Today is June 9, 2007. One year ago and 7600 miles ago we started out from Inuvik, in far, far northwestern Canada, on our journey to the bottom of South America. We didn't know whether we'd be successful in crossing that first 500 miles of dirt road in the tundra of the far north. And now here we are in the mountains at the very bottom of Mexico. We passed through Canada's Yukon, part of Alaska, British Columbia, the states of Washington, Oregon, and California, then went home to Denver to sell our house and get our affairs in order. In late January we set out again from Phoenix, Arizona, and have traversed the entire center of Mexico. What an incredible journey! But what will come next? We're hoping to do some volunteer work in Guatemala, and we may spend several months there, setting out again in the late fall.

We hope to get to the bottom of South America - Ushuaia, Patagonia, Argentina, in February of 2009.

There we were in the remote mountains south of Oaxaca, grinding up a big climb, and here comes Ludo, obviously a gringo, happily and easily running up the grade with a 20 pound backpack, making better time than we were. We stopped to chat, and it turned out that Ludo and Matthieu are running from Mexico City all the way to Patagonia! And they're planning only 10 months for the trip. They know that that's not enough time and they will be taking some buses on some sections, but they're making pretty fine time!  read more here... lee mas aquí... »

Ya estamos (por fín) en el sur de México, a la costa de Oaxaca, en la ciudad de Juchitán. Hemos pasado casi cuatro meses y llevamos 4100 kilómetros en el país. Casi vamos a ser mexicanos. Hemos progresado mas despacio que habíamos pensado -- al principio pensamos que pasaríamos por todo México en tres meses, y ya todaviá estamos caminando después de cuatro. Pero ha sido maravilloso, y vamos a extrañar México much cuando pasamos a Guatemala. ¿Cómo vamos a vivir sin la rica comida de México, y la gente tan amigable?

Hay fotos nuevos en la página de fotos- o puedes cliquear aquí para aceso directo.

Well, it's early June, and we're (finally) in the south of Mexico, in the bottom of the southern state of Oaxaca (wah-HAH-kah). We've been in Mexico for almost four full months and have come about 2500 miles (4100 km). That's a lot slower than we expected - we thought we'd cover all of Mexico in about three months, and here we're still riding after four. But we've had an absolutely wonderful time, and we will miss Mexico dearly when we leave it. How are we going to live without all that incredible variety of outstanding food?

There are new pictures on the photos page - or you can go to this direct link..

We started our day unusually early, the alarm clock rang at five in the morning. We were facing steep climbs in the southern mountains of Mexico in the state of Oaxaca state of Mexico. The total elevation would be determined on how far we could ride which was determined by varying factors. The steep grades with our heavy loads would test our muscle endurance, the amount of time on a saddle would test our butts, the heat of the day in southern Mexico in May would bear down on our helmet-covered heads cooking us under the afternoon sun. Would we be hit by a late afternoon torrential rain, and if this happened would we be a place with cover? All these thoughts raddled around my brain as I mounted my bike and started the days adventure.

The early morning is a great time to ride because of the muted morning colors that fill the surrounding landscape, This morning was especially wonderful because the red-colored soil that stretched all around us was lit up doubly with the rising morning sun. A mist hung above the rich farm lands as we rode the quite river valley road. This moment of bliss was interrupted as the awakening sun heating the morning mist and us with it.

At 10 miles out we stopped for breakfast of quesadillas and sandwiches called tortas. As we waited for breakfast, I adjusted my seat for today’s ride. Yesterday's ride of 4500 feet climb stressed my soft tissue so an adjustment was called for.

We rode almost all day along a ridge line, deep valleys to the left and massive valleys to the right. We would climb 500 feet and descend 400 feet, and repeat this over and over. Climbing and descending. All and all we climbed over 3600 feet for the days total. I was in awe, how a road can be built along a ridge for 40 miles and have view on the left and right. It was an incredible bike ride with the beautiful vistas of tropical Oaxacan plants scattered throughout the expansive terracotta-colored landscape, but at the same time it is the dry season, and the land waits patiently for the rain to come in earnest.

As I rode the long miles, I kept myself entertained by looking around at the sights which are so foreign to me yet spike my curiosity. Who lives in the Adobe brick houses with tin roofs which stood on every distant hill top? What was life like for lone Mixtec Indian who worked hunched over his plot of land, and woman hunched over the concrete basins washing the endless piles of clothes, or preparing the days food? Why was the goats and mules making those awful sounds of protest? I let my mind wander for most of the time except when traffic approached or the road side DOG gave chase to me in which I focus on patterns of approach and the need for evasive action. Cars are mostly predictable, but not always. If I see a single car, it can go around me. If there are a bunch of big vehicles such as buses or large trucks, I avoid them and get off the road.

We had a delightful day on a forgotten highway on the way to the city of Oaxaca - The newer toll road was much more direct (and probably easier) but we had heard that this one was a great ride, so we took the old "free" road. It was delightful, climbing along a ridge through high forests and incredibly organized communities.

We saw clean highways, trash receptacles everywhere, and signs reminding everyone of their civic duty. This sign says "Take care of nature - don't throw trash. Health is LIfe." I can tell you we've seen some very trashed communities and highways at times in Mexico, and it was so amazing that this region had taken it in mind to put an end to this.

They also told us they have a community highway trash pickup every two months! We were impressed.

We don't see many billboards on the back highways of Mexico, but what we do see, every day, are the wonderful, colorful advertisements you see painted on the rock wall behind Nancy. They're all done by hand, but talented painters, who must be quite plentiful in Mexico, because there are *current* signs everywhere, for musical events, bullfights, all-star wrestling. During election seasons, there are lots of them for political candidates, too. We love to see the colorful art, and it's a pleasure when we see one of the painters. This one is for a musical extravaganza in a nearby town.

Our last day into Oaxaca City was a pretty easy one, so we didn't get started too early. Then about 2 miles into the ride we saw a sign that said "Santiago Suchilquitongo - Visit our tomb and museum!". Well, Santiago Suchilquitongo wasn't in our guidebook and we had no idea what to expect, but Nancy was game and we rode in.

A few questions and we found that we had to ride up a steep hill to get to the tomb. So we did. Then a few more questions and we found we had to hike up a much longer steep hill to get to the tomb. So we found a friend to watch the bikes and started up. It turned out to be a pretty good distance.