Wow was I surprised how well I recovered over night. What a relief that was. I was really hurting when I got to the hotel last night and wondered if it might take a couple of days before I could ride again. In the morning, my legs were fine and I had good night's rest feeling strong. The thing I'm really noticing is my glute muscles are screaming after about 20 miles. I can tell it is going to take some time to get in cycling shape. Considering yesterday's ride was the first since last September, I was impressed how well I bounced back.
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| Sign on the Road |
The guesthouse I stayed in Puerto Morelos was cute and hippy funky. My room looked like it was in a treehouse that was connected to a large deck. There was even a make shift kitchen in the deck. The stairs up to the room were semi-spiral with steep steps and difficult to climb with my bags. Especially since I was really hurting too. The walkway into the Kinsol Guesthouse was very narrow and I had to roll the trike out to the street with 1 front wheel in the dirt and sometimes in the air for clearance. I got packed up and on the road before anyone at the guest house was awake locking up behind me and throwing the room keys onto the path through a small hole in the gate.
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| On the way into Playa del Carmen getting Myrtle's brakes adjusted |
The ride today was very straight forward totally on the highway until about 4 miles before Playa del Carmen where there is a nice wide cycle path closer to the ocean. Spring break season is well under way and there were tons of kids drinking and lots of tourists. Once you get closer to the town I think the cycle path turns into a zona peatonal and bikes are probably not allowed. I rode very slowly and no one said anything. Outside every shop, cafe and restaurant was someone hawking and vying for customers. This was super annoying. They all had something to say about Myrtle, mostly very obnoxious. There are also lots of clothing stores in this area with all the big names. I wanted to see if I could find a new jersey. I rolled up to the entrance of Helly Hanson and then a very big store that carries all the major sports brands. Both stores let me park Myrtle inside. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that looked better than what I wearing. I continued on and at the end of the cycle path and down to the water is a pedestrian ferry to Cozumel Island. I rolled up to the information desk for what turned out to be the most expensive of the 2 pedestrian ferries available. This ferry was leaving in 10 minutes and said the trike wouldn't be an issue so I bought a ticket. Sure enough, the ferry guys were great and they had no problem dealing with Myrtle. The ferry ride is about 40 minutes and includes live music.
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| Veladores |
I had no idea where to stay on Cozumel and started riding away from the tourist area hoping for something more basic and less expensive. I found 3 very cheap hotels. Hotel Esmeralda was only 300 pesos but they didn't have wifi. Another without wifi was 400 pesos. I ended up staying at Hotel Pepita which is super clean, very close to the action, and had wifi but only takes cash. They charge 600 pesos ($32). I had a bit of a money scare after arriving at the hotel. I have a Charles Schwab debit card and I transfer money to it from my credit union account. The transfer takes about a week. This was just one more thing I was very relaxed about taking care of before the start of this tour. I don't know why I waited so long except that I must have been thinking this area is so built up and touristic that I would be using my credit card more than cash. Well, this thinking proved to be wrong as everyone wants cash. Until the transfer went through I only had $150 in my Schwab account since arriving in Mexico plus another $50 in pesos I had left over from studying Spanish in Guanajuato. At this point, I only had enough cash for one night at the hotel and got very lucky when the transfer went through that afternoon. That is cutting it a bit close! Since then, I've transferred more and will keep the debit card topped up more often. Traveling can be challenging but traveling without cash is really hard.
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| Playa del Carmen |
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| Big storm on Cozumel |
I spent 3 nights on Cozumel and loved it. The island is very relaxed and has a nice vibe. In fact, if I had to plan this tour again, I would fly directly into Cozumel instead of Cancun. The next day I rode Myrtle to the other side of the island hoping to fly my drone along the ocean. Cozumel has an international airport and I needed to be outside the 5-mile no-fly-zone. The ride was fantastic. There was a very wide shoulder and the scenery was lovely. Just as I got to the other side a huge storm arrived. There was no rain in the forecast. I pulled into a palapa type restaurant seeking refuge from the lightning, thunder and torrential downpour. This storm lasted a really long time and it was super dramatic. There were lots of tourists out in open jeeps, dune buggies and riding scooters. Everyone was drenched to the bone. One jeep full pulled into the restaurant and started drinking. There was probably 5 people, not super young, and all they talked about was drinking. The tour guide excitedly told them about all the bars they were going to stop at during the day tour of Cozumel. It was 10:30 in the morning. Crazy.
Triking Cozumel on a Very Wet Day
After about 1.5 hours the rains seemed to be subsiding and I decided to head back. Oh boy was I wrong. Another wave of rain come through and caught me within 5 minutes. I had a good tailwind going back but it still took about 40 minutes to cover the 9 miles. Everything was soaked. I was so wet my skin was pruney. I took off what I could outside my hotel room and went straight into the shower to strip off the rest of my wet clothes and rinse off the road grime. I haven't been that wet on a bike ride in a really long time. It rained for the rest of the day and I decided to stay over to do some more exploring.
