Bronco running strong... but... why there's always a "but"?

Last Saturday we went to a little underground cenote north of Leona Vicario. We carried along Luzma, Pancho and Mario's diving gear, and had a great time cycling around...

It was a problem-free ride, yet there's something with the front wheeltrain that it's bothering me. Not sure what it is though. It's a kind of knock from the transfer case when pulling from start. And a kind of juddering from the front wheels when moving slowly at full lock. Nothing huge really but enough to keep me worried.

That's what happens when you run a 14 years old truck... I guess.

I include pictures of the pretty amazing interior of the cenote and the mighty Bronco! :)

Cycling around the peninsula...

A picture of cenote Xcanche, the end of our Saturday's ride.

Yesterday we finally hit the road again! As I hadn't done any cycling since my visit to Yaxunah, I was really looking forward to this trip.

Bronco is running great these days. After over a month without my favorite ride, I'm enjoying driving it again. The engine is better than ever, and finally having a proper right hand side window in place, is a major plus! I can even hear music while on the move! (so horrible was the wind drag before)...

In the meantime I've bought Celeste's old bicycle to have a second one for guests (Celeste would be happy to know that her old ride is well looked after and keeps being used), and I also managed to install the bicycle rack on the Bronco (after changing the jacking ball on the back bumper, which wasn't easy, as we'd to saw the previous one). BTW I bought a Thule HangOn 3B 972, which wasn't expensive and looks reasonably well made, although I still have to work on it a little bit. I'll post some pictures of it one of these days. It looks pretty neat.

Mario and I went all the way up to... guess where... Ek Balam (yet again) to look for some unspoiled and remote dirt tracks. And boy, did we find them... The heat was quite something too. It has been a very dry winter, with hardly any rain falling at all over that region of the peninsula, and you could tell. The wind, when it blew, was really hot and dry... But it was so much fun! We even found a pretty and hidden rock track, pretty technical, to break some sweat!

We ended up jumping into the cool waters of the cenote Xcanche. It's a pretty large one. The water was a bit on the green side, but it's normal for the season.

After that we went for well deserved beers and lunch in what it must be one of my favorite restaurants in the world. El Meson del Marques, in Valladolid (really nice traditional yucatecan food, set in a beautiful colonial patio).

Can't wait to do it again. It was a really cool day out! So cool that I'm even thinking about cancelling my next weekend scuba activity, just to be able to ride again...

Temazcalteci

I finally made it to Yaxuna. This is a little Mayan community and archaeological site around 20 miles south of Chichen Itza. There you can stay at the camp that the archeologists occupied while excavating the site.

Since the excavations undertook by the California State University (Hayward) in 1996 and 1997, the site has been pretty much abandoned to its own luck, and is very much overgrown by jungle. It is a shame because it's an impressive site, but the INAH doesn't have enough resources to open it for visitors, nor to continue the excavation works.

I spent a night at the camp as the sole visitor of the week, and was overwhelmed by the noises of the jungle at nigth, as well as by the amazingly clear skies. I was even invited to a wedding! In the morning I'd arranged with Sr. Ignacio, a local, a tour of the ruins and what I saw, did not dissappoint me at all. We went by bike, and that was the best part of it. To be able to ride through those Sac-Bec's was pretty neat.

I'm writing all these because I published a long entry about the Temazcal rituals among the Mayan people, and it happens that Yaxuna is one of the few places where remains of a dedicated Temazcal permanent structure have been found.

A round stone oval building with a big hole in it was found by the archeologist. And according to my local guide, this sculpture was found right in the middle. If that it's correct, then this must be Temazcalteci or Mother Earth. The goddess of the Temazcal.

I was very excited to see it, and also quite shocked that such a treasure can be abandoned in the open. It's made of soft limestone, and I estimate that or INAH does something soon to preserve it, or it will "melt" beyond the point of recognition in just a couple of years. It is quite damaged already, and it's just such a shame... It's a link with one of the very few Mayan rites that we can still celebrate, and it will be such a loss if it disappears one day...

It was the perfect weekend adventure: I drove over 400 miles on nice country lanes, did some good cycling, and met a very genuine bunch of people. What else can you ask for?

A new family member just arrived...

This is my new bicycle, an Alubike Dropper. I just received it last Thursday. I bought it because the components are pretty good (it has Rock Shox suspensions with remote lock out, Tektro Lyra disc brakes, Mavic XM wheels, etc) and the price was much better than a comparable Fuji. It's built in Mexico, hence the lower price. It's a rather cool bike and I hope it will serve me well. Will let you know how that one goes. For more info on those check: http://www.alubike.com.mx/

I'm trying hard to get back in shape, and this is part of that plan. Also many times, when I went around with my Bronco, visiting remote archeological sites, I used to miss having a mountain bike to venture through the impenetrable maze of "sacbes" and little dirt tracks surrounding the ruins. This bicycle will most probably permanently live on the back of my truck.

There's a very active off-road cycling group here in Cancun. They meet every Sunday and spend the day exploring different routes around the peninsula. I haven't ride in ages, so I'm a bit unsure about joining them right now, but depending on how determined I wake up tomorrow, I may join them for my first ride... Wish me luck!