Author Archives: mev

Siguatepeque

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Today more than a mile of descent (1647 meters, 5404 feet) but then we also climbed 1075m (3530 feet). Had a Spanish test (oral) to finish the day.

I was on the road a little after 7:30am. Went earlier than David, partially because I knew there was a lot of descent and I expected to be slower. It was cooler (~15C or 59F) at elevation and skies were clear. We had a little bit of climb the first 8.5km.

We passed a few more signs related to the Lenca Highlands. After this we had more than 30km of downhill. The road was occasionally rough but the grades were rarely more than 8%. As I descended, I left the pine forests behind and it felt noticeably warmer.

Near the bottom, some coffee out to dry.

This bridge over the river was pretty much the low spot. I found a comedor on the other side in the shade. Perhaps 15 minutes later David came along and so we could eat a snack and prepare for the climbs to come.

By now it was over 30C (86F) and warm. We had a short 3.5km of level before an 800m climb coming up. Again, this climb was rarely more than 8% but it was otherwise long. A little ways up the climb we had a nice comedor to eat lunch.

This photo taken more than half way up the climb, looking back on the town in the bottom. Traffic was fortunately light and as we climbed, it also became cooler. Crested over the top and then finished the day with more descent into Siguatepeque where we joined the major highway leading to Tegucigalpa. It was now nearly 5pm, so we had a full day of riding. The hotel looked a little fancier than some places we have stayed, but overall was less than an average US hotel so not to quibble too much.

In the parking lot were was a TV reporter and camera man. The saw the loaded bikes and came over for an interview. Consider this an oral exam of my Spanish language abilities. Fortunately, the questions were all related to the bicycle riding, so mostly things I’ve answered before. Was still interesting though.

La Esperanza

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Our route through Central America has many ups and downs. Today was mostly up, 1285m (4215 feet) to be precise. We also had ~1067m (3502 feet) of downhill so ended up at 1710m elevation. We have picked this route partially because it stays higher and hence is cooler than the flatter more lowland routes along the coast.

Just after sunset last night. It gets pretty dark out in these villages. Without much light pollution one sees a full complement of stars.

Today we were on a coffee route. I was out a little before David and agreed we’d meet up after “the big climb”. It was still nice and cool, though it didn’t really get hot at all today.

Locals like riding with many people in backs of pickups. I’ve seen quite a few more than this, but typically too late to get a photo. Sometimes with all these folks riding loosely in back of pickups, motorcyclists without helmets and steep winding roads, it seems surprising there aren’t more accidents. However, suspect a side effect is people also watching out on the roads a bit more.

At 19km, Rio Tico was the start of a 580m (1800ft) climb. This wasn’t as bad as I expected with only short sections reaching 10% and much more gentle grades.

One started to get some nice views during the climb. This area is know as part of the Lenca Highlands after indigenous group that lives here.

At 30km, I reached the top (hooray!). A few kilometers later, I found this comedor. Ordered something and relaxed. Some time later David arrived. After this still some hills but not long sustained climbs.

Met these kids and their dog along the way.

Local fruit stand. Overall, fewer comedors and pulperias than previous days, but enough to get by.

In La Esperanza, I had to get a photo of the “Pollo Mikes” shop.

We’re now likely at a high point in Honduras. Still a lot of climb/descent to go but don’t expect to be higher than this elevation overnight.

San Juan

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Today was a shorter ride, though still with 945m of climb. Next town with hotel after this is another hilly climb, so we decided to break it into two days riding.

Restful day in Gracias yesterday. Not quite sure who this is, but his statue was displayed in the park. A few blocks north of the park was a nice pizza restaurant. Otherwise some small comedors, two groceries, a fruit stand, a bakery and we had everything we needed.

This morning back on the road. Shop above sells hardware items, bicycle parts as well as electrical items.

We started in an area with more palm trees, but today climbed more into pine forests again. We’re also seeing more birds like this one around in the area. Our route today didn’t have many flat bits and we started with a slight uphill and then good descent. After that the longest climb was 300m. The grade was fairly consistently between 7% and 10% but fortunately still cool.