San Gervasio Ruins
In the morning my shoes, side seat bag and backpack were still wet. I really wanted to explore a Mayan ruin site called San Gervasio and rode over. The Spanish had renamed it and I don't know what the original Mayan name was. The skies were clear but the wind was super strong and I actually had trouble riding against it. The small site is 6 km off the main road and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Aside from the history, the Mayan ruin sites are a very nice place to go walking. There were 2 entrance fees. One for the site and another for the Cozumel government. The total fee was less than $5. Eloy, the security guard, watched over Myrtle and all the scooters. On the way back to the hotel I also enjoyed a very nice tailwind.
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| Myrtle being loaded on the ferry |
I took the 8 am ferry back to Playa del Carmen and started riding south. By the time I had breakfast and picked up snacks for the road, it was already after 10 and getting hot. This was another day of riding on the highway passing huge resorts. Even though I was very close to the ocean I never saw it. There didn't seem to be much public beach access. Most beach access is reserved for the hotels and resorts. Every inch of coastal land is built up. These resorts look quite fancy and this area is famous for where college kids come for spring break. The resorts seemed to be out of my budget range and I couldn't imagine being able to afford staying at any of these places while in college. Later, someone explained that the resorts offer huge discounts this time of year often including airfare and all you can drink. The kids made sure to get their money's worth in alcohol and are known for being a drunken mess for their entire stay. This information was enough to turn me away from the idea of staying at any of the resorts. I continued to the small beach town of Akumal which had been recommended by lots of people. From the highway, I went inland to look for a hotel instead of the pricier beach area. I found a very nice hotel with a huge room for $50 which, I think, is a good price for this area and time of year. And, of course, I'm paying more than a local. I did manage to get the price of the room lowered by $12. $50 in Mexico is a lot of money and I'm expecting prices to drop considerably once I get south of Tulum and the Mayan Riviera. Unless you stay at some of the beach hotels, it is difficult to get a feel for the place. The area I stayed was where the Mexicans stay and could have been anywhere in Mexico.
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| Playa del Carmen from the ferry |
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| Building Art |
In the morning I packed up and rode to the beach area of Akumal. On the map there was a sweet looking lagoon at the end of the beach road and I wanted to check it out. I was actually hoping to fly my drone. Unfortunately, the lagoon was gated and locked when I got there. There is probably an entrance fee and I arrived too early. It was only 7 am. I thought about flying my drone up and over the gate to take a look but I've noticed there is a lot of security on the whole Mayan Riviera and I chickened out.
It isn't far from Akumal to Tulum. In fact, I got to Tulum so early the hotel rooms weren't cleaned yet. I found a comfortable and basic hotel for $35 that was walking distance from the famous ruins. I thought I was going to need 2 days to explore the area and ruins but since it was so early, I dropped off my bags and headed over to the site. Wow was it crowded. There were busloads and hundreds of people had ridden bikes from the nearby resort area. I parked and locked Myrtle with the rest of the bikes and headed in. The line to buy a ticket was super long. I found a kiosk where I could pay by credit card and by-passed everyone. Maybe it was cheaper to stand in line but I paid less than $4.
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| Tulum parking |
The Tulum ruins are fantastic. The grounds are gorgeous and it probably takes just a bit more than an hour to walk through the whole thing. Some of the ruins overlook the ocean and the views were beautiful. The day was very hot, there was a ton of people and I still thought it was amazing. I took a lots of pictures and video with my new camera. It was so much fun. After leaving the ruins, it was still so early I rode into the small resort town. I know that drones are not permitted in most archeological sites but I was hoping to get a shot of the ruins from out in the ocean. Turns out there is a naval base very close to the ruins and most of Tulum is a no-fly zone. I rode beyond the no-fly zone but the town of Tulum and beach were so crowded I didn't have the courage to try and fly. There was a nice cycle path out there and I really enjoyed the ride. On the way back to my hotel I was riding on the main road when I noticed that the cycle path continues. There was a curb preventing me from taking the path. Then I saw there was a break in the curb that was just wide enough for the trike. I went through the break in the curb at an angle. The break was wide enough for the trike but not wide enough for my side seat bag and it totally got caught. The clamps that hold the mount onto the back of the seat were badly mangled. Mangled to the point I couldn't use the side seat mount. Oh boy!
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| Main temple |
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| View from the ruins |
Riding the Cycle Path in Tulum
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| Mangled clamps |
The thing is, this isn't the first time the side seat mount clamps have been damaged. I first bought the side seat for my tour across the US more than 2 years ago. It was a great tour. When I flew home from Florida I decided to leave the mount on the seat and it got caught on something during the flight. Again, the clamps on the back of the seat got mangled. Louis, from RecumbentPDX, my bike shop in Portland, made a temporary fix, actually tapping screws into the clamps to keep them in place. This fix has lasted all this time. I meant to replace the mount before this tour but completely forgot. I'll talk to Pat at Terracycle, the company that makes the mount, and see if he has ideas for how I can fix the clamps or, maybe, he can send me new ones. For now, I'll have to bungy the side seat bag to my rear rack.
I tell you what, it's always something!
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