currently, San Blas

Leah and I peddaled our way out of the gravity that surrounds every big city, Mazatlan included and ended up further south. Less desert and more beaches, we are surely in the tropics now. Yesterday I picked my first watermelon. It was growing alongside the road. We left a few of the smaller ones for those other bikers that might be taking the autopista south...

About biking in Mexico:
Carry water. Duh, but know that few regions have potable water from the tap and that means you´ll have to buy it.
The autopista aka: Mexico 15 quota, is the big highway that goes from Nogales all the way to Mexico City. It is paved and since Sinoloa, has a tremdous shoulder. The smaller highways do not. The Mexico 15 libre does not either. There is no toll or tax for bicycles on the quota, so I suggest taking the well paved, big shouldered quota. Also, maps are hard to find in Mexico. Bicylce mechanics with shops, aka Taller de Bicicletas, are all over the place. They stock 26 inch tires, all of them do. Some stock 27 inch and others also have 700cm, but 26inch are the easiest to find. Older brake systems and gearing are easier to find as well. Newer technology has yet to reach the master mechanics of Mexico and so you run a risk of not being able to find certain parts. However, the bike mechanics here are more inclined to think outside the box than most mechanics in the states. Neccestity is the mother of hobo-riggin´.

I´ve said this before, but bicycles are all over here and so drivers see them on the highways and are generous about giving space so don´t mind the fear culture of that USA.

And now to the topic of culture:
Bicycling gives you the oportunity to feel a place, to be a part of the landscape and it seems to give us the power to impress people. "We started in Idaho, it´s close to Canada. Yeah, on bicycles." We have certainly been given our share of generousity from strangers and every day we gain another little glimpse into Mexican culture. Last night we spent the night at the government building. It was a little nerve racking because it was also the police station and we could not really leave until the morning, so it felt a little like we were in jail. I teased Leah about how she got us a free night stay in jail. But, all in all, it was a free night stay in their government building with a bathroom and a sink to wash (dishes, face, shammy). I kept thinking how that would never happen in the states. "yeah, just stay at the county court house, it is dry and there are plenty of cops to keep you safe." But it did happen that strangers went out of their way to help us find a safe place to continue our hobo-livin´.

Now at the same time, there is an expression here that goes, "The US has it´s foot on Mexico´s neck." My heart sinks to hear this. All the while, Mexico has two presidents. One that was elected by the majority of Mexican voters and another that was determined to have won the election by a narrow margin. The first president receives no mention in any large media source and the other recieves millions of dollars from Bush to fight a "war on drugs". I want to puke on the beurocrats that make all this possible. I want them to know the horror of war and the despair of working everyday to eat beans and rice in a tar papered shack with dirt floors. I want to make enough money to buy California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas and give it back to Mexico. I want to be a good neighbor.

Meanwhile, we´ll keep nievely exploring this earth and I´ll keep apracticar mi español.