The past 10 days or so I’ve slowly made my way towards Merida, where I will finish the trip. It’s been mostly a slog on busy highways, although with a good shoulder. Camping has been almost impossible due to the heat and humidity and the countryside, which is thick dense brush or swampy weeds. It was so hot I just could not see myself trekking into the thick brush after a day sweating in 90 degree heat. So I stayed in hotels exclusively the past 10 days. It was heavenly to get air conditioning and a cold shower.

I did have a bad experience in Aguacatal. I had eaten a regular meal of chicken with rice and beans. But at 2 AM I woke up feeling nauseous. I went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. Then I started to feel dizzy. Next thing I know I wake up laying on the ground. I had passed out and fallen into the shower stall. My head hurt and when I felt my forehead there was a huge bump on my head as well as a sore hip and arm. I must have been unconscious for several minutes. That was scary. Then I vomited all over. I don’t think I slept any more that night. I was so sick I stayed the whole next day in bed and did not eat until the day after. That’s the sickest I have been in a long time.

I made my way to the larger town of Champoton. Meanwhile as I mentioned last post about the motels, I realized I did not show a photo of what it looks like when you drive in. The entire grounds are usually walled off so you cannot see inside. When you drive in there are just rows of garages. All you do is find an empty one, pull in and close the door.

One town where this guy made incredibly delicious tacos. I think I went back three times for more.

In Aguacatal there was a turkey farm where the birds roamed free around the neighborhood.

Pelicans in the water.

Fishing boats near Campeche.

A statue of Moch Couoh, a Mayan chief who defeated Hernández de Córdoba and a group of Spaniards in 1517. Córdoba himself eventually died of his wounds. The next year Juan de Grijalva returned with a large army and defeated the Maya, killing Moch Couoh in the process. This statue is in Campeche.

Finally done. I rolled into Merida on January 15 and made my way to a house our family has rented for six weeks. Not the greatest of trips, only went about 1700 miles, but it feels good to be done and back in one piece.

I’m not generally superstitious but I do carry this little figurine of San La Muerte. I picked it up in Argentina during my trip there in 2007 and it has been with me on every trip since. I’m still alive so why mess with Saint Death?

As the title to this post suggests, I believe it is time I get an ebike. This is a regular bike but it has a battery powered motor that you can click on when you need that little help on a hill or against a head wind. At 61, I am starting to feel my age. On my 2007-2009 bike trip I could do 125 km days no problem. Now I get scared if I have to go 70 km, which really limits my options. I also noticed this bike with its fat tires is noticeably slower than my old street bike with skinny tires. The rolling resistance is much greater, which further slows me down. So an ebike would give me more flexibility. If I want to go 90 km on a dirt road because that’s where the next water stop is, I can easily turn on the motor and cruise at 25 kph for a bit.

That’s it for now. I’ll be staying in Merida with family before returning to Denver and trying to find a job for a bit. But by this summer I hope to have my new ebike and hopefully I’ll be back on the road. As for my poor boat she is still sitting in dry dock in Jacksonville, FL. I’m afraid I won’t be able to get her back in the water until after hurricane season this year, that is to say, December at the earliest. Stay tuned!