Not far past the top was village of Cañada.

We’ve seen more arcade games in Central America such as this soccer oriented pinball game. This was at a rather large store at 18km. The pinball machines weren’t on and several kids were in the area with their smart phones. Apparently, this is one spot where the wifi signal was free (but password protected) and hence a good spot to hang out.

After this our second longer climb of the day. The grades weren’t as steep, but it was warmer than the first climb. On the way up, a car passed and someone handed out a sealed bag with cool water. Thanks! That definitely helped. Top of this hill was near 30km.

After that it was more level or even slightly downhill. We passed these soccer players on for a Sunday game. Seemed like a fairly serious group as they also had uniforms.

The last few kilometers weren’t difficult and as we made our way into village of San Juan. This is a smaller place than we’ve stayed last few days, but still has enough of what we need. Otherwise a not too difficult day and good spot to take it easy before tackling the next part of our climb tomorrow.

Gracias

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Honduras has some hills. Last two days have been on roads with some short steep hills. Usually no more than 8%-9%, though my odometer has record 12% half a dozen times as well. I can put it in low gear and power up the short hills at 12% and almost find it at least as challenging to descend since I like to go slow with my speed.
Day One
Only 44km but over 1200m of climb. Today was mostly climbing, with several short steep hills that would get to 9%-11%. Tough work, particularly in afternoon as it got warmer.

After leaving our road junction we took the main road south. Traffic was not as heavy as I expected. However, occasionally the road would have potholes and bad patches. On our side of the road, you would steer your way past them as best as you could. You also needed to keep an eye out for traffic coming from other side that was swerving to avoid holes. However, with not too heavy traffic and no center line, it worked fine.

Photo above an example of coconut stall found along the way.

Here was a dairy farm that we passed. We’re seeing more dairy cows and also meat cows here.

Also the occasional horse as well. The horse behind was being recalcitrant about being led.

This pulperia was on top of a steep little hill. Nice spot to stop and get a cold drink.

Some of the houses we passed were very basic. Constructed from sheet metal and otherwise pretty simple.

It stayed somewhat cool until 10am and after that it was somewhat warmer. We climbed to high of 900m before descending back to 690m. After that a steep climb over 1000m again. Stopped here and talked with some kids. They explained they attended school on Saturdays and Sundays and hence this is why they weren’t in class on a Thursday.

We found a nice restaurant at a coffee plantation at 31km and had a bit longer break. After that, we came to the T junction leading off to Santa Rosa Copan. There was a hotel here, but no wifi, no shops nearby either. Hence, we headed into town. First two hotels were rather expensive but with some extra hints and clues we were able to find a reasonable one.

Not a huge distance today, but the climbing and particularly the steepness made up for it.
Day Two
Another shorter ride with lots of steep bits. First order of business was to cycle back to our road junction.

From here a bit more climbing where I could see over Santa Rosa. After this 500m of descent, some of it registering at 12%. The road surface however was good on both the descent and throughout the day.

These guys had their wares out today. Once I got to bottom of the hill, the next section sort of followed a river. It would still climb over short hills however.

Had a nice little break in the pulperia here next to the river. After this, the next 6km into town was mostly uphill though not extremely steep.

Cobblestones in this town aren’t too bad. A bit of a touristy place, so multiple hotels to choose from. Hotels in Honduras all seem to request a passport number as part of the registration.

Another difference I’ve noticed with Guatemala is there are local buses, but they aren’t quite as flamboyant as the chicken buses in Guatemala.

It was nice to get in not too late in the afternoon and avoid more of the hot hours of the day.

La Entrada

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Cloudy, overcast and almost drizzle. It rained more heavily overnight. Today we had a few drops of drizzle but barely enough to get the road surface wet. As a nice bonus it stayed below 25C (77F) all day, a welcome change from previous afternoons.

