Rideforsmiles, Solo Australian to Africa Europe and Beyond, starting June 26th 2011.

Sheldon,
Will all read your story...I started following you on FB...Michael Jones
my handle here is gaskier...

I love what you and EWA are not doing in Mexico...Planning a trip there myself in 2014...God Speed to you.

Motorcycle road racing in Mexico City this weekend......

Good on ya!
Sheldon and Ewa thank you both for sharing your epic adventure!
We greatly appreciate the effort you are both putting into photography, bollocks and posting the lot.

Sheldon, you are a lucky man!
Ewa saved your life in Death Valley...apparently without negotiating for anything! She's a good un.

Fess up mate... Macca's has sponsored your journey?
The intervals between Macca sightings are frighteningly regular throughout your RR.

A

PS: Had my spine rebuilt recently. Years of research (friends don't let friends fuse) and chronic pain. 100% result. Zero pain and no limitations. PM me any time if interested.

Hey a7an That would be great if Macca's sponsored me, id be more than happy to call it "A tonne of fun on my McTour of the world" if they did.

As for Ewa negotiating she did all right out of it, I don't like to brag I gave her a bonus minute later that night.


Hey Trevor, welcome aboard I wont make the Mexico City road racing but there is a great rally here in Puebla that we just went on and met some nice new friends, pictures and vids will be up soon just sorting through them now. Cheers

Hey Michael looking forward to reading your RR of your adventure next year.

Thanks everyone, we are both loving Mexico it's an amazing country not only to ride a motorcycle around but to visit at any time, it's certainly one country i'd put high on the list of places to come too.

We left Mexico City today, we had heard Puebla is a nice place to stop off and have a look so that is where we were heading. It is only an hour or two from Mexico city so it was never going to be a big ride today. As we left the main part of Mexico City we stopped at a set of lights and pulled up next to two biker cops doing traffic duty, quickly I asked them is this the way to Puebla and pointed down the road, they both spoke good English and said you can go this way but it isn't the safest place in Mexico City. I said to them if someone pulls a gun on me all I have to do is get past them then she takes the bullet not me, they looked at me with a strange look as you can imagine but when Ev started laughing they cracked up too, I'm pretty sure it must take people a few wise cracks to get my sense of humour hence the strange looks thinking I'm serious. In the end we just went down that road they warned us against. It was just full of market stalls very local s you can imagine but no dramas for us just plenty of waves and only one near miss in the traffic as you will see in this video.



Leaving Mexico City and heading up into the hills the smog became very apparent, it was so thick you couldn't see more than a few k's.






The road out of the city went up to 3198 metres on the Gps so that is 9594 feet if my maths is right, my pee wee lungs felt it up there, i'm going to have to do something about when I get to the higher altitudes of Bolivia and some of the other places. Ive been told about Diamox or something cocao leaves in tea but i'll deal with that when it comes to it. Whats the worst that can happen I have a cerebral edema and die, poor Ev would have to find someone else to ride the bike for her, I can imagine the repsonse if she posted on here, Sheldon's dead boo hoo I need another rider, free Bmw F800gs for willing applicant.

We arrived on the outskirts of Peubla I was surprised by the pollution again here, it really is a problem in this part fo the world but apparently they are being very proactive in addressing it, so Ev tells me in her reading about Mexico.

After missing the turn off to the Centro we turned down some little alley way off the highway so we entered Peubla main through a series of back alleys and small local roads. On the way through I was actually thinking to myself Im not really liking this place maybe we should just keep going but we decided to go have a look at the Centro since we were here anyway and wow Im glad we did.

Just of the backstreets that gave me the wrong impression of Puebla.



What a beautiful Centro region here in Peubla it is really worth the effort to come and see and walk around if you are coming through this way, the saying dont judge a book by it's cover comes to mind straight away with my initial reaction when we arrived, it's simply beautiful.
We went one street back from the Centro and found a hotel for 32 bucks a night nice secure parking so all good. Ill post some pics to show you jsut some of Peubla Centro to give you some idea of just how beautiful it is.





















Dinner was a wood fired pizza in a little eatery in town then another romantic stroll around town.









The other day my blog came up under Radioman rides the world with his 1 million 700 thousand visits to my paltry 165 thousand I said to Ev I feel like Ive got a small dick with my blog next to his, so what does she do goes out and takes pictures like this just to make me feel better, how can you respond to something like that other than to say as if I'm going to cut half my dick off to fit in them honey.

Just a few more shots of the beautiful downtown Puebla.






The artist's district of Puebla

My baby brought up a small milestone on the adventure today I know its not that far but it's been full of fantastic experiences and memories all the same and plenty more to come hopefully.
Yeah and I know the warning light is for my rear brake light which is playing up and the service light you have to plug it into a computer at Bmw to get rid of and unless they can come up with some sort of deal for me it isn't going back there in a hurry so I have learnt to live with it on.

