Photos

Some of the hilly terrain between Papantla and El Tajín.

Voleadores stepping to the music of the flautist, preparing to ascend the great pole.

Voleadores getting ready to fly.

Dude who grilled corn on his bike.

Model of the ruins.

Voleadores leaving the circle after performing.

Voleadores landing.

Voleadores, near landing, crowd watching.

Voleador, near landing.

The great voleadores of Papantla/El Tajín, descending, unwinding, to the music of the top guy.


At El Tajín, human sacrifice was common, and a privilage and honor. The winner of a ball game they played got to be sacrificed as the reward.

Pyramids of El Tajín--awesome.

Pyramid ruin at El Tajín. Equilibrium is a virtue of the founders of this place.

Pyramid at El Tajín.

Butterfly at El Tajín.

Statue at entrance to cool town of Papantla, where I am now.

Vista from hill, Poza Rica to Papantla.

Statue near Poza Rica.

Gator swimming near dock.

Alligator hanging out on a dock on Laguna del Carpintero, Tampico. These guys come closer to people than those in Texas.

Monument to this obviously very important Mexican historical figure--he comes up many places. ¨Respect of the right of what is not yours is peace.¨ This is on Laguna del Carpintero in Tampico.

Mural in tumultuous downtown Cd Madero.

Neat looking church in Cd Madero.

Me and José Luís, cool dude I hung out with in Tampico.

This town name reminded me of my friend Amalie Malachee from back home. This is a shot-out to you, girl--keep biking!

Dama, Mariana, and the waitress, the girls of Cockteleria "El Guero", Tres Marias, as they bid me farewell.

Milo, a dog I befriended and played soccer with in Tres Marias near Tampico. Wanted to take him along, but he would not be able to run 100km per day.

Nice lady whose husband, a ¨blue angel¨ (helps people on the highway), stopped me on the highway before Playa Miramar in Cd Madero (next to Tampico). He gave me his info if I needed anything. They put me up that night and fed me. I was still getting over a stomach condition. Now I am eating vegan to protect my stomach.

Sunrise in Ejido Gonzalez.

Grackles are officially awesome--one of my favorite birds. Did not see them until Austin, but they have been everywhere since. This flock in Ejido Gonzalez the morning after I slept there--they flock, but each individual flies in a slightly different direction, independently. And their repertoir of noises is fascinating.

Some of the boys I met in Ejido Gonzalez, a suburb of Gonzalez between Mante and Tampico. They were curious, fun, and very helpful.

Cerro de Bernal, an impressive hill between Mante and Tampico named after a historical figure.

Tropical flowers and foliage at the Hotel in Gómez Farías, the main jump-off village into El Cielo.

El Cielo group just before we broke up: Pat to Mex. City, Memo, Flash and Colacho to Victoria, and Andy, Shelagh, and I to El Nacimiento and Ciudad Mante.

One of Flash´s perfect tortillas.

The vista as the cloud moved away.

Pat watches as dog follows car up into the cloud in El Cielo.



El Elefante rock in El Cielo. The highest into the hills we climbed.


Pretty goose in a village in El Cielo.

La campana, or ¨the bell¨ rock formation in El Cielo.


Trail in El Cielo.

Forest in El Cielo.

Pretty bird in El Cielo.

Ajol, an antecessor to the turkey.

Cute puppy in a village in El Cielo.

Our group as we climbed on foot (we left our bikes in a base town) into El Cielo.

Abandoned at birth, this ¨el tejón¨ was raised by people and is a cool relative of the raccoon, I think.

Climbing into El Cielo, Shelagh, and a scenic view.

Memo on a fun descent, and a shapely hill off to the left.

What I wrote on the yellow globe at the tropic of cancer--Stop Global Warming. Chainbreak, the Canadian group, made their mark as well.


A shot of a Mexican ribbon of highway on the way to El Cielo as we started to climb through the hills, and cross the Tropic of Cancer.

Flash as he passed the 100 km to El Cielo sign.

The last of Chainbreak (Cycling Hard Against Imperialist Neo-Conservatives Because Radical Eco-Feminist Anarchy Kicks Ass)--they started out as five, and after this ride to El Cielo, Pat would leave to Mexico City, and in Tampico, Shelagh would leave her bike for buses.

Our group to El Cielo from Victoria: Flash, Memo, me, Shelagh, Pat, and Andy.

Artist in action in Victoria.

Hoy es mi cumpleaños. Desayuné en un restaurante en la esquina cerca del hotel--plátanos, gorditas rellenas con frijoles, y café. Platiqué con gente buena allí. Ahora, voy a irme a la Laguna del Carpintero (Lake of the Woodpecker) donde puedo ver unos cocodrilos, quizás encontraré a una conocida allá. Después, voy a continuar el viaje al Sur!

Estoy en Ciudad Madero, en la costa del Golfo de México, cerca de Tampico. Hoy, encontré a mis amigos de Canadá, Andrez y Shila, en la playa de Míramar. Después, fui a un taller de bicicletas para comprar una nueva cadena (chain). Esto porque despues dos mil millas con la misma cadena (llevo mas que tres mil millas), la cadena se enlarga/crece, y esto gasta los cambios (gears). Si no cambie la cadena, los cambios no caberán una nueva cadena y sería necesario cambiar todos los cambios. Mis cambios se han gastado un poco, y la nueva cadena salta un poco en los cambios menores, pero la cadena va a gastar un poco y este problema desaparecerá.

Tambien limpié la bici y compré mas parches (patches). Después, fui al cýber café para un rato, y después entré en un hotel, me bañé, e miré un juego de fútbol de playa en la tele--Brasil (11) contra Uruguay (0)--si esto no se convence, no se que sí. Después, fui para comer, y encontré una minisuper. Compré jugo de naranja, Ramen Noodles, y jugo de vegetales. Comenzó a llover, y fui al cýber de nuevo. Ahora, voy a dormir.

Crossing the Tropic of Cancer

All countries of North America represented in this shot as we crossed the Tropic of Cancer--Memo, our pro-mountain biker guide from Ciudad Victoria, Canadians Shelagh, Andy, and Pat, and myself. (This was last week. I am now in Tampico on the coast.) We were biking from Cd Victoria to La Reserva de la Biosphera El Cielo, where we camped and explored the nature preserve for three days. I will be in the tropics for the rest of my trip!

Dia de Rosca de Reyes

Este es una fiesta de los tres Reyes Magos, y en todo de Mexico hacen una fiesta en que toda la gente cortan un pedazo de rosca de pan que tiene frutas, azucar, y entre el pan hay cuatro o cinco o mas monitos. Si la persona encuentra un monito cortando el pedazo de rosca, la persona necesita hacer tamales en el 2 de febrero, dia de la Candelaria. Yo encontre a dos monitos--voy a hacer tamales en Guatemala y mandar a Cd Mante, Tamaulipas, y voy hacer tambien tamales para una familia en Guatemala para el otro monito. Son gemelos. La foto tiene personas de la fiesta, y algunas son de la familia con quien voy a dormir.

In the fiesta of the three wise men, everyone cuts a piece of sweet bread with little plastic babies distributed throughout--four or five per loaf. If a person finds a plastic baby, representing the baby Jesus, they have to throw a party and make tamales for everyone on the second of February, a holy day of Guadaloupe. I encountered two "monitos" in my slice of bread--twin baby Jesus's! I will be in Guatemala on the second of February so I will make tamales and send them, and for the other monito, I will make tamales for a family in Guatemala. The people in the photo are people at the party, and some of who are in the family I will spend the night with.