Our road was not particularly busy today. We still had some trucks passing, but typically plenty of room. There were several shorter steep (~9 to 11%) hills to climb over and a longer descent in the afternoon. We also had one or two short gravel patches, but overall good road, not much traffic made for a nice cycling day.

Gasoline is now sold in liters here as compared to Guatemala that sells by the gallon.

Our first village stop was around 10km.

They call these small stores “pulperia”. In Mexico or Guatemala, “tienda” was more common. We stopped at one to get a snack before a longer climb up the hill.

We’re seeing more cattle here and in general the area looks more lush than few days ago when we were in Guatemala.

On the way down the hill, we found this comedor and stopped for lunch. As we ate lunch more people came by and by the time we were finished there were almost a dozen there. Coincidence I’m sure, though some were rather curious at these strangers with bicycles. One small girl kept looking at how tall I was.

We met this motorcyclist on his way to Columbia and had a short talk.

Florida and San Antonio were last places we passed before making our way to major road intersection at La Entrada. Several hotels around the main intersection and without much difficulty we found a reasonable one.

Overall, nice to have a somewhat cooler cycling day and one where we had hints of rain, but not much real precipitation.

Copan Ruinas, Honduras!

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A shorter ride that crossed into Honduras. Our route brought us across several short steep hills where my odometer recorded 12% grade or better.

Jocotan was another nice little town to visit. By now we’ve got our rhythm down: arrive in town, find a hotel, shower and wash some clothes, check internet, go out for dinner at local comedor, buy breakfast foods, relax and fall asleep. We were on the road a bit later, but knew we didn’t have as far to go. What we didn’t know completely was that some of the hills were steep.

Photo above was looking back at Jocotan junction into town.

We crossed a larger river that was running fairly clean.

This is an agricultural region. Corn and beans are grown here. In addition, something in these large greenhouse structures we passed.

At 25km we came to the border. There were large lots with trucks on the Guatemalan side, presumably waiting to cross. However, unlike our Mexico/Guatemala border, less of the border villages on either side. Immigration was also straightforward: get stamped out of Guatemala, cycle over to Honduras immigration and get stamped in for Q30 (~$4 US). Photo above is taken at the immigration point with poster of Florida, Honduras.

I was also able to exchange my last Quetzals for Lempira. The rate quoted was very close to the official exchange rate. Enough so that I was cautious if there was something else going on. However, we’ve been able to spend those Lempira we exchanged so looks ok.

Immediately after the border, the road climbed steeply (~9%). There was a row of parked trucks here. By now it was warm but we also knew we didn’t have as far to go. Up ~200m (600ft) and then across and down into Copan Ruinas.

Most of the streets in Copan are cobblestones. Nice to look at, but a pain to ride our bikes. Fortunately, we found a hotel not far into town.

Found the local grocery.

We haven’t visited, but Copan has a major archaeological site. As a result, there are many hotels and also seen a number of non-Honduran tourists walking around. In addition as you can see from photo above, several Spanish language schools here as well.

Too early to have much of a comparison between Honduras and Guatemala. Our small bumpy road got better at the border. Kids still yell, “gringo!” as we pass. Speed bumps are still named “tomulus”. Looking forward to exploring a small bit of the fifth country on this trip.

Jocotan

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Two big hills today.

Warm overnight in Zacapa and was happy to have air conditioning. I was on the road before seven AM. A slight hiccup finding my way out of town, but soon I was on the major road heading south. Relatively flat for 10km and then a 300m (1000ft) climb over the hill to Chiquimula. Reasonable amount of traffic, but most of the climb had an extra climbing lane.

Sign above is in focus. However, seems like when a client is done using a billboard, they sort of paint over the message. We’ve seen that more often here.

Chiquimula was a somewhat larger town and even had a McDonalds. I had left before David and this was our agreed upon rendezvous point so stopped in. Prices seem very similar to US prices.

