Just got word that the glasses should be here within three days. That opens the window to continue cycling by this weekend!

So, life in Flores continues. Los Amigos Hostel. Lots of travelers from all over the world come through here, but those from Australia, Germany, Finland, and the US stand out. The island is quite small and comfortable. It is surrounded by Lake Peten, which is pleasant to swim in. The docks on the West side attract swimmers each afternoon and evening. The sunset is nice to watch from lakeside each day.
As I wait for the package to come in the mail, I am studying Spanish and Portuguese, and I applied for an online tutoring position in Math, English and Elementary Science; eventually, I will add Chemistry, Physics, and Biology--I just have to take and pass the tests. The application process will include a mock tutoring session and a test about using the application interface they company uses. If I get this job, it will be a nice way to earn a bit of income on the road. I will have to make sure I arrive at a location with internet access in time for my tutoring appointments; this should not be an issue as long as I stay near civilization, sticking near at least small-sized cities.

I met some other touring cyclists here. One Anna of Melbourne, Australia who has been traveling and touring on bicycle for the last year and a half. Her blog, full of great photos and commentary, is wishfish.org. Another couple of travelers, Vinko and Colette, are exploring eco-lodges, and their blog is: roundthbendproject.org.

I am in Flores, Guatemala; I am here to wait for a package to come in the mail--a new pair of sports glasses, prescription, so I can play soccer along the way during my trip without worrying about them getting smashed. I can use them while cycling, too, and they protect against sand, dust and wind. The glasses should arrive in the next few days, hopefully. In the meantime, I am staying at Los Amigos Hostel, which costs 35 quetzales, or $4.50/night.
I visited Tikal a few days ago; the ride to it is pretty hilly. Mostly uphill there, downhill back.

Coverage in Local Online Newsline, Ambergris Today, San Pedro, Belize

http://www.ambergristoday.com/content/stories/2011/january/14/bike-brazil-cyclist-belize

Upcoming Route, to Tikal, Guatemala

Upcoming Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4234308

Belize City to Succotz

Biked more than 80 miles in a trip from Belize City to Succotz, Belize. Terrain is getting hilly. I am exhausted so I will have to make a more full post tomorrow morning.

Slight Update

Today I rode from Orange Walk to Belize City and caught a water taxi to Caye Caulker. Last night, I slept in the firestation in Orange Walk.
I am getting used to Belize; it is definitely different. Especially in the North, it is a mix of Spanish, English and Creole. In Belize City and in Caye Caulker, it is mostly Creole and English. I am learning some of the Creole. They say it is a mix between English and the African languages originally spoken by slaves brought to the Caribbean Islands and Belize mainland. I am currently tired from my ride so I will post more tomorrow morning after I get some much needed sleep at the moment. Cheers.

Belize

I am in Orange Walk, Belize now, taking care of some business. Just met another traveling cyclist, Parys Lisiecki of Poland, blog at americaenbici.blogspot.com--he had lots of stories to share from the road.

Likely route today

Likely route today. Crossing into Belize after a couple dips--one in the lake at Bacalar and one in Cenote Azul, just South of Bacalar.

