Arriving in Cancun and My 1st Ride of the Tour

Route Map: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2541176023

Happy baggage handler

I've only just started this tour and so much has happened already. This ride has been very different from previous tours in a number of ways. First, I decided to trust I would always find a place to stay and chose to not bring a tent. The Yucatan Peninsula, where I'm going to be touring, is always hot. The idea of camping and getting into a sleeping bag with no shower after a day of sweating sounds really awful.  I still packed a very lightweight sleeping bag, pad and blow-up pillow for when the hotel bedding is sketchy. But, without the tent, I could eliminate my rear rack bag. Second difference, I'm always very nervous before the start of a tour ... but, inexplicably, not this time. Maybe because I had just had a great time in Mexico for 4 months studying Spanish that I felt like everything was going to be fine. But even still, I'm always anxious about flying especially with my trike. It always feels like there is a lot to keep track of and many opportunities for hiccups. Somehow, this time, I trusted that everything was going to work out and was very relaxed right up until the morning of my flight.

Row to myself

Like I have done many times previous, I made a reservation with a shuttle service to get me and Myrtle to the airport. On the online reservation page I let them know I had extra luggage. I have learned that if I say I'm flying with a tricycle the shuttle people won't understand what that means. It's rare that someone knows what a tricycle is. I always write under special instructions that I have a 3-wheeled mobility device that is folded and I've taken it on the shuttle many times before.  This has always worked for me. In the morning of my flight, like at 5 am, I received a text from the shuttle company asking if they could pick me up earlier and to call for confirmation. It's crazy that I was awake but I called right away to say it was fine. While I was on the phone I reminded the dispatcher that I had a 3-wheeled mobility device. When the shuttle arrived, the driver was not only surprised by the trike but annoyed. I helped him lift the trike and he tried to put it in the shuttle in a way that it wouldn't fit. It wasn't hard but I had to show him how it fit. Then he complained that there were 9 people to pick up and how was anyone else's luggage going to fit? I said I was also a customer who had written under special instructions that I had extra luggage. There wasn't anything else I could have done to let the shuttle company know I had extra luggage and I didn't feel bad about the trike occupying a big part of the luggage compartment. He continued to grumble as we drove off. There were 9 total passengers but most had minimal luggage and everything fit just fine. We actually arrived at the airport 45 minutes early. Strangely, the driver dropped me off on the arrivals level instead of departures. He pointed in the direction of an elevator and said it wasn't far. Oh, huh, ok?! The elevator wasn't far and it was huge like a hospital elevator and I rolled Myrtle on easily. When the doors opened on the departures level an airport employee pointed me in the direction of the Interjet ticket counter so I could get Myrtle checked-in. 

I chose Interjet for a few reasons. They offer direct flights to Cancun, the flights are cheap and they advertise bringing sports equipment even encouraging passengers to bring bicycles.  I was very surprised when the ticketing guy gave me grief about checking-in Myrtle. He insisted the trike needed to be in a box. I explained that I have had the trike on over 20 flights, all over the world, and it has never been in a box. He said other airlines have their rules and Interjet requires bikes be in a box. I responded that this isn't a bike, I didn't have a box, there isn't a box for it and the trike is much easier to handle not in box. I showed him how easy it is to roll by lifting the rear wheel. Then an Interjet woman came over and took a picture to send to a baggage handler supervisor for approval. In a few minutes a baggage guy arrived and when he saw the trike he was annoyed. That is until I showed him how easy it is to roll from the rear wheel. His whole demeanor changed. It was like I made his day and he happily rolled the trike away for check in. Interjet is a no frills airline that charges extra for everything (including picking your seat!) and I paid $25 to check-in the trike. I also checked-in my 2 panniers that weighed a whopping 22 lbs. Once the trike was checked-in I could relax. There had been a few hiccups but everything worked out in the end and I was happy to be at the airport early enough that I could enjoy a cup of coffee and play some PokemonGo in the terminal.

