Winging it on Wheels
A 10,000 km solo bike ride across the Americas. I set out from Seattle with no plan,
no bike touring experience, and just cycled south.
This is my journal and photos from the road.
Still moving things over from CrazyGuyOnABike, so the full journal isn’t here yet.
- Intro: How did I end up writing on a crazy guy website? · 0 km
What am I supposed to write here?
- The plan: You do have a plan though, right? · 0 km
No, not really.
- T minus 3 weeks: This shit is starting to feel real. · 0 km
I have booked my flight. I will fly from Ireland to Seattle on the 14 September, a little more than 3 weeks from now.
- Gear List · 0 km
This is the state of my bike gear as of t-3 days.
- The Night before: Last min tech troubles · 0 km
During a goodbye takeaway dinner with Family last night, someone asked how I was bringing the bike.
- A day of Traveling: Ireland to Seattle · 0.6 km
Total distance today: About 600 meters
- Day 2: Or the real Day 1? · 60 km
The day started slow and wet on pretty empty suburban streets of Seattle. The Garmin seemed to be doing a really good job keeping me on quiet roads so I started to trust it. And then it brought me 3+ kms in the wrong direction.
- Day 3: Belfair to Elma · 90 km
Slept pretty well and even overslept a little. It was nearly 8 am before I left Belfair national park.
- Day 4: Rest day · 0 km
First Rest day
- Day 5: Cooking shouldn't be this hard. · 70 km
Woke up expecting sore legs this morning but to my surprise the legs were fine. What surprised me was my upper body and arms were sore. Not what I expecting from a few days cycling. Guess it was all the pushing of the bike up those hills 2 days ago.
- Day 6: Gentle hills and nice people · 70 km
Great day today. I learned last night that if I only half inflate my pillow, it is so much more comfortable. I sink into it more and the hard creases that are there when it is fully inflated are not there. The more you know..
- Day 7: A day of Beautiful views and wildlife · 59 km
On day 1 when putting the bike together at the airport, I only half inflated my tires. I was tired and told myself I would fix this the following morning. But I didn't. I only inflated to max pressure minus 10 psi yesterday morning. And yesterday I could definitely feel the vibration more on my wrist and behind. So this morning, after having 2 peanut butter sandwiches and 4 cookies for breakfast, I let a little more than 5 psi from both tires. Not sure if it is just in my head but feel like my wrist got a lot less numb today.
- Day 8: Beer is great · 50 km
Left Long Beach along the "discovery trail" which is a pretty cool walk/cycle route. This led to other pretty rural roads until I rejoined highway 101 just in time to cross a big 4 mile long bridge to Astoria.
- Day 9: Rest day... AND ELK! · 0 km
Rest day today. Slept in, lazy cycle to nearby towns for a coffee and steal their wifi, and catch-up with journal writing.
- Day 10: My first flat + rough hills · 60 km
I got my first flat of the trip while rolling out of camp. It had to happen eventually. Seems it wasn't a puncture tho and just a flat tire.
- Day 11: I feel stupid · 65 km
I have quite a few notes to turn into a journal entry today so this could be a long rambling entry. Feel free to skip.
- Day 12: Wind, rain, hills and racism · 70 km
The mashed potatoes in the packet were not as bad as I expected. Not great. Definitely don't come close to proper home cooked mashed spuds. But they do make a nice change from rice.
- Day 13: Great views · 45 km
Was tempted yesterday to call today a rest day. But once I got up, the weather was nice and I was feeling good so I decided to put in a few easy kms.
- Day 14: 2 weeks in and maybe 2% done! · 60 km
The morning started with reorganizing my panniers and bags and getting rid of a couple of more things I am never likely to use. During this process I had a sudden realization that I don't have my jacket. I must have left it at the reception of the last motel. Oops. I am not cycling back there. Who needs rain gear anyway?
- Day 15: a bad impress on tubeless tires · 73 km
After yesterday's entry, I chatted with Jacob and a hiker called Jamie. Jamie is a 60 year old and the first hiker I met. Apparently a lot of the long distance hikers had to abandon their hikes due to wildfires.
