I’ve come to the conclusion that the Pacific Ocean is harrassing me with hurricanes. For the second time in the past two weeks, I’ve had to dogde on. The first was Hurricane Polo. I was heading down the Baja Peninsula when that one came rolling in off the Pacific. But, thanks to a dead fuel pump, I wound up being stranded north of the hurricane’s path, only getting some minor impact (clouds, wind, and some slight rain).
Yesterday I chose to beat Hurricane Simon in a race. It looked like it was heading inland toward Puerto Vallarta (a place I had actually planned on visiting on this trip). Puerto Vallarta is between Mazatlan (where I spent the night before – that was an interesting exercise in finding an inexpensive place to stay) and Guadalajara (where I am right now).
As I passed through the little town of Tepic, climbing up the Sierra, I caught the edge of the hurricane, with headwinds pushing ten to tweny miles an hour. Now, that may not seem like much, but when you’re riding a Himi going uphill, it can really hurt your speed (and gas mileage). Approaching Guadalajara, the rain arrived. Fortunately, I could see it in advance and was able to pull over and don my rain jacket (over my riding jacket). Also, the temperatures had dropped enough while I was riding up the mountains, that the jacket was welcome. While I was riding on the Baja Peninsula, at one point my thermometer (stupidly placed behind the engine) was reading 44C (about 111F – it was still 101F in the shade). By now, it was down to 25C (about 77F), but more likely in the upper 60s in reality. Rain I can deal with. Wet roads I can deal with. Fogged helmet visor -not so good. I finally had to raise my visor because I couldn’t see through the fog. Wet face and glasses I can deal with a lot better than not being able to see.
The first hotel I went to was lleno (full), but the proprietor guided me to another one, the Lemon Tree. Nice little hotel. No coffee pot or microwave in the room, but I do have a desk with a chair, and the coffee pot and microwave are in the lobby.
Today I spent some time working on Endure, walking around, and visiting some stores (Decatholon and Home Depot). I was hoping to find some Rok-Straps, but no joy. Instead, I picked up some bungee cords. One thing I sought for, and found, at Decatholon was some anti-fogging agent. They had a small pen-like product. We’ll see how it works. Also, it turns out my visor was really dusty on the inside (since I seldom use it, that took me by surprise). Both visors (full face and tinted) are now clean and ready to use.
An interesting thing, I keep getting complimented on my Spanish accent (despite the fact that my Spanish isn’t that good – good enough to get around, but that’s it). I guess it’s because I can roll my R’s and know where to place the voice inflection on words.
Tomorrow, I get the Himi serviced (regular maintenance service – not a boo boo this time), then off to Teotihuacan to see the Mayan Pyramids.