Ok, I just arrived in Bacalar, Mexico. I rode 120 km or 75 miles. At the beginning of the day, after I had a large breakfast and two cups of coffee, I was really hauling. By the end of the day, I was struggling/dragging/going slowly--but I made it nonetheless. I even turned down a ride offer at about 3:30pm, I am so proud of myself^^. I left at about 11:30am or 12pm, and I arrived at 6:15pm, after dark. I am expecting Bacalar to be awesome, like paradise. It is on a large, fresh-water lake, and there is swimming. I am sure there is lots of wildlife.
Perhaps I will get up early and go swimming, and then head out on bike. Or I will stay in Bacalar all day, enjoy it, and leave the next day. My hotel, or "pousada", room is only 200 pesos or $18/night. And it is fairly nice--large bed, bathroom with shower, first floor near the entrance--I can easily roll my bike in and out. That price, combined with what Bacalar has to offer, makes staying the day more attractive.
To recap today: I got up around 9:30am and packed my bags. Then I had breakfast at the Pheasant and the Deer hotel's restaurant. I ate the last of my turkey and cheese sandwiches and then I ordered lots of food to power me through the day: "lime soup" which contains chicken, tortilla chips, diced tomatoes, tasty broth, and a slice of lime; fresh fruit covered with yogurt and granola; a large orange juice; water; and two cups of coffee. After I finished breakfast, I loaded my bags onto my bike. The hotel staff joked with me that I would get to Bacalar (112km) in 1 hour. I bid them farewell and headed first to the bike shop to see if they had a bar-end cap. As it is a road-bike part, naturally they did not have it. So I hit the road towards Bacalar, snapping a shot of the hotel on the way out.
I turned on my music, including some new tracks and some "Power of Positive Thinking" tracks my Norman Peale. Again, the first part of the day, I was really high-tailing it. I stopped several times throughout the day: to refill my water bottle; to buy pineapple juice and coconut water; to eat a chicken "salbute"--a fried tortilla type thing with chicken, tomato and avocado on top--and limeade in the town of limes--"Limones"; to check out the town of Buenavista and its lake view and access (took picture); a couple other times to rest and drink water.
Going through my head throughout the day: the first part of the day I was focusing on the horizon, the furthest point on the road I could see, which basically focuses me and motivates me to reach that point. This focus, combined with being well rested and the coffee, resulted in high power output and fast progress. Later in the day, pain in my back, between my shoulder blades, and in my hands and wrists began to dominate my experience, and the fatigue in my legs and body overall. This I suppose can be expected towards the second of consecutive 100km+ days, both against the wind. Nevertheless, I would like to find a way to eliminate the pain between my shoulder blades and in my hands and wrists. I have been thinking of installing the trekking bars I have in my luggage or getting a different drop bar that is more anatomical, perhaps flares out a bit at the bottom, and perhaps is a bit wider at the top. If I go with the confort bars, I will also have to order a different set of brake levers and shifters. The comfort bars will be better for rougher terrain, with more gravel, stones, dirt and/or bumps. I can probably expect more of that further South into Central America. At this point, I am only considering changing bars; I am hoping that just rest and practice will lessen or eliminate the pain. The fatigue can be addressed with increased rest, enhanced nutrition, practice, and evening out my exertion throughout the day.
The next leg of my trip will likely put me in Belize. Chetumal, still in Mexico and a bit out of the way, is only an hour and a half down the road and may or may not be worth the time. I will have to look at the map to determine where in Belize I will stop next.
At the moment everything is going well. I am feeling good. And I will celebrate my birthday in Belize, it appears. Perhaps I will make it to one of those awesome islands off of Belize's coast.

Possible route tomorrow.

I'll start with some pictures from the last couple days, and then some narrative.

The hostel cat caught a small iguana.

Some friends I made at the Lobos Inn hostel in Tulum.

Other friends I made at Lobos Inn.

I hate to post this pic, but it is reality; and it is the closest I may ever get to one of these birds. Tropical bird road kill--on a road next to the BioReserve Sian Ka'an.

Wild flower on the side of the road.

I believe turkey vultures on the side of the road, straight out of the Jungle Book.

"Welcome to the Maya Zone"

The horizon.

My hotel room at El Faisan y El Venado (the Pheasant and the Deer) in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Ok, I just biked from Tulum to Felipe Carrillo Puerto, or Carrillo Puerto for short. Pheasant is a local delicacy/staple; on the way, a Mayan woman was selling a prepared and cooked pheasant on the side of the road for 200 pesos, or about $17. I know she is Mayan because I had stopped at a bus stop to rest and she, two other women, and one of their daughters were all speaking Mayan to one another. They conversed with me in Spanish; I asked if the little girl spoke both Spanish and Mayan. They confirmed, and then asked if I spoke English and Spanish; I confirmed and added Portuguese.
Then a teenage boy pulled up on his mountain bike, with a slingshot hanging from the handlebars. We started talking. He admired my bicycle; I asked him what the slingshot is for and he said for hunting chachalacas, a wild bird common throughout Central America, and a common delicacy. He also hunts other animals for a living. I asked him if he speaks Maya, and he said it is his first language.
The total miles today were about 63; about 100 km. As I started out the ride at 11:30am, the wind was directly against me and I knew I was in for a workout. The first part of the day was fairly slow. I stopped at a restaurant for a melon-pineapple-banana smoothie and to refill my water bottle. Further down the road, I stopped for a nectarine and a turkey and cheese sandwich I brought. At one stop, I had a pear. At one stop, I had a pear. At the bus stop, I had another such sandwich and an apple.
After the stop during which I ate a pear, the thought of setting some sort of World Record entered my head, and I used the idea to motivate me to go faster. After the bus stop stop, as the sun got lower in the sky, the light was very pleasant. I began to focus on the horizon; my goal became to "get to the horizon". Keeping my focus at the farthest point on the road I could see, I was motivated to get to that point. Obviously, I kept arriving at the point I saw, and then would have a new goal, a new point, a new horizon to reach, motivating me forward.
I don't have an odometer or speedometer; I think this is good as I don't think about the numbers. I think about more experiential things, ways of thinking about my journey. This horizon focus was a great one for me today. The road was smooth enough that I did not have to focus on the immediate road; I could trust that there were no potholes, gravel, stones or other debris. Looking at the horizon and focusing on arriving there ("Llegale!"--"Get there!" is a Spanish expression I was saying to myself) made me go faster, provided focus and motivation, and helped me transcend my thoughts about how slow I may be going, how far I have to go, pains I may be experiencing in my body, etc. The goal was real, right in front of me. And the light at sunset was perfect for looking at the horizon--not too bright and the sun was no longer beating down on me.
I am feeling good about things now. It was a challenge to break away from the security and attractions of the tourist area, and to forgo all of the rest of the possible tourist attractions I did not get around to doing: I did not make it to many of the best cenotes for snorkeling; I did not go for the SCUBA diving certificate and do lots of diving in the cenotes and the open water. My trip is not about all of these things. Many tourist attractions will be available all along the route. Some of them I will do; some of them I won't. Just biking to a new place is an exhilarating experience that perhaps could be a tourist offering, but it is included in my trip instead of being an extra as many of these other attractions are.
I think I will continue the journey South tomorrow; I will need to get some good nutrition and sleep.