- Day 16: Reality check · 65 km
After yesterday's entry, I caught up with the German couple again. So when Phill got a puncture I stopped to help him while Julia didn't notice and continued cycling. She stopped when she noticed but was too far ahead and couldn't see us. She must have looked panicked as someone stopped to make sure she was ok. Apparently a German cyclist died 2 years prior on the same stretch of road that we were on. And it was the dad of that driver who stopped to make sure Julia was ok. It brought home how dangerous the roads can be. With this in mind, I wore my high vis today with full rear lights on.
- Day 17: showers are great · 60 km
Last night was cold. I forgot to check the temperature but had to put on a t-shirt and my bandana to keep warm in my sleeping bag. But a great 11+ hour sleep.
- Day 18: last night in Oregon · 80 km
Camp fire with a beer last night was cool. 2 separate Americans joined me, the German couple and the Spanish guy around the campfire. One interesting story and maybe warning was from one of the new Americans called Jamie. He described waking up in his tent one night to the sounds of many creatures manic laughing just outside his tent. He turned on his headlight and peered outside. About 20 racoons stood around his bike frozen looking back at him. A couple of seconds pass, and then the raccoons turn their attention back to the bike and start tearing into the pannier bags, all the while laughing histerically. Not sure what the lesson here is, but I am sure there is one.
- Day 19: First warm showers! · 48 km
Today is going to be a short day relatively speaking so I slept in and had a lazy morning. Goodbyes are interesting on the road. Hard to know if Goodbye means see you in a few hours, or a few days or we will never see each other again. Up until now our ad hoc group from the last few nights (Spanish guy and German couple) would meet in the same campgrounds each night but that will change tonight. The German couple are taking a few days to rest at a warm showers, the Spanish guy is taking a rest day and I am cycling onto Crescent City in California where I will take a rest day or two at different warm showers. So Goodbye to the German couple felt closer to the 2nd or 3rd type of Goodbye. Realized I would probably see the Spanish guy Jacob in the warm showers the following night so that is a type 1 or 2 goodbye. So the occasion called for a group selfie. These are not natural for me to take but I need to start thinking about taking them more with people.
- Day 20: Rest day: Pints at church? · 0 km
Rest day was restful. Did some laundry and patches some tubes and some basic bike stuff.
- Day 21: Begining of the redwood forests · 56.99 km
Despite the very comfy sofa, under a real roof and despite the couple of beers that would normally make sleep come easy, last night was the worst sleep of the trip by far. I got maybe 2 hours despite going to bed around 10pm. This was due to some crazed drug addict that decided to set up base for the night outside the church and who shouted loudly to himself all night long. So this was maybe 10 feet from where I was attempting to sleep. Quite literally from midnight to 7am he was having a very loud solo Convo. So none of the 4 of us at the warm showers got any sleep.
- Day 22: Cycling to a deadline · 70 km
This morning cycling was nice. Gravel type trail leading into old packed gravel type roads leading into a bike path. Very little of highway 101 today which is a nice change as highway 101 is basically my life for the last few weeks.
- Day 23: First 100k and the Avenue of the Giants! · 100 km
After last night's entry, Phill gave an impromptu photography lesson. Have now at least opened the "master" settings on my phone camera now and have a vague idea how to take a long exposure photo which was a first. Photo attached but full credit for it goes to Phill.
- Day 24: Hills and reantless heat · 70 km
Today was rough.
- Day 25: Rest day · 0 km
Am 2 days behind on this journal so this will be quick fire bullet point entry.
- Day 26: Leggett hill · 65 km
This is a quick entry as I am tired but don't want to fall behind.
- Day 27: Great campground but racoons · 68 km
Today was 68 km over rolling hills. I have been cycling nearly 4 weeks and my fitness doesn't not seem to be improving. My average speed and number of kms is the same and I am still walking all the same types of hills that I was a few weeks ago. Guess it just takes more time and the body probably needs more than a day's rest.
