Road Bumps

We had the longest day yet on bikes yet from the town of Teotihuatan to Puebla, covering approximately 78 miles at about 8300 ft of elevation. Not a bad day considering the bikes alone weigh about 30 lbs with an additional 50lbs of gear strapped to them. After spending two weeks on pavement, covering distance I realized bikes are a fantastic form of transportation; it turns food objects such as snickers bars, tacos, and rice into energy which allows for the begrudging traveler to cover immense distance (if they only have the determination to do so). But just like a car, guzzling in fuel with an energy output, sometimes you fill up with a bad tank of gas, and the car doesn't run quite right. For us, we think it was a bowl of soup, with juice, and a enchilada combo we all got for dinner one night in Teotihaucan. Luckily, we had a planned two days rest in Puebla, where we envisioned ourselves climbing volcanoes near the city, meeting locals, and exploring the city. Instead the three of us have been relatively holed up in a room much to small for three men, three bikes, and gear strewn everywhere. To make matters worse our "economical hotel" comes complete without a toilet seat, and a sink which drains onto the floor to flow into the shower drain.

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Waking up on our rest day in San Luis, we spent the morning apart from one another. The few hours of separation caused some serious anxiety since we hadn't been more than about 10 feet from each other for an entire week, but it was probably helpful to smell something besides the stench of Kai and Jon's Luther riding jersey. I spent my morning blogging, finding the best flavor of ice cream (vanilla with chocolate and caramel swirls mixed with oreo if you're wondering), and trying a guava fruit from a very friendly gentleman. Not wanting to  be too ambitious, we made sure to meet back up that afternoon.

Finally on the Road

After our Independence day celebrations, we had a bit of a late start to the morning. Getting back on the Trolls, we made our way to the road and immediately went through a 2 km tunnel to pass through the mountain. The other side had a stunning view of the valley, complete with low hanging clouds. The next 25 km was all downhill, but the road was made of a dense cobblestone that made us wonder if our wheels would last. Whenever possible, we opted for the angled drainage on the sides because it was smooth. I must say, even though our first few days were very physically demanding and our wheels probably should look more like squares, our Trolls have miraculously withstood every test thus far with flying colors.

The First Few Days

Training

Well... I think it´s safe to say we've found adventure!

Our journey south in the car was about as ridiculous as you might expect. About 3 too many bags of chips, infinite brownies, and loud singing of the Spanish alphabet as a final attempt at learning the language. Talking with our Spanish guide, Laura, we quickly learned we are in fact not fluent, and spent more time emphasizing key phrases and ways to avoid speaking such as pointing and asking "What's this?"

The Final Countdown

Jon 

We are finally within the 24 hour countdown to crossing the Mexico border and thus the beginning of our adventure. It seems like a long time ago that I propositioned Ben the idea to take bicycles down Central and South America. We agreed to go even if we had to work crap jobs and pick up extra shifts to make it happen; knowing we would be leaving friends, families and, at least temporarily limiting our access to ‘comfort’, ‘stable incomes’, ‘cell phone plans‘, ‘good night sleep’, ‘careers’. A.K.A. ‘normal lives’; we thought we knew what to expect and figured our intermediate college level Spanish would see us through.