Today we rode over to Cholula for a look at according to the Guinness Book of records the largest man made monument in the world. I wouldn't put it on the must do tourist list but it was interesting all the same, there is a great view of the active volcano from there, unfortunately due to the smog you can only just see it. Here's just a few pictures of the day.






This was a ceremonial area where when you clapped your hands it made a really strange noise which is supposed to resemble a bird call, it really does make a strange noise, not knowing the bird it supposed to sound like I can't tell you if it is the same or not.






This is a model of the whole structure at Cholula, you can se it is pretty big.



There has been 5.5 kilometres of tunnel's unearthed on the site that ran right throughout the pyramid structure, it is a little claustrophobic inside but not to bad, ok if I was feeling that way I'm sure a few would shit their pants.

While we were having luch we were lucky enough to catch the Danza de los Voladores The four voladores circle the pole 13 times each, for a total of 52 circuits, or the number of years in the Aztec Mesoamerican calendar.

The view over Cholula from the church up on top of the pyramid.



Another friggin church, Jesus Christ.............................lives here.

We got back to Puebla and relaxing for the evening when Ewa went out to get buy a sexy nighty ooolala but came back a few minutes later saying there was a bike rally on, so we jumped on the bike and rode around the corner to the Centro and parked with all the other bikes. Fortunately the first couple we pulled up next too could speak great English and Claudia and Ewa hit it right off and were chatting away while I drank beer with the boys. We hung around for awhile then everyone hopped on their bikes and we all rode up to a viewpoint overlooking the city for awhile. Our new friends were heading off to a bar somewhere so we said our goodbyes and hit the road back to home for the night. A great evening with new made friends.

We had a day off today, well I did the good news is Ev feels really comfortable here and is able to walk the streets absolutely freely, it is very safe here in Puebla as has been everywhere in Mexico. She spent the day shopping taking in some more of the sites the stuff I tire of pretty quickly like shopping for nighties something I'm just going to rip off anyway, cant have to much in the way when you only have a few minutes up your sleeve. We did go for a nice last stroll around Puebla it really is a town you should put on your list of cities to visit, it's the fourth biggest city in Mexico and I d recommend here before Guadalajara for sure.






Ewa just had to visit the street of candies here in Puebla, I said to her isn't it amazing how 2oz of chocolate can put on 2 kilos of weight on a chicks ass, I'm sure she enjoyed the chocolate all the more after my thoughtful insightful comment a comment coming from slim pickens himself.



After a few really nice days here in Puebla we head south somewhere tomorrow, Im not exactly sure yet you will have to ask Ewa she knows, I'm just riding and getting taps on the shoulder when to turn, she is getting good a picking the squiggly lines on Google maps so I'm guessing it will be a nice days riding.

We left Pueblo today and as we headed out of town we got a look at just how bad the pollution issue really is around this part of the world. Ok you have Mexico City with 20 million and Peubla is the 4th biggest city in Mexico only 80 odd k's away so the pollution seems to be just one big cloud covering this whole area with only one mountain range that stops it at all.

We filled up with fuel and then hit the highway you could see the thick mist of smog hanging low over the city and as much as we contemplated taking our time on the old road out of town when we saw just how bad it was the decision was made to get on the expressway and get as far away from this place as we can as quick as I can.

I stopped and took this picture there is no effects on it it is straight from the camera to the computer and the mountain you can just make out is only a matter iof a few k's from the highway so it gives you just some idea how bad i is.



We rode for about an hour untill the sky had cleared before even contemplating stopping fora drink, it was so much nicer to be out of the mist of the smog of the city. We relaxed for a little while I had a hot chocolate, where did that come from don't ask me. After the stop we got off the highway and headed into the backwoods of Mexico towards Huautla. We rode along the cactus lined road and could see the hills we were heading for in the distance. Arriving at the town we had discussed staying at the decision to keep going was made by the fact that this town was a one horse town so to speak with no set up for any kind of visitors and as Huautla was only another 70 or 80 ks we just hit the road and kept on going.

We stopped at the local servo to get fuel as we weren't sure when the next petrol would be and ended up having all the staff there coming over for a chat, was quite funny Ev is doing quite well with her Espanyol but i seem to be making as much sense with my sign language smiles and gestures, well everyone is smiling when I try so they are either thinking this guy is a lunatic or they are just laughing and saying si si si cause they are being polite, exactly like I do when they talk :)

The first section of the hill was steep, there was alot of tuak tuak's running around in the last town as local transport and they had been dropping a hell of a lot of oil on the road which made for slow going. The road was still fun and the views beautiful and the oil slicks on the road soon cleared up which made for much nicer and safer riding. The road was fantastic I wasnt in any hurry so we took outr time and enjoyed the ride stopping to take in the view on more than a few occasions.

We eventually arrived at Huautla and stopped at the first hotel we came to ok it was probably the only hotel in this small rural community built on the side of a mountain. It was actually ok for 18 bucks a night pretty clean by the looks of it. The back of the toilet was on the ground a bucket catching leaking water, Ev had to ask for a blanket but what do you expect when you pay basically nothing. We were a little out of town so we have just had dinner down the restaurant in the hotel and are having a relaxing night, well I am, Im getting a massage, come on Ev you cant hide in that toilet for ever and Im finished blogging.