- Day 28: I survived the racoons · 67 km
Yes, I am 3 days behind on this journal. Given that I am behind, I am not sure if I should write in the present to maintain the illusion that I am up to date or write in past tense?
- Day 29: Wet day and walk down memory lane · 101 km
Woke up to rain. Decided wasn't worth getting out of bed yet so I made coffee from my sleeping bag. I successfully didn't burn down the tent so that is good.
- Day 30: Made it to San Francisco! · 57 km
Tent was still wet when I woke up. But my mood was high as I was going to arrive in San Francisco today. After coffee and packing up camp, I was off.
- Day 31: Rest day: Bike upgrades and Cheesecake · 0 km
First rest day in San Francisco. I Woke up early and decided to go for a walk to the center of the city... And immediately was hit with hills and the realization that it would be a 1+ hour walk to the center. So much for that rest day. At least I wasn't on the bike.
- Day 32: Rest day - Planning for Big Sur + playing Baduk · 0 km
Slept in, then walked along fisherman's wharf and some parks toward the sports basement and did some minor shopping there. Most of the shopping I did here I included in yesterday's entry. I did forget to mention I got cycle gloves tho. I find I am getting very very sunburned but just on the back of my hands. This makes sense given this is the only part of my body that is really exposed given how I grip my handle bars. So the cycle gloves should hopefully help with this.
- Day 33: Rest day - Last rest day in SF · 0 km
Last rest day today. Had some rest days before now but it was great to have a few rest days together. Thanks again Aoife for letting me crash in your house! Feeling good as new and excited to get back on the road tomorrow.
- Day 34: Back on road · 55 km
Aha crap. I am 3 days behind here again.. Story of my life.
- Day 35: A day of flats · 95 km
Day started much like any other with waking up. That is some next level insight that you can expect from me.
- Day 36: Short 20km day · 20 km
Was a short 20 odd kms today. This would leave about 44km tomorrow to get to the train in Salinas plus whatever extra to get from SLO to the camp ground.
- Day 37: skipping big sur landslide with a train · 44 km
Train was from Salinas at midday. Given how slow I cycle, the number of punctures I have been getting and tendency to like being early, I decided to get up at 6am. Was hoping to be out of camp by 7am but was out by 6.30am. So this was my first time cycling in the dark, which was cool.
- Day 38: Short day and some needless nerdy tech stuff · 27 km
Today options are a very short 27km day or a very long 110km day. Given I didn't realize these were my only options and it was nearly 9 am before I rolled out of bed, option 2 was already out of the question.
- Day 39: Racoons... · 78.7 km
After yesterday's entry, Jullian, the french-canadian arrived at camp. The new German couple and us made dinner together and called it an early night.
- Day 40: A wrong turn leads to an adventure! · 52 km
Today would be a relatively short day at about 50 kms. Not many hills, no flats, manageable heat, what could go wrong?
- Day 41: So many punctures today so go tubeless which causes more problems · 40 km
I should stop thinking days will be easy as that is just asking for trouble. The day started with having to deal with about 100 ants inside my tent. After I solved this, I discovered something had eaten through some of my food bags which I had put in a very very shitty bear box in the camp. I guess maybe mice or squirrels.
- Day 42: Rest day in Santa Barbara + Bike upgrades · 0 km
Not much rest happened during this rest day but I am pretty happy with what I got done.
- Day 43: Unexplained speed boost · 87 km
Today started with eating 2 big complementary homemade chocolate chip and banana waffles covered in maple syrup in the hostel while watching a crazed drugged homeless guy go crazy outside and throw weights at the glass hostel wall. The police were called and when they arrived, he went running.
- Day 44: LA! · 80 km
Pitched my tent last night next to a massive bed of fallen Autumn colored leaves which I thought looked cool. That was until night fell and I kept waking up to the crunch of some creature's footsteps squashing the leaves not more than 2 feet from my head. No idea what creatures lurked outside the tent and I wasn't leaving the comfort of my sleeping bag to check. So instead I just shake the tent and shout in the hopes of scareing whatever it is away. But there were no other creature sounds aside from this. Guess I wouldn't have noticed them either if I wasn't beside the bed of fallen leaves. And the main thing is nothing tried to break into my bike bags.