After Chiquimula there was 10km of mostly level riding before we came to the road junction. The main road went straight to the Honduras border. We went left headed towards a smaller crossing. Almost immediately a lot less traffic and a lot more climbing. It was a hot climb so put in a low gear and slowly ride uphill.

Here was another photo of the junction.

I had to look this one up later…best I can tell “hundimientos” is sinking – so this is cautioning this is an area with landslides.

Close to the top it became very steep, I’m estimating 12%+ grade. I walked the last little bit. Photo above is David tacking back and forth the last bit of the hill.

After this a nice descent for a few hundred meters. We found a nice comedor to eat and as we passed the Jocotan turnoff asked about hotels. We were directed to a nice one that even has air conditioning.

Despensa Familiar is our neighborhood grocery store. Nice part of being in small town like this is having a grocery to get some breakfast items for the morning.

Otherwise we’re not far from the Honduras border now.

Zacapa

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A cool shower sure is refreshing after a hot day cycling. A few days ago we crested 3000m (nearly 10,000ft) with a wool hat and two layers. Today we dropped below 200m (~650ft) with much warmer riding.

It was warm last night in Guastatoya though air conditioning in hotel was a big help. This morning it was 20C (68F) starting out. We started with 100m of climb followed by 300m of descent. Above is a fast food chicken place along the way. We didn’t eat there, but shown because have found these small Guatemalan towns seem to have an abundance of fried chicken, pizza and similar fast food. Hamburgesa seems to be term for generic patty and can be chicken or beef.

We joined with main road here and for next 50km had a reasonable road with shoulder. Sometimes slightly rough but usually reasonable to ride. Despite being Sunday, there were still plenty of trucks on the road as well.

Another little climb brought us past a giant chicken symbol besides the road.

Good example of shoulder and road surfaces.

By time we reached 25km, it was already getting warm, so we took our rest breaks in the shade and also looked for cold drinks.

We passed a number of small villages today. Overall we followed a river valley so only 650m (2000ft) of climb for the day, though definitely still some hills. Around 50k was slightly larger town of Teculutan. We had a hamburgesa (beef) at small comedor and then found nearby supermarket to get some additional foods.

Grapes, watermelon and other tropical fruits were available at stands along the way.

At 62km was big split in the road. We took the right fork which heads off to Honduras. Unfortunately, we lost our road shoulder. Traffic was still moderately heavy though well behaved.

We passed a large shopping mall.

Coffee spread out to dry.

We came into slightly larger town of Zacapa. Cycled in and checked a few hotels before finding our choice. Air conditioning is a big plus and having cold water in the shower is also nice.

Guastatoya

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Today we experienced kindness of strangers on our ride.

Had a nice rest and restful day in Guatemala City. Walked a lot, but didn’t ride my bike anywhere.

This morning we were on the road early. Partially to get out of the city before it became busy and partially since we expected a warm afternoon at lower elevations. Leaving Guatemala City was easier than entering. There was ~2km of city street riding that was slow because the lights weren’t timed for our speeds. After that ~2km of complete chaos with busy road sometimes narrowing to one lane, sometimes with buses stopped and a lot to watch. After that it gradually became easier and by the 10km mark, we even started to get a shoulder as part of 4 lane highway.

We started the day at ~1500m and descended steadily through the day, ending at ~550m with a little over a mile of total descent (~1637m). After the first 10km, we had another 20km of mostly descent before the road started having more mix of both climbs and descents. It also became steadily warmer with maximum of 36C (96.8F) recorded by my odometer. We stopped at 45km at a small comedor for lunch.

After lunch we crossed a river. People were down washing clothes and hanging them up.

After the river we started a slow steady climb. It was hot. A small breeze helped cool some of the sweat but we knew we were in for a hot afternoon. Coming the other way, a car stopped. A guy came out carrying two small bottles of cold bottled water. Wow!, just what we needed. We thanked him. He went back to his car and brought over two more bottles. Not sure how he knew, but this act of kindness certainly came at just the right time.

