*  had several bananas in bed as breakfast
*  at 8 a.m. I was on the saddle again
*  freezing cold, torturous ride early in the morning at -5° C
*  soon I lost the feeling for my nose, fingers and toes
*  got better as soon as the sun appeared
*  police car stopped beside me, expected the worst, instead they were just interested in my trip
*  crossed 4 times between the states of Jalisco and Zacatecas
*  daily I was overtaken a number of occasions by the same delivery vans of Sabritas Chips, Pan Bimbo, San Marco and Coca-Cola
*  within a hair's breadth the San Marco driver ran me over, with an emergency jump into the   ditch I could save my life
*  otherwise there was very little traffic
*  a flat plain replaced the hills
*  biking all day long between two mountain ranges
*  just the desert, cactuses and the road
*  I called it a day in Jerez de Garcia Salinas (I love those names)
* got owner's suite in a hotel as all the other rooms were occupied, a cyclist's sympathy bonus!

*  once more bananas for breakfast from the market
*  the road consisted of more potholes than tarred patches but was nicely lined by chestnut-trees
*  traffic increased considerably, had to concentrate real hard in order avoid the holes but not coming to close to the fast passing vehicles, I noticed that they are not used at all to cyclists
*  just a few kilometers before Zacatecas the Running Bull got its first flat tire
*  ironically it happened exactly in front of a Pemex (petrol) station… with a pump but I lacked any kind of repair gear
*  anyway, better here than out in the desert
*  I put the hitch-hike's thumb out and minutes later I was picked up and brought to a friend of a friend of a friend of someone
*  It was probably the smallest and worst equipped repair shack in the country at the very edge of the city
*  because the owner was specialized in truck tires, it was his first bicycle tire, but he did a good job
*  sightseeing tour in this picturesque, colonial capital of Zacatecas, beautifully scattered over the hills
*  it used to have the largest silver mine in the world!

*  it took me some time to get out of the populated area back to the desert road
*  brand new country road through the bone-dry land of nopal-cactus scenery
*  visited the ruins of Chicomoztoc / La Quemada with its spectacular setting on a rocky outcrop
*  lunch: omelets with frijolitos (beans)
*  all straight for hours until I hit a rather large hill
*  challenging ride up to an altitude of about 2'000 m above sea level
*  strong wind made cycling even harder
*  Tabasco : because of a Posada (pre-Christmas celebration) one of the hotels was full and too noisy anyway
*  the other one had a keyless room left, so they provided me with a screwdriver to open and close the door
*  after 131 kilometers I was totally exhausted

* today I passed quite a few towns
*  ranchero (cowboy) style rules here, the guys proudly wearing white sombreros, wide open
shirts, huge belts and leather boots while parading on the main plazas
*  one place was dubbed "the city of beautiful women and progressive men"
*  this stage was dominated by hills, a warm up for the mountain range to be reached the next day
*  in Moyahua I was offered accommodation in an apartment above a grocery store
*  because we couldn't make the boiler working, I had the choice between a freezing cold shower and smell on... sorry, I chose the later one
*  modest Christmas meal consisted of some burritos!



*  again sub-zero temperature in the morning
*  I suffer from rather bad clothing and equipment in general
*  very mountainous stage
*  steep roads up and down
*  pretty dangerous parts with lots of debris and/or holes decorating the pavement
*  as I was very much focused on the cycling I didn't really have a chance to enjoy the countryside
*  in the afternoon I reached the edge of a vast canyon
*  but the descent wouldn't last long... another flat tire stopped the fun briskly
*  there were very few cars in this remote area and for hours none of them reacted to my hitch-hike attempt
*  I decided it had to look more dramatic
*  I turned the bike upside down and pretended that I was desperately trying to fix the bike
*  only minutes later I enjoyed this huge and impressive canyon from the back of a truck
*  the bike was repaired in Guadalajara!

* I started the day around 5 o'clock in order to avoid the heavy traffic of Guadalajara
* still, as it took around 2 hours to get from my centrally located home to the outskirts, traffic quickly got me
* at last I reached the big crossroads just outside the city
* now, there are 2 options to get to Manzanillo from Guadalajara
* firstly the direct route and then the longer, more scenic route
* of course drivers usually opt for the fast track and a cyclist goes for the beauty
* finally the cars got fewer and I could enjoy pedaling through a rather flat landscape towards Tecolotlan where I stayed for the night!

* it was freezing cold when I hopped on the saddle again
* motivation enough to cycle as fast as possible, not only to advance but also to get warm
* shortly after I had set off, a scary incident happened: I was hit by the rearview mirror of an overtaking car!
* luckily enough I didn't fall but a few more cm and it could have been an abrupt end of the tour
* what a contrast, the immense cold in the morning and now the almost unbearable heat around noon
* I decided to give my body a rest in a shady park in the town of Union de Tula
* later on followed the descent into the impressive canyon of El Corcovado
* it was all bleak and dry, only at the very bottom, lining the river, prospered green vegetation.
* Autlan de Navarro is famous to be the birth place of guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana (yes, he is Mexican indeed!)
* close by I found a seemingly quiet spot for camping
* seemingly because at night I was woken up by a terrifying creature, I was almost sure there were two wild boars circling my camp.
* but they were as frightened by my defense measures of throwing stones and shaking the flashlight as I was by their sudden appearance
* we found truce and respected each other's territory for the rest of the night!

* I was active again early in the morning because I knew it was going to be a tough climb up to the Sierra Manantlan
* on top I was rewarded with a good view and some breakfast cookies
* the rest was a piece of cake, discounting a midday heat siesta, I cycled on until sunset and camped out close to La Huerta !

* flat tire!
* it must have happened yesterday night when I pushed the bike into hiding, most probably caused by a tiny thorn of a cactus that lined the road
* as the next piece of road was downhill, I decided to ride it anyway
* at the foot of the hill there were some houses and some farmers were standing around a fire
* I explained my problem and they pointed in unison to one of the houses
* it was still early morning and I felt a bit awkward to knock at someone's house
* but the house owner turned out to be glad to be of help
* he set up his electrical pump and the tire was quickly inflated
* I still couldn't make out any visible damage and luckily it held all the way to the Pacific Ocean at Barra de Navidad
* after a hearty breakfast at a beach front restaurant, I loaded the "Running Bull" on a boat to get to the Isla Navidad which is really only a peninsula
* unfortunately the main road to Manzanillo didn't follow the coastline
* on the last bit of the tour I was immersed in a big forest of palm trees
* and then finally I got to Manzanillo , the alternative trip to the beach found a happy end!

More Biking? Or how about hiking from Guadalajara to the Pacific Ocean across the Sierra Madre