- Day 45, 46 + 47: Rest days in LA · 0 km
Going to start combining multiple rest days in a row into single entries, so don't have to worry about writing on rest days.
- Day 48: A great warm showers host · 88 km
After saying final goodbyes to my awesome hosts in LA, it was time to hit the road again. Was initially aiming for San Clemente but after an hour or so on the bike, one of the WarmShowers hosts I reached out to get back to me. So I have a place to sleep tonight. Great! So it was a slightly shorter day. And I didn't meet my host Zack until 6pm so there was no panic.
- Day 49: A long cycle and hit San Diego · 114 km
Two choices for today. The first choice is to cycle all the way to San Diego. This would be 115 odd kms and my longest cycle by far. The other option is to break it up into 2 days. I decided, fuck it, and booked a hostel in San Diego so committed myself to option 1.
- Day 50 + 51: Rest days - And last days in the USA · 0 km
Two rest days in downtown San Diego. But given how unprepared I am for the Baja Divide, there wasn't much resting. From what little research I have done, the next 2 ish months will be tough and make the last 6 weeks look easy.
- Day 51: HOLA MEXICO! · 1 km
Last few hours in the USA.
- Day 52: A rough day one on the Baja divide! · 55 km
Ok, the first day of the divide. How hard can it really be? Pretty hard as it turns out.
- Mexico: Baja · 0 km
Mexico: Baja
- Day 53: A fun days cyycle in Baja! · 65 km
I decided last night to put up my tent without the rainfly. Was my first time doing this. I presumed it wasn't going to rain, and thought it would be cool to see the stars. Was correct on both counts. However, it got bitterly cold and the winds were wicked. This wasn't helped by the lack of rainfly which would act as a windbreaker. Had my full cycling clothes on in my sleeping bag including a jumper and bandana around my face and was still cold! I probably need a new sleeping bag as my sleeping bag has lost a lot of its feathers/stuffing over the years. Multiple times during the night I had to starfish my hands and push my legs into a corner of the tent to stop the tent blowing away. Not that it would have blown away with me in it but felt the tent polls were at risk of snapping or something.
- Day 54: Got a good beating today · 67 km
First of all, thanks for all the advice sent here and on Instagram on dealing with dogs. Some of the ideas submitted include
- Day 55: First wild camp! · 50 km
Decided against a rest day. So I packed up, had coffee with the motel owners and was off.
- Day 56: Should I skip a section of Baja divide out of bike worry · 40 km
Woke to a great sunrise at my first wild camp spot
- Day 57: First run in with Mexican police · 47 km
Decided to take the road from Colenette to Vicente Guerrero. Was secretly happy to be back on the road. Was going so fast and was so easy in comparison to the last few days on the Baja Divide.
- Day 58 + 59: Rest days and bike shop · 0 km
Went to the Fass bike shop this morning. By many accounts, this is the best bike shop in the Baja peninsula and an unofficial checkpoint. Everyone calls into this shop even if they don't need anything.
- Day 60: sand and more sand · 40 km
After yesterdays entry, I caught up with Marcus (NZ) and Blake (USA) over dinner. They are staying in same hotel tonight but they were on the Baja the last few days, the days I shortcut via the main road.
- Day 61: Some sad news from the Baja 1000 race · 40 km
Slept for 11+ hours. Not sure why I am calling this a bike tour when I do far more sleeping than biking. Change the name to a sleep tour?
- Day 62: Cycling on the beach + the Baja 1000 race · 10 km
Woke up very hungover. Breakfast and coffee at the restaurant/pub that we camped behind. Lazed around until 11ish and then the 3 of us decided to cycle the Baja divide route to the next town and watch the Baja 1000 race from somewhere there. Was only 8 km or so so it should be easy...