Practically an empty flight

Landing in Cancun over a jungle

The flight was uneventful arriving in Cancun around 6 pm. Myrtle and my panniers were waiting in baggage claim and I followed everyone else through customs. Once out of customs, arriving passengers are inundated by taxi companies and time-share hawkers. Taxis wanted a minimum of $42 to drive the short distance into town. I've never had someone invite me to a time-share presentation at the airport but at the Cancun airport there are a lot of sales-people ready to pounce on all the arriving travelers. One guy offered me $150 just to listen to a presentation.  Crazy! I explained my situation and after awhile someone actually decided to help me and suggested I get a bus ticket to take me to the bus station. I had heard that hotels were cheaper around the bus station and the cost of the bus was less than $4. A bus employee helped me take Myrtle and my panniers to the ADO bus area and then load it all in the under carriage. The bus ride was about 15 minutes. When I got to the bus station, a bus employee offered to help me roll Myrtle to a hotel. This was all fantastic. It was dark, I had no idea where to go and carrying my panniers on top of the trike is doable but awkward. And I now know enough Spanish to ask for what I need and be understood, hooray! The guy took me to the Hotel Plaza Caribe across the street which turned out to be a very nice place to stay. Spring break season has started in Cancun and the hotel prices are expensive. This hotel was $50 and I felt very lucky.

Myrtle and panniers travelled in the undercarriage of the bus

Juan helped me to the hotel

Javier carried Myrtle with one arm and 2 panniers with the other to my room!

New camera and HP standing aid

I spent the next day getting organized and putting Myrtle together. I have made many changes to my trike for this tour. I now am using a Rohloff internal hub that has 14 gears. This replaces the rear derailleur with a chain tensioner that offers more ground clearance. The gears also never need adjusting. Another change was to my pedals. I switched out the clipless pedals to a platform and strap which has greatly alleviated my toe numbness. Also for this tour I have changed out my Panasonic travel camera with a newly released Removu K1 video camera. It is so new that I only received it a week before my departure. With the idea of taking video hands-free, I have also installed an HP Velotechnik standing aid as an attachment point. I took the trike for a test ride around the hotel to make sure everything was working ok. The roads around the hotel weren't quite cobblestone but they were very old and bumpy. Myrtle rode like a champ but the video I took on this ride using the new camera attached to the standing aid was very shaky and I was disappointed with the results.  The standing aid was super difficult to install, even with help, and I'm surprised by how much I love having it. I going to have fun testing out all the changes to my trike.

cacophony of birdsong

The next morning I decided to get an early start. It was still dark when I went out of the hotel to find some breakfast. The birds were shockingly loud. I couldn't see them but it sounded like there were thousands just waking up. I had picked out a 24 hr diner that was only a block away but, wouldn't you know it, this morning they were closed for fumigation. I ended up getting a couple of tacos from a busy street vender and a torta to take for lunch. Breakfast of champions!                         

                                 Leaving Cancun

The sun was just rising when I got Myrtle packed up and started out, first, on a winding path. On the map the route along the zona hoteles looks beautiful. I thought it looked better than taking the highway  and I wanted to see the area that Cancun is famous for. I had been staying in Old Cancun. This area was super busy and not very attractive. The zona hoteles route added 10 miles for the day and, for the most part, it was really terrible. For about 6 miles, there was no shoulder or extra room on the road and the sidewalks didn't have cut-outs. Every time there was a road or a driveway, I had to get off the trike, gently drop it down to the driveway or road, rolling it across and then lifting it to the new sidewalk. Sometimes there were people to help me but lots of times there weren't. I had to get off my trike probably 25 times. This was annoying and exhausting. Finally, the last 3 miles before this route joins the main highway, there was a real cycle path. What a relief!

Lagoon across from Cancun

1st view of the Caribbean

Resorts of Cancun

The highway route is busy and loud but there is a large shoulder and I actually had fun riding. No one has ever seen this type of trike and I got lots of attention from enthusiastic drivers as they passed me. I was apprehensive about how far I would get as this was the 1st day I have cycled since last September when I rode to the Recumbent Retreat on the Oregon coast. To say I am out of shape is an understatement. I knew the ride would be hot but the route would also be flat. I ended up riding 32 miles to my hopeful destination of Puerto Morelos where I found the funky Casita Kinsol guesthouse paying $52 for a very large room. My whole body ached with tiredness and I was very happy to arrive at the reasonable hour of 2 pm to give myself time to wash out my clothes, charge up electronics, eat and then get a good night's rest. I wasn't sure how my body would react to this strenuous 1st day of touring and I wondered how I would feel in the morning.