20000 visits!
We've just hit 20000 visits on our blog a few days ago.
Thanks to all of you for checking from time to time how are we getting on and congratulations to our 20000th visitor! :)

Well, there won't be a miracle...
Marta got her first puncture. After 13000 km (exactly 13051km) and just over 11 months cycling, on the road to nowhere (we were on a dead end looking for Nizanda, an apparent paradise, natural pools formed by warm springs) the rear tire went flat. We found tiny hole in the inner tube, however we didn't find any cause of it;maybe it's just wear of the material... 

Party Time!
When we arrived to Taxco we found out that there is a fiesta. How did we find out? Well, at any time of day or night we were being scared by sudden 'BANGS!', so we asked people what's going on? And they told us that there is a party, so they let off fireworks all the time. 
And we were also informed where we can see the best shows.

Castillo de Munecos (Castle of Dolls) is a tall structure with different paper mache figures attached, that are moved by the power of fireworks. It is all so meticulously connected that they just light a wick on the bottom of the tower and the fire travels upwards putting figure by figure in  motion. Some of dolls are filled with sweets or other surprises and when they spin they open and the goodies fall down for children to catch.  

Castillo de Fuego (Castle of Fire) is based on the same principals as the previous one; it was an amazing show lasting 40 minutes, where the fire was just set once at the bottom of the tower and then by travelling up was creating different shapes and figures.
The video shows the final one.



Torritos is a tradition that cannot be explained. It has to be watched.



A! By the way, we shouldn't forget about the principals - The cause of the party was a religious celebration. It all happened on square just in front of a church.


We can hear fireworks everywhere and all the time. And very soon after this party we found an answer why; in a book about Natives of Mexico by Fernando Benitez Raul read that when Spaniards finished they "converting and civilizing" of Natives, they had lots of gunpowder left and didn't know what to do with it. So they showed locals how to make fireworks and the locals were bewildered and astonished as the cult of the fire is very strong in their culture. 
And since then onward they just love it! 

Wonders of Nature
Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in El Rosario, Michoacan, Mexico
Those Butterflies migrate to Mexico every year from Canada and Northern parts of US. They travel over 4000km one way and can cover as much as 100km a day. They are the only Butterflies that make both, north and south migration on a regular basis; however, it is not the same individuals that go back. It is the third or fourth generation that returns to its northern locations, which they leave because of cold temperatures and lack of food in winter months. 
They always go back to exactly the same locations, how they do it it's still a mystery. 

one sat on Marta's hat

the branches are orange because of the butterflies sitting on them

when is cloudy they don't fly, but gather together on trees; those black 'cones' are branches hanging down because of the weight of butterflies

couple of videos of what words cannot describe

The House of the Cyclist/La Casa del Ciclista

With the New Year the next chapter of our adventure has started - Mexico; since we crossed the border on the 30th of December a whole new world was opened in front of us. This country seems to be more alife than any other place we had pedal through,( it smells, it is noisy, it talks, it dances, it's dusty, it's colorful) We love it!  The New Year was in Tijuana and now we are climbing toward the desert; in the meantime in Ensenada we found this place.

The House of the Cyclist was a dream of Valdo who was a former priest from Brazil who decided to pedal across the World for the Peace. Unfortunately when he was in Baja California he got a fetal heart attack. One of the Valdo’s dream was to set up a house where touring cyclist could have a place to rest, have shower, cook and stay as long as they need. A place where you can feel at home and not just a guest. After he passed away this place was set up not far away from Valdo’s last ride, in Ensenada. La Casa del Ciclista is a wonderful small house outside of town where everybody is welcome as long as you are a cyclist traveling. We have spent 3 nights over there while we were getting things ready before heading down south to the desert; I’ve been day dreaming about a link of Casas del Ciclista all over the world where cyclist travelers are welcome. It would be a great way to promote a more environmentally friendly way of traveling overall nowadays when the global warming subject is everywhere, wouldn’t be?

With this few lines I would like to share this new idea and maybe in a short future this dream that Valdo had will start to happen in more places.

If you want to know more about Casa del Ciclista, google it!

For all you who are members of Warmshower.org look it up in Ensenada Mexico

See ya on the road!

Burger in the finest american style

I'm not a beef, fan, neither burgers, but I couldn't pass through States without trying 'local couisine'. That was another of my 'american dreams' - to try a geniune american burger:) A burger that would be pretty much my first burger (I ate maybe 2 burgers in my life before, both in McDonalds, when I was young and naive and don't consider them the right burger experience:))
I've been looking for the right place for the last 3 months, and 2 days before crossing the border I started to loose my hope; I wanted one of those places by the road, with these red shiny sofas that have shared back, a place with coffe and coke refill, where they have only burgers and chips in the menu, something in my opinion 'American'.
We passed this place a day before arriving to San Diego, I haven't noticed it, but Raul did and when he shouted 'Have you seen it?' and told me what he has just seen I knew that was the place! :) A burger from '40! :) And it turned to be the right timing - we found it just when we were looking for a special place to have our good-bye-America meal. We couldn't found better place! :)

Thank you our Angels!

Why you should always go to bike co-ops


We often pop to bike shops to ask for small favor - a question, advice, some screws, tightening here and there. We normally go to a community bike shops and so far we always had great experience there. |For example in Portland a guy spent half an hour or more adjusting the breaks with Raul and checking other stuff and when we wanted to pay he said 'it's OK., you are on a long trip, save your money'. Recently in Santa Cruz we spent like 4 hours working on our bikes in the local bike co-op and for all the time spent, some small parts and help (lots of help!) we were charged $5 only!
Today, a day before living US, we realized that Marta's head set wobbles, so we popped to the nearest bike shop; 5 min, and the head set was tightened - they asked us for $10!!!!
Support bike co-ops!