"Bike to Brazil" Intro

Re-intro: Paul Joseph Park, from Mt. Rainier, MD, on the Northeastern border of Washington, DC. I first went to Brazil in 1999, when I was 18, with non-profit Amigos de las Americas. I stayed for eight weeks with a host family in the rural Northeast, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, near Natal. I enjoyed the culture, especially the warmth, creativity and beauty of the people, as well as aspects such as soccer, forró (a genre of music and partner dance), Portuguese, capoeira, and the beach. I had a girlfriend there, and I have stayed in touch with her and her family throughout the years (she has since married and has a daughter). I returned to Brazil in 2004 to tour the country by bus and to visit the friends I had made. I was convinced I wanted to spend more time there, to absorb more culture, especially the aspects I listed, and perhaps live there indefinitely.
After that second visit, I returned to Oberlin College, where I was pursuing a 3-2 dual-degree engineering B.S./B.A. program. I then switched tracks to pursue just a B.A., in Environmental Studies, to wrap up my studies quickly with minimal debt so I could make my way to Brazil to continue my life there. (I now want to complete a degree in energy (mechanical) engineering at a university in Brazil or the US.) Transition to Brazil would not happen so fast. After I finished my degree, I started the Mt. Rainier Bike Co-op, and I picked up a job at a Brazilian restaurant in Washington, DC to save up some money and practice Portuguese. I envisioned that my life would be partly in Brazil and partly in the U.S., but because of my environmental commitment, I did not want to make flying back and forth to become my lifestyle due to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with current airplanes. Meanwhile, a friend of mine had encouraged me to bike the 6 miles back and forth to work; I tried it, and I was inspired by that experience. At some point in the spring of 2006, I had the brilliant inspiration that instead of flying, I could--and here is where it started-- "Bike to Brazil!" In addition to being green, such a trip would bring together many of my skills: Spanish, Portuguese, my experience in Latin America with Amigos de las Americas, cycling, and bicycle repair. Also, I would get to see parts of the world that lie between my home and my destination, places like Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, the origins of so many of the Spanish-speaking immigrants with whom I played soccer, attended D.C. United soccer games, and practiced Spanish.
In addition, I could make my trip into a political-environmental statement, raising awareness and support around a cause I care about--finding solutions to climate change. I thought about what I thought most needed to be done to address the climate issue, and I came up with the answer of national, federal legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions. I did some research as to whether any proposals existed, and sure enough, a cap-and-trade bill called the Climate Stewardship Act had been proposed in Congress, and there was a campaign led by Environmental Defense to rally support. They had organized an online petition that had accumuted 620,000 signatures at the time I found it. I decided to support this campaign during my bike trip. I raised money for Environmental Defense, I collected signatures, and I directed people to the online petition. The petition I later found out had stagnated at 620,000, and it jumped up to about 650,000 within a few months of when I started promoting it.
My orientation to climate change and its solutions has evolved since the last trip; I now focus primarily on the development of breakthrough energy generation technologies. My first trip, however, thrust me into a world that has inherent value and interest: bicycle travel/touring. It is so exciting, fun, and empowering; the fact that it is emissions-free is secondary.
On my first trip, which spanned September 2006 to April 2007, I biked from Washington, DC to Chiapas (Southern Mexico, 4,500 miles) before suspending it due to the following series of events:
-losing my debit card, my only access to cash, in the Northern city of Cd. Victoria, and then waiting until I had an address I would send the new card to, where I could pick it up or wait for it
-later being robbed of $100 cash (1000 pesos), almost all of what I had left, by a host in the small town of Lerdo de Tejada, in the state of Veracruz
-returning to my friends' hotel in the city of Veracruz where I had a secure and supportive place to wait for the replacement card in the mail, instead of having the card sent to a place down the road and attempting to bike there with no cash
