to Valle Hermoso: last full day in Latin America

July 21, 2017

"This is a busy place" Patrick says as we take a break at an Oxxo. We are at the junction where route 97 peels off to Reynosa and there is a huge Pemex complex. There is also a large restaurant and a decent looking hotel. As the day progresses we understand why it was so busy; there really isn't much else to stop at along this road.

We start with 13km of hefty rolling hills as the sun rises over the ridge. The wind is either a tailwind or a crosswind depending more on the direction of road. As we reach towns the highway bypasses the town. The old road still goes through the town and we take it since it is shorter. The bypass helps traffic but is killing the small towns, most shops and restaurants have been boarded up and are abandoned. The last couple of days we have been helped by some cloud cover in the morning that kept the temperature down for at least part of the morning, but today it starts off with blue skies and steadily rising temperatures.

On the south side of San German is a small town that had a very nice looking restaurant, neither town though had accommodations. At distance markers 215 and 236, there are small shops selling drinks. Otherwise there are no services. We finally stop again just before the junction to turnoff to Valle Hermoso at an abandoned checkpoint. We think there is nothing here either so we take a break under the shade of one of the old inspection canopies. When we move on we see a tienda not one hundred meters down the road. It is a very bare shop but we did have a cold coke. It might not be open anymore when the next cyclist passes though.... Then a few kilometers further on the road to Valle Hermoso is a mini market but then nothing until the town.

The last 20km the road direction matched the wind direction for a tailwind. We are tired having cycled now eight days in a row. We see the Gran Hotel Alameda and check it out. It looks a lot more expensive then it is, for 490 pesos we get a very nice room. There is a taco place and an Oxxo down the street. We are running low on cash though, so only one beer tonight and probably a chicken dinner from a fast food place down the road.

Tomorrow we head for "The Wall", lets hope they left a hole for us.

The first small town we pass through has a nice central park with an unusual "guy-on-a-horse" statue. Most times these statues show some upper class type on his fancy stallion. This statue appears to be of a normal Mexican guy.

Not too much to see today, just clicking off the miles and trying to get there before it gets any hotter.

We stop for a break in whatever shade we can find

After we already took a break not one hundred meters back, we see this tienda and stop for a cold coke. Yes, it is hot!

Huge corn fields stretch to the horizon. Probably all the way to the Gulf. Farmers are working to prepare the fields for planting.

Gran Hotel Alameda, right at the junction where we turn east and head back for the main road tomorrow.

Today's ride: 106 km (66 miles)
Total: 35,667 km (22,149 miles)

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