The Nomads

Left Salina Cruz, Oaxaca Province, Mexico

Temp: 28 degrees C

Sunny

We were on the road at 8;45 without breakfast and headed for San Marcos, Guerrera Province, Mexico with a nice blue sky on the coastal road. This route has more ups and downs and twists and turns than an Alfred Hitchcock story! We had a very close call on one of the switch-back turns when it got too tight and the bike was two or three inches from the drop-off into the cement culvert on the outside of the turn. I was a hair’s breadth away from panic as I managed to keep the line and finish the turn still on the pavement. This was the absolute closest call we ever had so far on the trip and one second away from very serious injury or death, no exaggeration!

The pavement was in turns great and horrible and some of the worst topes were liberally scattered throughout! We were talking to some Texan surfers who had come that way and they claimed to have counted over seventy topes in a ten mile stretch. My bike bottomed out hard at walking pace at least a dozen times. There is no way around as the pavement drops off on each side ten to twelve inches to the loose sand or gravel shoulder (not an option with any bike).

And to top it all off, Denis has worn out his rear tire and is riding on the bias-ply canvas. We pulled up at a roadside hotel (desperation stop) so that if the tire blows getting to San Marcos or Acapulco it’ll be in the daytime. We desperately need to get to a place with internet to find a bike dealer who can order the tire for us and hopefully install it as well!

The plan is to leave really early in the am while the road is cold and make our way at 40-50 km per hour to San Marcos where we hope to find an internet café and make arrangements.

Tomorrow will be a tough day.

Kilometres - Daytrip: 477km total: 17,257

Gas: $ 21.24

Lodging: Hotel Venus $ 40

# posted by Richard and Susie @ 10:54 AM