- Day 63: Today was brutal · 48 km
This next 200 km section was going to be without much resupply so needed to carry 3 days of food and 2 days of water. We prepared last night so we decided to get up and out early. However Blake and Marcus are stronger and more experienced bikers than me so they soon left me behind.
- Day 64: Valley of the candles · 75 km
Woke around 6am and I was very cold. Still had the feeling of creatures circling the tent so opened up the tent and looked around. Nothing. That alleviates concerns.
- Day 65: To skip a section of the Baja divide or not? · 75 km
Great 11 hour sleep. Was going to make the joke about sleeping more than cycling but I believe I have made this joke before. Is getting hard to keep track.
- Day 66: Mini photo review of Mex 1 road · 55 km
Short entry today.
- Day 67: Downhill + tail winds · 100 km
Camped last night outside someone's house on the recommendation of a friend a day ahead.
- Day 68: Gotta catch 'em all - Pokemon · 82 km
Lots of barking dogs last night. This seems to be the biggest disadvantage to camping so close to Mexican civilization.
- Day 69 and 70: Rest days and refreshing some tech skills · 0 km
Just a quick entry. The last 2 days were rest days. Found a nice cafe so hung out there for the best part of the 2 days.
- Day 71: a normal day on highway 1 · 75 km
Another short entry as the days on highway 1 are looking pretty similar.
- Day 72: San Ignacio · 70 km
Would be another 75ish km day on highway 1 which should only be 3-4 hours of cycling time. A far cry from the dawn to dusk days on the Baja divide. So I took full advantage of the hotel bed and slept in and talked some smooth brained shite with friends from home.
- Day 73: Rest day · 0 km
Rest day in a nice campground in San Ignacio
- Day 74: Fist pumping road magic · 75 km
A brother and sister bike packers whose name escapes me, a RV camper couple and Fiona joined me at camp last night. The siblings were doing the Baja divide. Their camp consisted of just rolling a sleeping bag on the ground near the tents. No tents or tarps or shelters or any of that nonsense. Crazy!
- Day 75: Mulege · 62 km
Cycling today was normal highway 1 cycling. Did some Spanish with Paul until coverage became patchy after which YouTube Music provided a couple of hours worth of entertainment in the form of old school rock music.
- Day 76: Rest day and the Mexican Fisherman · 0 km
Went to a fish taco place and left my bag behind. Only realized a couple of hours later. That now lost bag contains my passport so I was a little panicked but they still had it when I returned.
- Day 77: Upset stomach · 23 km
Shit.... I am 4 days behind on this journal. Sorry about that... So next couple of entries will be short as want to get up to date in the next hour. Again, going to take on the pretence of being up to date so writing in the present tense
- Day 78: Loreto · 110 km
Feeling much better this morning so I decided to be up and out early and to set my eyes on Loreto which is 110+ km away. A very big day by my standards.
- Day 79: biggest distance to date · 121 km
Myself and Manuel decided we would cycle together today. First 30 kms were nice and easy followed by a huge hill that took 70 mins to get up. However, I am feeling my fitness is improving as these kinds of hills I am not walking anymore.
- Day 80: alcohol and pier pressure · 80 km
Last night my legs were sore and my motivation was low. But this morning, while my legs are still sore, I am rearing to go again.
- Day 81: Peer pressured into my first 100 mile day! · 157 km
Fuck...
- Day 82 - 95: La paz, rest days, great times · 0 km
Yes, I am still alive! You can stop reading here if you want.
- Day 96: Ferry to Mazatlan · 20 km
Fell behind again on this journal. Story of my life! I think going forward I will not be so strict with 1 entry per cycle day. I need to be looking at my phone less. Maybe an entry every few days or more often when it makes sense.
- Mexico: Mainland · 0 km
Mexico: Mainland
- Day 97 to Day 104: Rest in Mazatlan for Christmas · 0 km
I liked Mazatlan. But spent too much time here. Feel a little sedated by comfort and struggling to leave.
