Dad's last ride! All went ok, although most of the last 40km was through the rain. Villahermosa is a big, booming city with everything. We picked up some boxes to wrap Dad's bike up in, for the ride home. And for the record, he DID pedal every single kilometre from where he started in El Ideal, near Cancun... almost 900km in 11 days. Good job!
Tomorrow Tim and I continue Westwards towards the mountains. The trip changes now... things are going to get very hard, very soon. The lost day at the beginning of the trip must be made up for, adding to the difficulty. We have 20 days to ride 2200km... half of those km´s will be very tough... high up in the mountains.
From Dad:
We started a little late because once again one of my tires is low. My thin racing tires are not quite up to to the pounding they get on rough pavement, potholes and vicious speed bumps. Graham changed the tube and we are off. Our route is from the Gulf coast at an elevation of about 10 meters inland to Villahermosa at about 12 meters. That is to say it is very flat and very low. A lot of the land is swampy and the rest just barely dry. Agriculture is very marginal. The road is always elevated about 1-2 metres above the land so it is really a very long (80 km) causeway. Traffic is heavy but most of the time we can ride on a paved shoulder so no problem. Just before the halfway point we encountered a herd of cattle (about 4 dozen) being herded along the road by 3-4 guys on horseback. They take up 1.5 lanes of a 2 lane road with very little shoulder. It is a testament to the patience of the drivers that we all got by with no incidents - but a very close look at local cattle. Just after this it started to rain lightly and continued all the rest of the way... the first rain on our trip so far. Just inside Villahermosa we spotted a bike store and stopped to get a box for my bike for the plane. They only have small ones, so we get two and then Graham straps them to his back with bungee cords and rides the rest of the way to the hotel through chaotic traffic with these boxes (about 4 feet long). After arriving at our destination (my last on the bike) the rain got a lot heavier. Wet as we are, we count ourselves lucky.
For me this is the end of the cycling trip. Tomorrow I will take a 14 hour bus ride back to Cancun to catch my flight home. Tim and Graham carry on to the Pacific coast. Right now they dont know where the next stop is because there is no accomodation information avaliable. They will just wing it. It will be like that most of the way.
Reflections
Food - much better than I expected. No bad experiences (except Graham's popcorn) - very tasty (better than Taco Bell), varied and cheap. We averaged about $5-7 each for a (very) full meal with drinks.
People - very friendly. Outside of 4 towns that tourists go to they are surprised to see us. We are looking at the the sights and they are looking at us. On the road they honk and wave. Even in Cancun (off the hotel strip) almost no one speaks English - definitely not in the hotels. Some children have picked up a few words (probably from TV) and yell "hello" or "goodbye" at us. They think it is hilarious. Maybe its because these gringos can't afford even a moped.
Dogs - feral and domestic running wild everywhere. Some healthy and some in very bad condition. Every day we see one or two carcasses by the side of the road.
Hotels - very basic but clean (the ones we stayed in) . Ceramic floors and toilet without toilet seat is common. Air conditioning is always about $5 more. I paid between $15 - $48 except in Cancun where I paid $60 with breakfast.
Passing cattle 
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