Riding down the road in the backwoods of Mexico the hills we will be heading up into on our left.



The roads weren't the best so had to concentrate on the hidden little gem potholes.



The dry and dusty conditions were soon to be left behind.



We started heading up through the small village we didn't find anywhere to stop for the night, maybe this guy was trying to let us in on the secret on where to sleep in this town.



So we left the village behind deciding not to take the old guys advice and headed up into the hills.



The road started winding up the hill as the views got better and better.






Looking back down the road ridden.






Tell me as a motorcyclist this doesn't look fun. I had actually said to Ewa the other day I was feeling run down and put it down to being in the cities of late, I felt totally reenergized being out here riding in this environment.



We wound our way up and up and up the hill.



Till we got nearer the top then we saw the mist on the other side of the hill.



And then here it was we were going down into it.



The visibility dropped right down as we dropped further into the fog.



But not enough for us to miss this beautiful waterfall, its hard to imagine only an hour or so ago we were riding along a cactus lined highway.



This little video shop was just down the road from our hotel, I said to Ewa I would just drop down and pick us a porno ooops I mean a nice romantic comedy, if the shops still there that is it looks ready to topple down the hill any second.



This is obviously one guy that just didn't make it.

We road from Huautla to Tuxtepec today it was a pretty uneventful days riding, I'll just let the pictures do the talking for me.

18 bucks a night for a decent hotel is ok



The view after we left looking back at the hotel Sta Julia






We rounded the bed to the other side of the mountain and were greeted with such spectacular views.



I don't know what building code they use around here but I'm pretty sure this joint wouldn't be passing it.






A room with a view.



Looks like we are heading down into the soup again.



This guy looks like someone to lead me where I'm going.



We descended down through the clouds and came out the other side into another world again.



One with rivers farming and just all round nice countryside.






Time for a dip.

We took a day off today to enjoy being in a very local town/city in the middle Mexico walking around town relaxing and enjoying Tuxtepec. We had a late dinner last night guess what, I had chicken schnitzel go figure. The schnitzel the serve here is ok but it lacks the pepper sauce I love on it so today I went walking the town looking for some with no luck, the things you do when you are travelling hey. So no luck on the pepper sauce so it looks like its back to Chinese food for me mmmm Bbq pork and honey chicken ok that's what it says on the label I wonder what exactly you are eating sometimes.

Tomorrow we ride to Oaxaca along a road apparently very beautiful and very dangerous according to the locals, we wont be any hurry so we can take our time and enjoy the day. Hers just a few more photos of yesterdays ride and todays time in Tuxtepec.

A nice little island inhabited by about 20 cows.















The home stretch to Tuxtepec.



Who needs a pinata when you got a girlfriend oh no I can hear it from here

I know I have a bent rim and have had since Ethiopia but this seems to be getting bad now might be time to have it looked at.

I think I like Ewa looking at wedding dress shops rather than when she walked in here and started recited model numbers, geez I was joking with that pinata wise crack darling.



The things you do to keep the peace, Ok sweetheart honeybunch pumpkin pie lets look at your dresses.



we went down the street and watched a parade last night, don't ask me what it was about, "There's Something about Mary"

Our hotel in Tuxtepec



The main drag of Tuxtepec, Ev had a chat in the restaurant we at last night, they don't get many tourist's here and if they do it is only people travelling from Oaxaca to Veracruz so as you can imagine they were all excited in the family owned restaurant to have an Australian and a Polish in there midst, they love Ev being Polish as they seem to love the Polish Pope for some reason, John Paul wasn't it.



My new friend in Tuxtepec, Johnny. I just love my chew and spew Chinese restaurants.






We have really enjoyed this smaller more localized town, the television has a lot of English channels which has been a bonus for me to be able to relax in front of the box, you know how it is for us old farts, lay up and watch Fox news and see how bad all the things are in the world and then have it repeated a few hours later. The bad news is, I have Ev snuggling up trying to kiss my ear every half an hour, the good news is Tuxtepec is really safe so I've been able to send her for a walk to give me some peace and quiet. Tomorrow we are off to Oaxaca along the 175 which by all reports is amazing ride, we fill you in later.

Looks like it's been drinking
Combination of bent rim and worn tyre

I don't know what has make it worse, the tires are pretty new I had them put on in Las Vegas and they are all ok, the rim I straightened out with a hammer way back in Ethiopia and although it vibrated a bit when I took my hands off the handlebars it wasn't to bad but now it really has gone to the dogs. I don't know the new rims are so expensive I guess I should stop being a tight arse and buy one. I think I should be looking at replacing my suspension first I'm pretty sure it is just about gonski 100 000k's fully kitted with a big fat dude on it and its still on my bike, talk about flogging something to death, speaking of which where's my Ewa better wake her up.