- Day 105: Finally on road again · 70 km
Really struggled to leave Mazatlan. Don't know where I heard the term "sedated by comfort" but it seems like the perfect phrase. Have been "resting" (read being lazy) for more than 3 weeks now using the excuse of "Christmas". But no more. Today is the day I get back on the road.
- Day 106: Silly accommodation problems · 150 km
Yes, I am behind again...
- Day 107: Steep hill · 64 km
Yesterday was a long day but the cycling was easy. Today would be a shorter 60km into Tepic. I knew there would be a lot of climbing today but I totally underestimated it. I think I lost a lot of my built up conditioning after the long Christmas break and the last 2 days has my legs are arse all kinds of sore. So the 1400 meters or so of climbing today was just painful, even if it was just 60 kms.
- Day 108: New year eve kindness · 110 km
Today had options. Option 1 is to continue inland to Guadalajara. Option 2 is to go to the coast towards Puerto Vallarta. Option 1 makes much more sense for many reasons. One such reason I didn't know at the time was there was no good (read safe) way to cut back inland towards Mexico City after continuing on the coast past Puerto Vallarta. However, this is the benefit of hindsight… And research I guess, which I didn’t do. I did choose option 2. But more on this poor choice in the coming entries.
- Day 109: Pictures of signs · 62 km
Woke up on first day of 2025 to music still blaring from loudspeakers next door. When I got up, my host had made me a great cooked breakfast with coffee. He then gave me a Spanish dictionary, a packed lunch and some water flavoring drops.
- Day 110 - 121: Hard to leave the conforts behind and get on the road again · 93 km
Ok. Am very far behind again. But in my defense I haven't been cycling much the last week or so and this is a cycling journal. So I will get this up to date now and then continue with my cycle trip tomorrow.
- Day 122: Bike problems · 83 km
Back on the bike again today. Legs are not happy with me. Initially I thought of aiming for Tequila today (150 kms) but then realized that it is basically all uphill between here and there. So picked a spot half way called Ixtlan and aiming for there today. This is 83 kms and about 1300 meters of climbing.
- Day 123: Tequlia - from field to flavors · 73 km
Cycled to Tequila today. Want to focus this entry on Tequila so I have no more to say about cycling other than lots of climbing again today and still worried about my gearing but decided to keep going to Guadalarja and fix it there.
- Day 124: Guadalajara · 69 km
Got up this morning lacking a hangover. This is one of my favorite ways to wake up. Was tempted to stay another day here in Tequila but decided to push onto Guadalajara today and then take a couple of days off to explore that bigger city.
- Day 125 - Day 129: Guadalajara rest days · 0 km
Guadalajara is a great city tho is very spread out. I believe it is 4 towns/cities in one. So it can be awkward to get around. It is the largest metropolitan area in Mexico outside of Mexico city. So deffently a cool place to explore for a couple of days.
- Day 130, 131 + 132: Guadalajara to Guanajuato. · 285 km
Am 3 cycle days behind but these were very similar days where not much happened so going to combine them.
- Day 133 - 136: Guanajuato - Rest days - Mostly a Go entry · 0 km
Sorry in advance but this entry is mostly me nerding out about Go (the board game). Will put all non-go content into the first 3 paragraphs so you can freely skip the rest.
- Day 137 - 139: Busted rim and bus to Mexico city · 201 km
I left the hostel this morning, and re-traversed those long dark narrow scary tunnels, though without incident.
- Day 140 - 145: Rest days in Mexico City + Bike Repair. · 0 km
This is my third time in Mexico city (CDMX) and it feels strange to be back.
- Day 146 + 147: Robbed at Knifepoint, Scaling the Pass of Cortés, Record Altitudes and Freezing Temps · 160 km
A lot to cover in this entry. But just so the title doesn't cause panic, the robbery wasn't bad at all. Honestly, the friendliest robbery you will ever hear of. But more on that a little later.