We got to top of the hill and just before the El Paso Texas hotel, our road angel came once more, this time with two cold cokes. Felt like almost too much and we thanked him again, though a cold coke also went down well. Overall, very appreciative of this hospitality and it came at exactly the right time.

We cycled past several small auto hotels, including this sign that advertised hotel prices by the hour.

At 60km, our smooth road and wide shoulder was done. The flags of Taiwan and Guatemala flew together marking the fact that together the two countries had done the previous ~30km of road improvements. After this point, the road became much narrower and often fairly bumpy. Traffic was still moderately heavy and we had several long convoys of truck pass us. We stopped a few times to let these pass, particularly later when we had some steeper descents.

At 75km we came to town of Guastatoya, also known as on some maps as El Progreso. It was largest town around and gave us a good choice of hotels, so natural place to stop. After a nice cool shower, we walked around town to get some breakfast foods.

We see the sign above in Guatemala about tortillas “los 3 tiempos” or tortillas three times. As I understand it is tortillas fresh enough to eat three times a day – though not sure if the emphasis is on the freshness or on eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

There was a display about bible reading.

Downtown had some busy streets as well as a bakery, grocery store and convenience store we needed to buy food.

On the way back we happened past the local bike shop.

Overall, not too tough riding today with only ~750m of climbing and ~1600m+ of descent. It became hot in the afternoon, but our kind stranger also came at just the right time to help us climb a hot hill. We expect to remain at lower elevations next few days, so try to get out early as well.

Guatemala City

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Today a short ride that was easier than expected into Guatemala City. An afternoon visit to a bike shop and a chance to walk through parts of the old town.

Our hotel last night was 500m higher than Guatemala City. Yesterday we had ridden in on busy Pan-American Highway with varying condition shoulders. The big question for today was would those shoulders get better or worse, particularly on the descent into the city. Another cycle touring blog had suggested it wasn’t too bad – and I would have to agree that riding into Guatemala City was easier than some Mexican cities I have ridden across.

We took our time packing up and leaving this morning as we had less than 30km to go. The road started fairly level for the first 5km and then for the next ~12km was a reasonable descent. What really helped is the shoulder was ~1m wide and stayed at same level as the roadway. There was a lot of traffic but bike and car could both ride together without much trouble.

I am always slow on descent. David went ahead and somehow I passed without either of us spotting the other. However, we had an agreed upon destination and continued to that point. After about 16km, the road shoulder went away but cars/trucks were still fairly polite. Not much further a third lane was added and little while where photo above was taken, a fourth lane.

Traffic speeds slowed and the slowest was on the right with buses occasionally stopping and other traffic. It wasn’t hard to also cycle on the right and occasionally pause.

At 22km was a major turn. I stopped to confirm the intersection on my phone. Coincidentally just a few moments later David also rode to the same point asking for instructions and so we were able to cycle the last ~4km together. It was a bit slow and hectic but without much difficulty, we found our destination point and checked into a hotel.

First exercise was to find a local bike shop. First one only sold bikes, but we were fortunate to find Cycle Works which is a well-equipped professional shop. Luis, the owner as well as his mechanic, replaced my disc rotor and pads.

I had brought a spare rotor as well as extra pads with me, and after replacing pads at motorcycle shop on the road a few days ago, figured it would be useful to get things checked before the next set of hills.

After that, I got a chance to walk through some of the city. Photo above is on the Palacio National De La Cultura.

Next to the plaza that also has Santa Iglesia Cathedral.

There is a pedestrian mall here, also marked for bicycles.

McDonalds seems to be a big deal here with multiple establishments, this one just for ice cream.

However, I just had to try the Taco Bell. Found it amusing to find Americanized Mexican food in Guatemala.

Bicycle cops patrol the mall.

Several other small more crowded shopping districts nearby as well.

Plan is to take a rest day here tomorrow, giving a chance to do something other than bicycle between small towns – as well as chance to be a tourist. If my mileage projection is correct, I’m now about 2/3 of the way from San Diego to Panama City.