January 9 :: Champoton, Mexico

January 9 :: Champoton, Mexico :: 61 km / 628km total

A hilly but uneventful ride along the coast to Champoton. Not much in the way of beaches here, although we ARE riding along the Gulf of Mexico. The water is pretty placid, anyways... maybe we'll have to wait until the Pacific to take a swim.

Dad has written the rest of today's blog:

Before we started today I had a problem with the gear shift which Tim fixed. And, my front tire was flat which Graham fixed. These two guys are really lucky to have me along. I try to help the youngsters any way I can. When we hit a big hill I let them go ahead while I climb it slowly. This gives them a badly needed chance to rest at the top.

Drafting is a skill something like BlackJack. The closer you get to the goal the better you score but going over spells disaster. In BlackJack the goal is 21 - hit it and you win. Go over even a little and you lose. The goal in drafting is to get your front tire 1 inch behind the tire of the guy in front of you (the higher the speed the better). You win by getting the maximum draft - much less wind resistance. Touching the tire in front of you means 2 or 3 riders sprawled all over the pavement - sort of like losing.