Made it to Mexico City

This is going to be a brief update as I am tired and have a big day tomorrow. However, I made it into Mexico City and met up with my buddy Mike. Mexico City is absolutely enormous! It just goes on and on and on. 30 million people call this place home, and it is simply a gargantuan hive of humanity. It i also a city if contrasts, with ancient history right next to cutting edge modernity. The city has glass and steel high rises along with stone pyramids. There is also a fairly alarming disparity between the haves and the have nots here, and crime is a fairly major issue.

However, it is also a damn fun city full of energy, culture, and friendly people. Mike and i stayed at an excellent hostel (Hostel Montejo) and it felt so so so good to take a real shower (my first in three weeks!) and sleep in a bed. The owners of the hostel told me i looked like a castaway when i rolled up! That made me laugh, but it ws pretty true. I had gotten pretty scrubby looking.

Mike and I have been having a great time but are planning on leaving tomorrow morning. We are going to take a bus out of the city as riding in the biggest city in the world at elevation over a mountain range for your first day cycle touring really isnt that great of an idea. Plus, ll the locals have warned us that exiting the east side of the city takes you through the worst neighborhoods were apparently the police do not even go.

We will take the bus to a town called Pueblo and then either ride through the mountains to a university town called Xalapa and on to Veracruz, or if Mike wants to get a few days riding under his belt before tackling a winding, steep mountain road, straight to Veracruz on the gulf cost.

From there we plan on riding through the Yucatan through Cancun, Plya del Carmen, Isla Cozumel, among other beautiful places. There re also a lot of ancient pyramids and ruins in the upcoming route that I really want to check out. The pace i really going to slow down as well, which i am truly looking forward to. I busted my butt getting here and now its time to stop and smell the roses.

It is is also great to have a buddy with me. Mike and i were close friends in high school and it will be awesome to catch up and have a friend to share some of these great experiences with. So thanks to Mike's girlfriend for letting him take a month to come ride with me!

Much love to everyone back home, I will post pics of the city as soon as I have more time.