- Day 148 - 156: Rest in Puebla · 0 km
This will be a short entry. I have been resting in Puebla for the last week. I met a friend here from a previous time in Mexico. We explored both Puebla and Cholula. I got caught up on some chores like tent cleaning, which was badly needed.
- Day 157 - 159: Thunder, Lightning, Music, and Gunshots · 175 km
That first day was mostly downhill on mostly rural roads. Stopped in a small local taco type place for brunch. The chef/owner is a cyclist so we talked bike. He seemed disappointed when new customers walked in and he had to tend to them before continuing our bike ramblings. We took the compulsory selfie together before I pressed on.
- Day 160 -163: large climb and arrival in Oaxaca · 295 km
This entry is a quick entry for the 3 days cycling into Oaxaca.
- 164 - 171 Oaxaca: I have a big head (apparently) · 0 km
Oaxaca feels busier than the last time I was here. Apparently there were some articles or documentaries in Nature that have skyrocketed its popularity. And it isn't hard to see why. Oaxaca is great with its cobblestone streets, distinctively colorful buildings with so many interesting nooks and crannies. It is the culinary capital of Mexico and that is saying something.
- Day 172 - 186: Boiling, Brakeing and Beaching Whales · 210 km
Currently in a cool little surfer village called Barra de la Cruz. Found a chill campground to pitch my tent, complete with hammocks, palm trees, the smell of salt in the air, and chickens running around like they own the place. A couple of surfer van lifers from California are here too, adding to the laid back vibe.
- Day 187 - 193: Chiapas, Wind + an end to the Mexican chapter · 565 km
The last 5 days have been cycling intense. After so long off the bike, I wanted to start logging kilometers again. I’ve averaged 112 km a day for the past five days and am now taking a rest day here in Tapachula before continuing on.
- Day 194 - 196: Guatamala · 337 km
Leaving Tapachula behind, it was just 30 km to the border. When you arrive in Mexico, you’re given a little visa slip on a flimsy bit of paper. You have to keep this with you or you’ll be fined when leaving the country. This I knew, so I still had the piece of paper.
- Central America · 0 km
Central America
- Day 197 - 201: El Salvador · 315 km
Currently sitting in a cafe in Costa Rica. Haven't written anything since three and a half countries back… oops. In my defense, I’ve been pushing quickly (for me) through Central America and it can be hard to motivate myself to write after long days on the bike, especially when the body’s still adjusting to the increased mileage.
- Day 202 - 207: Honduras and Nicaragua · 520 km
Am still in this Costa Rica cafe trying to get this journal up to date.
- Day 208 - 217: Costa Rica · 450 km
Entering Costa Rica, I cycled 15 odd kms further to the next town and paid way too much for accommodation. This would be a theme for the next few days. Costa Rica is damn expensive.
- Day 212 - 225: Panama · 490 km
Aha, fuck. I am so far behind on this again. Feels like it’s the end of semester, I haven't studied, and am now trying to figure out what happened all year before some deadline, which I’m putting as tonight. Tho in my defense my external folding Bluetooth keyboard that I connect to my phone stopped working and there was no way I was going to write these entries without a keyboard.
- Colombia · 0 km
Colombia
- Days 226-244: Medellin rest days · 0 km
Medellín is a cool city. I spent more than two weeks here. Walked a lot. North–South is flat, but East–West feels like a hiking expedition.
- Day 245 - 249: Medellin to Salento · 240 km
It felt great to be back on the road today. A lot of climbing in the first half of the day. But what comes up must come down... The downhills on the far side were of the almost off road, and uncomfortably variety causing burning in the forearms from gripping the brake so tightly.
- Day 250 - 251: Colombians are the incredibly welcoming · 200 km
Leaving Salento was rural downhill cycling. It dawned on me that these last few days were my first gentle introduction into the Andes mountain range that will accompany me all the way to Patagonia. I expect these will get steeper going forward...
- Day 252 - 263: Dancing in Cali · 0 km
Well, I have stayed longer than expected in Cali. Not because I particularly like the city itself but I fell into a nice rhythm at the hostel.