A Few Reflections And The Mexico Cycling Map

So of course, like any normal person, I decided I needed to take a vacation from my vacation after my vacation, so my time has been split between "chilling out" in Seattle (aka car shopping, mountain bike shopping, and planning trips to Oregon, Washington DC, and Moab) and a whirlwind trip to the Tuolumne Meadows side of Yosemite National Park, fires be damned.

Sometimes its worth exploring your own backyard.

Sunset views of the fire.

Yup, and that's why we go to Yosemite.

I could spend hours carefully crafting some deep thoughts about bike touring and life, the universe, and everything, but there's too much going on and too much to look forward to for me to sit in front of this computer for too long.

So in no particular order, some thoughts and random factoids about this trip:

• My handsome steed's tires survived without a single flat!

• I lost a total of 12 pounds, though, I'm guessing I lost closer to 15 pounds of fat and put back on 3 pounds of muscle.  This was more than 10% of my weight and I had a very hard time keeping the weight on during this trip, sometimes forcing myself to eat even when I wasn't hungry.  I suffered athletic amenorrhea for the entire duration of the trip and am currently trying to put on some lean muscle to remedy this, though my metabolism is still on overdrive

• I already miss the vast amounts of affordable fruit in Mexico, but I'm so happy to have a real selection of vegetables and red wine again.

• Some questions I would ask a future cycling partner that I did not think to ask this time would include ones about sleeping patterns (or, are you an early riser, a mid-day napper, etc.), ones about social tendencies (or, are you an introvert, an extrovert, a mix), and ones about cycling style (or, do you prefer to just crush out the miles and have extended stops, or cycle more leisurely with many short stops).

• Recently, someone asked me what my big takeaway from this trip was.  My answer was that it was the best "palette cleanser" ever from my years working in BigLaw.  But really, it was more than that.  It was a way for me to actively think about what it is I want out of life... all those hours on the bike let you talk yourself in circles until maybe, just maybe, you arrive to a point.

• It feels so good to be connected with my friends and family again... within days of my return, schemes of epic road trips, mountain bike festivals, and wedding shenanigans came my way.  I feel more strongly than ever that life is about people, not just adventure for the sake of adventure. 

• Surprisingly, I don't miss the bike tour... not yet at least.  Maybe it's because I have so many exciting plans on the horizon, including a bikepacking trip of White Rim Road in Canyonlands, but I feel like I'm home.

• Unsurprisingly, I'm scheming my next bike tour already... Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia?  Great Divide?  The possibilities are endless and I'm stoked.

This is a map of approximately where I bike  in Mexico.  It may not be exact at times if a dirt road was not recognized by Googlina or I just didn't double-check the GPS track (if you want the GPS track, please send me a message and I'll bug my cycling partner for it).

PART I


View The Kung Fu Cycling Map in a larger map


PART II


View The Kung Fu Cycling Map in a larger map

Days 141 Through 143: Cancun To Seattle

All good things must come to an end... or so goes the saying.  I say that's a load of crap.  One good thing leads to another, I had an amazing bike tour of the real Mexico from top to bottom, and I wouldn't trade any of the experiences I had for the world.  It ended at just the right time... I was excited to see my family and move on, and at the same time, I was already thinking about the next trip and the next adventure.

Disassembly and packing the bike for the long flight home.

All boxed up!

Gonzalo and his dad, also named Gonzalo!  We had an awesome time at the new planetarium in Cancun!

Clearly, getting our picture taken with the "don't bring these things on the plane" guy was the best and most fitting last photo of the trip! 

Kudos to Airtrain / Southwest for being extremely bike friendly.  Their advertised $75 charge for the bike box was the same as for any other overweight or oversized luggage, and they did not try to double charge me or give me any grief for having packed some luggage into the bike box.  At 77 pounds, my bike box was far from light!  They also went above and beyond the call of duty when I arrived in Chicago with a wet disintegrating bike box... they radioed up from customs to alert the checkin that I would be zooming up there, and they were ready to go with a huge packing tape dispenser and helped me mend my box for the second leg of my trip.  Karma was on my side as I had great company on the flight... the conversation was so engaging I didn't have time to be worried about the box.

Plenty of time for a pre-flight drink, even with some last minute shopping and having to find the receipt for my tourist card for customs (by the way, keep that sucker in your passport with your tourist card if you do a land crossing and give it to the airline people when you check in to avoid the "Leeeeaaaaann Ohhhnneeeeiiill please come to gate 5."

Amazing sunset from the plane.

Thanks to the lovely folks at the Midway Southwest counter and well, uh, TSA, it basically made it!  Thanks to my big brother for picking me up at the airport and helping me lug this mess around.

I'll TSA credit for taking the time to actually tape it up really well.

It feels good to be home... I'm too busy relaxing and enjoying my family, but I'm sure some deep thoughts and ramblings about my takeaways from this trip will follow in the not-too-distant future.