small space in the unfinished shelter under the stars. After a quick dinner of our emergency supply of ramen (that has never before tasted so good), we were on our backs hoping it wouldn't rain and we wouldn't be discovered. I do not think I have ever been so nervous during a nights "sleep" and hope to never feel that way again.

Puebla into Oaxaca, changing states

The second day out is always enjoyable. Our butts don't hurt, our endurance is kicking and we are excited to be back on the bikes, making for a touch longer day. As the sun began to set and thunder booming all all around, we found ourselves in the town of Cocaxtalan, at a quaint little place called the Cazadores hotel that was in the process of being newly renovated. A quick shower and we were out through the alley and across the street ready for dinner. Not knowing what we were getting, simply pointing to the torta the woman was making for the other customer, we happily devoured our crispy pork filled sandwich and guzzled down a family size corona. Life is good.

After 9 hours on the bike, I was asleep just after 8 and Ryan 9, barely budging until 8am. 12 hours of sleep a night is fairly typical when we are riding long days. I guess our life mainly consists of riding, eating and sleeping. That morning, we were enjoying the nice, clean hotel, reading our books when I noticed there was not any noise coming from the remodeling. Odd because Mexicans start work early and work hard throughout the day. The amount of manual labor here is unlike anything I have seen. They do not sit around like we often see at construction sites in the states. I peeked out the window and sure enough, 5 guys were sitting in the 2 feet of shade along the wall waiting for us to rise. How thoughtful. I instantly opened our door to let them know we were up and about which worked out perfectly because we needed to start moving the pedals before the sun was too hot.

Puebla, Mexico for an extra 3 days

The weather was due to set in for the weekend, so we contacted someone on warmshowers.com, the wonderful website we discovered in the states that hosts bicycle tourers, offering a bed, laundry, kitchen and the obvious one, a shower. Luck was on our side and we were fortunate to get in touch with Ricardo and Juli who opened their home (technically Ricardo's father's home, but he was away for most of the weekend) and their company. Ricardo is Mexican and Juli is German. Although a fairly uncommon match within the Mexican culture, they have formed a beautiful relationship. We talked for hours and had spectacular conversations, talking about everything from everyday life to illegal immigrants in the US to the world as a whole. We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend just cruising around Puebla and Cholula as well as spending time with Ricardo, Juli and Ernesto (Ricardo's father, a great man who has worked very hard to provide his family with so much and encouraged them to make Mexico and the world a better place).

After 3 extra days in Puebla, we were off early Monday morning, our first official day back on the bikes. Next major destination: Oaxaca City (pronounced: Wa-ha-ka). Dodging traffic until the outskirts of the city, we were on our way. The roads are quite different here. Rules do not necessarily apply and as much as I wanted to always be looking around at the people and scenery, my head was down trying to avoid unsigned potholes as wide as car doors.

Back in the saddle again

We spent the winter months in beautiful San Diego, CA hanging Christmas lights and picking up shifts bartending or serving whenever possible. A few months spending time with my brothers Joe and CJ and making a few dollars to enable us to get back on our bikes for another adventure. Ryan spent our last days in San Diego in his typical departure ritual of preparing the bikes for travel (finding boxes and packing material and breaking them down to their smallest capacity), going through all of our gear, and simply tying up all lose ends. I was lucky enough to have a few days work-free to soak up as much time as possible with my brothers. The last two weeks, we managed to kayak (and were lucky enough to see dolphins, sea lions and whales), camp in the desert, watch CJ's new band The Deadly Birds perform and sailed. A great way to end a two+ month stretch of hard work. I will miss my brothers so much as they are both such fantastic people and we all have a great time together. I am so lucky.

Oregon into California

Since we are not ever really in a hurry, we always always opt for the less busy roads. This often means more hills, less towns (so we need to carry more water and food), less cars and longer routes. Some people ride from point A to B with their miles per day preplanned because that is either just how they are or that is all the time allotted, therefore not giving them a choice. Riding as we have, I would definitely recommend going each day with how you feel. This leads to many experiences that may not have occurred otherwise when there are "have-to's" involved. Head down and pedaling to knock out miles to your destination rather than taking the time to explore or chat with the locals, I think you miss out.

Through the heart of Oregon south to California

Extending our stay in Portland to have more time with dad and Gina, we got a ride up to Mt. Hood, saving us two days of uphills riding. The route we took south was simply stunning, that is the best word I can come up with when trying to describe the next two weeks of our ride. The trees surrounding us were mostly pine with an occasional clump of fall turning Aspens thrown in. Neither of us could get over the beauty of the fall colors. Probably because of the time of year, we were often the only ones on these curvy roads, the only sound coming from the spin of our tires on the pavement, and an occasional gust of wind. It was so calming and is now near the top of our list for best rides since we started riding a year and a half ago. Cruising through little towns, we would stop for a bite whenever we could and loaded up on meals to fix on our campstove because of the great distances between places. Topping off our water is always something we do with each faucet we see.

Eastern Washington to Portland, OR

Taking the 20 east to west across Washington, we followed a beautiful road with a more than decent bike lane, courteous cars and a lot of up and down riding. 5 passes in 5 days, climbing anywhere from 2500 feet to just over 4000 feet. People are often most amazed that we make these long climbs, but to be honest, getting it all over with and ending with a cruisey, long decent, passes are preferable compared to the rolling hills of long climbs and little decent.

Washington - Pictures

Wild camping

Little house on the prairie

The Methow Valley

Climbing up Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park

Lisa finds another blackberry patch

We love bakeries...  a great one on Whidbey Island

Seattle icons

Traffic and exhaust...  gotta take the bad with good

Wow...

Loved riding in Washington