-it took six weeks for the replacement card to arrive by Mexican mail (lesson: use Fedex in Mexico if you need speed), and meanwhile the hot summer approached
Other factors that led to cutting it short:
-tires were wearing thin and I could not find the replacement tire I wanted; my handlebar stem was not long enough and I could not find the one I needed; the bicycle did not fit my riding style (this was a Koga Miyata World Traveller)
-I desired to visit Mexican friends I made on the road at their homes in Puebla and Mexico City
-I desired to attend my sister's wedding
After my card finally arrived in the mail, I biked to Chiapas, knowing that would be my stopping point, and from where I would bus to Puebla, visit a friend I had met in Veracruz, bus to Mexico City, visit some friends I also met in Veracruz, and then fly back home with my bike to attend my sister's wedding, work on the bike or get a different one, and regroup.
Since that trip, I have biked to New York CIty from Washington, DC and back (500 miles), and I have biked the 320 miles to Pittsburgh from DC along the C&O Canal and Great Allegheny Passage trails. From January 2008 to September 2010 I worked at REI in College Park, MD, where I was able to teach others about how to do bicycle travel and commuting, and sell them the needed equipment. And I have retooled my own equipment for another long journey; the most significant equipment change has been the customization of a different bicycle, built around the Surly Big Dummy frameset.
In September of 2010, I felt completely prepared to break free and take another long journey. So I quit my job at REI, and headed South, taking the bike on Amtrak and Greyhound to Texas, where I intended to take care of remaining business and feel things out before crossing into Mexico. I took some time in Austin and Houston to renew my passport, obtain my Brazilian visa, and make some final changes to the bike. In early November, 2010 I biked 600 miles from Austin to Brownsville, TX, across the border from Matamoros, Mexico. I spent some days there with locals who straddled the border, with roots in Mexico and the US, and who attended the University of Texas at Brownsville. I decided to take a bus from Matamoros to the city of Veracruz. A contact in Brownsville shuttled me across the border to the bus station, and I was off. In Veracruz, I of course stayed with my friends at their hotel, where I had stayed at for two months when I was waiting for my replacement debit card to come in the mail.
After four days there, I continued by bus to Cancun, where I attended a few of the events related to the UN Climate Conference, and had many a good discussion with conference attendees who were staying at my hostel, expressing my ideas related to breakthrough technology. After the conference, some tours of the nearby ruins, and some partying, I finally loaded up the bike and rode South three hours, 41 miles (70 km) to Playa del Carmen. In Playa, I stayed with a friend who I had met in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz on the first trip, who now works at a hotel near Playa. As I write this, I have am enjoying all that Playa has to offer including beaches, soccer, cycling, and nightlife. I will celebrate the start of the new year here.
Then the journey on bicycle will continue South to Belize, and is projected to go to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama (Colón); boat to Cartagena, Colombia; bike to and through Venezuela and to Manaus, Brazil; then boat down the Amazon to Belém; then bike to Natal, Brazil. There, I will stay at least awhile, and then maybe bike on South to Recife, Salvador, Rio, São Paulo, Florionopolis, and maybe into Argentina and down to Tierra del Fuego! Lots of potential here. I am commited to at least make it to Brazil, much of that by bike, some by boat, and perhaps some by bus.
As far as my environmental perspective, I am following mostly the train of thought promoted by the think tank The Breakthrough Institute, and leaders such as Bill Gates and Google, Inc. who are investing in breakthrough energy technologies. I am working on an article that I will post soon that explains my perspective.

Christmas went well. I am putting photos up at my Facebook page; if you like, add me (Paul Joseph Park) and please add a message to your friend request indicating that you are reading my blog. I will definitely leave Playa by January 2, if not before. Playa is expected to have some fabulous New Years Eve parties, with international DJ's coming into town for an annual festival. So I may stick around for that.