Expedition Recovery

12/19/16 Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala to Flores, Guatemala  182.2 kilometers ridden.  Aaron, Ed, and I awoke near 8:30 am. It had been an on-and-off night of sleep for me as the AC was pointing straight at me so the guys had it rather high to get them cooled off. I was cold enough to have to get up in the night to layer. I checked my laundry first thing but even with the heat it had not dried overnight on the line outside the door. We went for breakfast just a few doors up the road from the hotel. It was a small place but we were able to get Wi-Fi so it was an easy win. It was a basic breakfast of eggs scrambled with ham (the menu had said bacon), some fried beans and a side of tortillas. We all worked on our phones to get caught up on admin we couldn't do without Wi-Fi. These sorts of meals with all of us looking at our phones were starting to happen more after a week of travelling together. Following breakfast we all headed back to the room to pack. All o...

12/18/16 San Ignacio, Belize to Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala. 19.6 kilometers ridden. I started out slowly getting ready before taking a final shower in the small bathroom by my room. The ability to get the water temperature to something other than arctic blast or surface of the sun seems to be getting worse each day. We went out for breakfast at a place called pops. It was the most western place I had been too in weeks. It had vinyl diner booths in a deep red color that would be at home in any greasy spoon in the US. I ate a bacon and cheese omelet with pancakes but paid more for it than I would have at a less Americanized  place. We went back to our hotel and Aaron, Ed, and I sat around exchanging digital files of our photos and videos so we each had copies of everyone’s media from Belize. It took a long time so as each of us finished we set off separately to be ready to leave. I was the last one out at past 12:30 but when I got up to Ed's hostel he and Aaron...

A muddy CB in front of the Rio Frio Cave complex 12/17/16 San Ignacio, Bel. 108.5 kilometers ridden. Morning started off with a trip up the street for the  cheap breakfast Christine had told me about, it was a breakfast burrito and a large lime juice for the equivalent of about $2.50 US. The burrito was basic but tasty and the lime juice was a refreshing start to the day. After the beating the rough road gave the little C90, I went on a walkabout with Ed and Aaron to go get the exhaust on Ninty fixed. It took most of the morning but we ended up getting some clues and finding a Canadian welder who had emigrated to Belize. He did a great job TIG welding the exhaust and it came out looking better than new.  Ed March giving a we wink while he gets the tip welded. Just the tip, just for a minute. We managed to get a little twisted up on the route before walking across the low wooden bridge that had carried us into town. Along the way we wandered thro...

12/16/16 San Ignacio, Belize. 106.6 kilometers ridden. Woke up and got in a quick bit of relaxing before it was time to start getting ready to ride. Ed, Aaron, and I would be heading out to Big Rock Falls and 1000 Foot Falls on the bikes. I got most of the prep done and found out that Aaron had already eaten breakfast so I walked around to the bar and restaurant combo we had been drinking at the night before. I got an omelet with bacon, cheese and veggies and a side of "toast bread". The toast bread was more like fry bread and was very good. I went back to the hotel and Ed had arrived. We finished prepping the bikes but Ed and Aaron then want to go for a few things so we ended up at a smoothie shop where the guys grabbed wraps and I had a smoothie. Service took the usual forever I have come to expect in Belize but the smoothie was good. We went and geared up before setting off from the hotel Tropicool. The ride out was spectacular and full of both twi...

12/15/16 Placencia, Belize to San Ignacio, Belize 198.3 kilometers ridden. Last night was incredibly hot so we opened up the doors to the bunk house. It brought us a nice breeze but with it came the mosquitoes. The whole night was spent tossing and turning. Either being too hot from having the sheet over my whole body and head to stop the bug bites, to shedding it and being eaten alive. I got up and moving around 8 and made my way to the bathroom to put my contacts in and get ready. The original plan had been to get moving early in the day and make it to San Ignacio by mid-day. But early is such a vague term.... The small boat that took us back and forth across the river to the bunkhouse.  I dressed went for water at the bar by the pool. Despite the early hour, a women with glasses, long brown hair and looking to be in her early to mid-twenties was there with a large amount of baggage. She was talking to the bar keep as I slid up and began to drink wa...

12/14/16 Punta Gorda, Bel. to Placencia, Bel. 198.8 kilometers ridden. We started the day by eating breakfast from what we had in our bags so we could get moving faster. We loaded the bikes quickly but it still seemed to take a long time to get moving. The day was sticky-hot and it wasn't even noon yet. As we rode out of Punta Gorda we stopped several times for pho tos at signs and on piers. Aaron had some prior history with his father's military service at Cattle Landing so we stopped there as well to take photos.  Leaving town  we stopped and filled up with fuel and each had a cold drink and some ice cream. It was funny to have the staff at the gas station hear Aaron had ridden from England and not say anything but here I came from Alaska and get very excited.  We headed out to the Farm Inn for Ed's soap dish he had gotten from Alaska. The ride was worth the whole trip south. The roads twisted among rolling hills and beside rive...

12/13/16 Hopkins, Belize to Punta Gordo, Belize 154.6 Kilometers ridden. The plan was simple. We would get up early and make a ride for Punta Gordo where we could spend the day looking at the southern portions of Belize and take some photos of the sea.  Aaron and I had decided to ride together as Ed had already come from the south and would be doing his own thing. Like all plans, it went to hell right away. When it was time to get up the sound of rain pounding the small cabins roof was overwhelming. The dusty wooden shutters could do nothing to stop the water from reaching the sill and even dripping into the room. With a choice between an on time, but soaked, departure or sleeping in, sleep won. A cold shower, while a little better than a wet ride, is not the ideal way to start my waking day. A delicious hot breakfast would have been a perfect pick up to break from the dreary grey day, but stale from the package lemon cream cookies and a few peanuts was all I...