Fish

Today the theme was fish: we caught them, ate them and swam with them.

First up was a little fishing. We hit the water at 7:00. In hindsight we should have started a bit earlier because the action stopped at about 9:00. On the other hand, we are on vacation and we did hit the tequila pretty hard last night.

Carlos and Manuel prepare the bait.

Right off the bat I caught a mahi mahi. Jenn also hooked one, but it jumped and threw the hook. Shortly after that I hooked a tuna. Fish on!

Not a huge tuna, but man did it fight.

Jenn then had her turn with a tuna.

I know her arms were burning at this point. Mine were.

Almost in.

Nice one!

We took our mahi mahi back to the chef at the hotel, and he made some delicious tacos with it. Great lunch.

After lunch we went snorkeling for a while. The water was warm and inviting, and there were plenty of fish to look at.

Fun stuff and another good day. Sorry this post is mostly pictures, but I am not feeling especially wordy today.

Later.

Tulum and Tequila

Run like poison in my blood . . .

Today we took the ferry over to the mainland and went to the Mayan ruins in Tulum. Our guide was very knowledgeable and made the trip interesting. The Mayan culture and contributions were quite amazing. You can read a little about Tulum here.

Right after we arrived, Jenn saw a large iguana walking through the underbrush. She quickly pounced on it, and after wrestling it into submission, posed for a picture:

Here are a bunch of pictures from Tulum:

Later in the evening, we went down for dinner. This may be be hard to believe, since we are in Mexico, but tonight was a Mexican theme night. Really. There might have been a shot or two of tequila consumed.

One is one too many.

One more is never enough.

But that didn't seem to affect my ability to play "donkey drunky." Notice the beer in my left hand. I scored extra points for standing the bottle up while drinking a beer. My true talents are being wasted in the information technology field.

It was a good day, but it's time for bed. We are getting up early to do a little fishing.

Later.

Vuelta a Cozumel

Today we rode around the southern end of the island. It was a 41-mile ride. Although we didn't set any speed records, the heat, high humidity and wind made it fairly difficult. You can see the route here.

We took a lot of pictures, so I am going to change things up a bit and tell the story with picture captions.

After taking a wrong turn, we ended up on dirt roads for a few miles.

No big deal. We knew if we kept heading east and south we would eventually hit the main road.

Once we hit the main road, the Carretera Transversal, we were treated to a huge bike lane. The headwind was fierce.

When we hit the end of the transverse road, we saw the Caribbean Sea on the east side of the island for the first time.

The wind typically blows in from the east, so the sea is rough on this side of the island. You are warned not to swim.

The color of the water is simply stunning. We rode with a sense of awe.

Volkswagens and mopeds: two very popular vehicles here.

Taking time out for a snack.

We are always on the lookout for iguanas.

We had about 11 miles of views like this.

Here we are at the halfway point.

We stopped for a refreshing coconut water. After we finished drinking them, the coconuts were cut up for us to eat. I liked the raw coconut, especially with the chile paste they gave us, but Jen (the fruit lover) did not care for it.

One of the many, many friendly locals we met today.

Punta Sur, the southernmost part of our ride. From here we headed inland for a bit.

Although the signs suggested our trail was exclusively for bicycles, there were plenty of tourists using it in rental cars and on scooters. We did take great pleasure in seeing a couple tourists on a moped being pulled over by a cop.

At this point we were enjoying our first tailwind of the day.

Welcome to the jungle.

Almost back to the west side of the island.

This was a really big one.

At the end of the ride we were definitely ready to get off the bikes. The hotel staff marveled at the crazy gringos who rode their bikes so far. To them it seems insane, but we think there is no better way to see the island.

Tomorrow will be bike-free, though. We are heading to the mainland to see the Mayan ruins in Tulum. Our wake-up call is in about six hours, so I guess I'd better get some sleep.

Later.

Paseo en Bicicleta

Today we made it out for our first ride in Cozumel. It was a simple 25-mile, out-and-back ride to the south, down the main road. You can see the route here.

Some things are very different here, and many are the same. Here a loyal dog waits for his master to return home, just as dogs do pretty much everywhere.

Wait, that's no dog . . .

As I said, very different here. One of the main differences for us is the fact that pedestrians and cyclists have no rights, unless you count last rights after you are run over; that they will probably do for you.

But you know what? I kind of like it. There is a definite pecking order, and as long as you understand that, everyone gets along just fine on the road. At home, you DO have the right of way, but you never know if the driver will actually adhere to the laws.

After rolling away from our hotel we had to negotiate about three miles of craziness with taxis, cars, trucks, motorcycles, quads, scooters and horse-drawn carts. After leaving San Miguel, things mellow out considerably, though. At about the four-mile mark the road splits and there is a frontage road that parallels the main road. Once we hit that road, we really enjoyed ourselves.

Riding along the sea is something I don't think we will ever get tired of.

The farther south we went, the more quiet it became. We saw very few cars.

With no real plan in mind when we left, we decided to turn around at 12.5 miles and head back. Tomorrow we will head out with a solid destination and a plan.

Later.

Any Way You Want It

After a long, 22-hour journey full of layovers and delays, we finally stepped foot into our hotel room in Cozumel.

My nervousness regarding transporting the bikes was well founded. When we went to baggage claim to pick up our bags and bikes, my case was open about an inch. Both latches were undone, and the only thing holding the case together was the cheap little "TSA approved" lock I bought. I figure the TSA inspected it and couldn't get everything crammed back in correctly, so they said "meh, whatever" and left it open. I guess I shouldn't say that. I am sure these fine men and women exhibit the hard work, dedication and ingenuity that Americans are known for. Yeah.

After struggling to get the case closed back up again, I walked about 20 feet before the Mexican customs officials made me open up both cases. It took forever, and a line of tired, impatient people started backing up. That was fun.

Once at the hotel and unpacked, I started building. This beats the view from my garage.

The bikes went together smoothly, and the beer went down smoothly. After a long trip, that's the way you need it.

One bike down, two beers down.

After finishing the bikes, we went on a long walk through the city, followed by a nice dinner.

Tomorrow we will ride from the hotel without a map or direction, just letting the road and fancy guide us. I like not knowing where I'll be tomorrow.

Later.