Marching About

Riding in El Salvador   I did another century today! My route today did not take me on the highway, instead I was treated to a “Ruta Panoramica” for the first 30 miles or so, which wended its way through several towns with houses featuring well-treated lawns and floral arrangements. This was also mostly downhill, which I also enjoyed. The latter 70 miles were also fairly pleasant. There was a large shoulder and not a lot of traffic. I arrived with some daylight to spare, but as I go further south I can feel the heat rising. Although I’m in shape enough for the distance, the exposure to the heat is having a noticeable effect. I had planned a rest day in San Miguel, as well. On the road to San Miguel At the pupuseria with Lissette and Cesar   My hosts are Cesar and Lissette. They live in a small compound with several rooms. They described the location as being ideal for the space and privacy, even though it was located in a poor part of the city. I asked if that also meant t...

It seems that the typical day in San Salvadorn is to spend it out of the city. Laura suggested two day trips for me. One was the climb the volcano in Santa Ana and spend the night in the city. This did seem very appealing and she showed me pictures of when she had done it, however it would not be a very good rest day for my legs and would take longer than I had planned to stay in the city. So I did her second proposed option which was to go to the beach at El Tunco.  The boardwalk at El Tunco The “Silver Hour” over the beach   El Tunco is a beautiful beach on the pacific coast. There were a lot of tourists there and it seems to be a popular spot for surfing. So I rented a board and went out to the water. It was a bit difficult for me to get out past the break - the waves were quite large and I kept getting knocked over. Well, I haven’t been surfing since I lived in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar and I may have just forgotten how to maneuver past the waves. As the wind picked up thro...

The Nightmare Road to San Salvador I made it out at a good time today. But without a doubt, this was the worst and most dangerous ride I have done to date. I only had about 40 miles or so to San Salvador, And it was mostly uphill. However, there was an incredible amount of truck traffic, probably both from the port and from Guatemala. The shoulder was narrow to non-existent most of the way and the trucks drove recklessly, at times coming within inches of my handlebars. I had to focus as much as possible to keep myself on the line between the road and the ditch on the roadside while not getting blown off course by these trucks traveling at high speeds. At one point up the hill I passed a terrible accident - a truck had careened off the road and was partially suspended over the hillside, causing a massive traffic jam for miles that extended into the city. With the kind of driving I saw today, I imagine this kind of thing happens pretty much daily. I had two stop a couple of times going u...

Crossing the Border to El Salvador As I predicted, I got to sleep very easily. I wasn’t sure about where I would end up today. I had a tentative plan for a couchsurfer, but I had hesitated to confirm with them, because I wasn’t sure if I would survive the century ride or feel up to leaving the next day. Well, I did both. I woke up, went to the immigration window outside the hotel, exited Guatemala and entered El Salvador. At the border after crossing over from Guatemala. The border crossing was easy, some people showed me where to go and I got my exit stamp from Guatemala. All I received in El Salvador was a ticket, they did not stamp my passport, apparently that’s only if you fly in through the airport. I did not have to present anything except my covid vaccination card and there was no entry fee. I was a bit surprised with the relative ease with which I passed into El Salvador - only two administrative windows and I entered in 5 minutes. I didn’t have a long ride today, it was only 3...

Today was my first century ride of my trip. I had wanted to do at least one, just as a challenge to my fitness at this point in the tour. A century is a bike ride of 100 miles or more. Well, I made it to 104 miles in total. It was a full day of riding, I left Guate at around 10:30 and didn’t arrive in Pedro de Alvarado (Alvarado) until after 6pm. I didn’t have a host or anything here. View of a volcano from the road outside Escuintla A bike path out of the city. It only lasted about 1000ft, but I appreciated the sign raising the awareness The ride itself was one of the most enjoyable of the trip so far. It started with a nice long downhill section once I got out of the city. I definitely deserved this after all those hills I climbed! After about 30 miles, it leveled off and I rode through many small towns wooded areas. There were some small hills but nothing as significant as the previous days. I felt pretty strong the whole way, until the last few miles, when I knew I was close and my...

Adventures around Guatemala City  My host, Nelly works at her family business. It seems that the entire family does, and she is one of 10 children. They manage a distribution company. They import and source products for grocery store chains. It seems like the whole family is involved in various areas of the business and Nelly, who studied accounting, processes payments and receipts. On her day off she offered to take me to some of the towns around the city. Of course, I always go along with such offers. She drove. But first, we stopped by a plot of land that her family has been developing. They are building a restaurant as well as a residence on the site. It had a gorgeous view of the city, located high up in the hills outside the city. This is a dense area, the population extends into the hills in every direction. After visiting the lot, we took a bus to see some towns. The view from the family lot The Buses The municipal transport around Guatemala City (referred to as Guate...

The Backroads to Guatemala City The descent into Salama Today was another rather frustrating day. However, I don’t anticipate having too many more of these since it comes a little bit with the terrain, and the rest of the trip does not have nearly as many hills as what I just encountered. Morning departure from Tactic, before the town woke up. I left Tactic bright and early, around 7:00. The town wasn’t awake yet and the only thing I could find to eat was some rice with milk. I suited up and headed out, following my prescribed route - first to a town called Salama, and then onto Guatemala City. After about 10 miles I came to my first hill. And Bam! Another unpaved road!  It’s never clear how much unpaved road there is, so I climbed this one. Very slowly, with my back tire slipping out occasionally. After summiting, the road plunged back down. I had to ride the brakes on the way down, careful to avoid potholes, large rocks and wending my way through the switchbacks. Coupled with the...

The Packing List I have a standard, minimal, touring list that I think comprises the bare essentials to touring. Of course it’s open to interpretation, and I also bring some other things along. By the way, I do not have any sponsorships and will typically not call out brands of most items. But if you want to know more about any of the gear, just let me know! For some this trip, here’s what I have:     For the bike ·       2 spare inner tubes ·       A couple rags (for the chain) ·       Bike (kind of obvious) ·       Bike lights for front and back ·       Bike lock ·       Chain lube (it will be necessary to lube the chain either once a day or once every 2 days) ·       Cycling shirts ·       Extra bungee cords ·     ...