Day 62

Dia 62: La Granadilla - San Cristobal de las Casas, 35 kms

The man from the tienda last night with all the rowdy drunks happened to be walking down the road when I came out of the cornfield. He was surprised and full of questions. He was amazed that no one saw me there. Got the feeling I was being interrogated. Didn't feel welcome.. the stinkin' stove failed me again this AM, so I had to continue yesterday's climb without a real breakfast or coffee! Not a happy camper! Continued climbing another 20 k. For the first 2 hours in the saddle, my top speed was 10 k-hr. Including yesterday, from the Rio Grijalva at Chiapa de Corzo, I'd climbed pretty much continously for 50k! Awesome views and little traffic, but considering my current state of general exhaustion, and no coffee, I found it hard to enjoy. The pueblitos I passed through were very indigenous, they didn't even speak Spanish, so I really felt isolated. I claim it as a valuable experience though, as I now know how it feels to be a minority... Very little comercialism, no restaurants and hardly any tiendas, so I was pretty much limited to enriched wheat and corn products laced with sugar. Not my prefered fuel, but ya do what ya gotta. Limped into San Cristobal and found a hotel. After happily accepting full price payment of 160 pesos, the proprietor informed me there was no water 'till tomorrow! I convinced her of my need for a shower and she switched me to another room, but there was only cold water and San Cristobal's at 2,200 meters, it's downright cool.. Went to look for a laundry, but they were all closed as it's Sunday, so I did them by hand with limited water. Then the challenge of drying as this shitty hotel had nowhere to hang clothes in the sun. I wound up going across the street to the plaza in front of yet another colonial church and hanging them on the fence while I sat and wrote. At least, it's clean laundry!

Haven't really talked much about the noodle, have I? Here's my chance while my clothes dry. The noodle's actually a Surly, Karate monkey, which is a 29er mountain bike by design. I thought it would be the perfect bike for this trip. It's close with it's major flaw not becoming evident 'til I loaded it up for a test run 3 days before departing. It was shockingly apparent in an instant that this frame was very flexible torsionally. Too late to change my mind at this point, started thinking about a way to brace it. The first 4-5 days with Hairball, we brainstormed a design to marry the head tube to the seat tube. When I got to Safford; AZ, I decided to seek out the materials to build the brace. Found a bike shop and convinced the owner to loan me the tools I'd need to fix my brace. Bought a piece of 3-8ths plywood and some bolts from the hardware store. The saw the guy lent me was dull and I sweated like a pig in the AZ sun to make my cuts. Then I borrowed his drill to make bolt holes. The result being, "The El Dente Brace!" It looks like shit, but it actually works to stabilize the noodle. It kind of turned the top tube into an I-beam. Other than the whippy top tube, the bike works really well. My idea of 2 sets of tires works well and really opens up more possibilities route-wise. The Sram grip shifters and XO derailleurs have worked flawlessly as well as the Avid mechanical brakes. My Wide gearing of 20-36-48 rings with an 11-34 gearset has enabled me to clean every climb. (LIE) I'm super impressed with the Conti Top Contact tires. They are bomber! Even though I've had some flats, I consider them few as I've ridden through a lot of shit. The H-bars rock! So many hand positions to choose from!! I'm not so sure anymore about the brooks saddle, although after almost 5,000 kms, any saddle will work you. What I've noticed about the Brooks is that it has one, super sweet spot. And nothing else.... the racks work great and my Arkel bags are almost flawless. I have managed to shake one off on two occasions as Mexico's full of speed bumps (topes.) Some are invisible and in the middle of nowhere. Vendors even build their own to get the drivers to slow down and look at their offerings. Made the scene in San Cristobal at a cool bar called the Madre Tierra where Luis hooked me up!