Day 0: hello and goodbye Atlantic!

We landed in Mexico City at about6 pm and after waiting around for the non existent van which was to pick us up, got the first view of the country from a very fast swerving taxi window. We were taken to the San Francisco Hotel which seemed pretty decent. It was to be luxury for where we would be for the next 8 days but we didn’t know of course. We were put in pairs and my roommate was Dominique who was to be my room partner for the entire trip. He was not the usual talkative Londoner you generally come across but came across as a nice person. It turned out Dom was a designer and had spent the last 6 months doing some really hard training to come for this trip. It did not in the least bit sound good to me as being my lazy self hadn’t done as much training as I’d liked to have done. Dom was from up north of England (I can’t remember the city) and on the whole definitely had a very cool demeanor about him. A quick dinner and we all ready to drop into bed, ready for the next day.
By 8 the next morning we had had our breakfasts and on the bus ready to travel to our starting point on the Atlantic coast, Alverado. By now I had got (I hoped) the names of everyone on the trip as well as the Mexican who was coming along with us. There was Philip the tall director, Gary the short but nimble Project construction manager, Gordon the grand young man of 63, Kevin the doctor, Mark and Lyle form Aberdeen, Dom my partner, Kathryn the lady from the Royal Air Force, Jo the Irish lass, Susie the doctor accompanying us from the organizers and finally Inigo the Mexican accompanying us. We later came to know three other Mexicans would join us too. A pleasant journey it was mostly spent in looking out at Mexican countryside which reminded me very much of my home, India. We stopped at Popacatapetl, the second highest volcano in North America. Its name means ‘Smoking Mountains’ and towers at almost 5500 metres.

By early evening we were setting up our cycles with all the extra parts we had brought along with us. We were shown how to put up tents by Inigo and Susie, a simple process. Simple when we hadn’t cycled 90 kms the whole day. “So Dom lets see how fast we can put this up!” I said trying to get some enthusiasm into myself as well as attempting to take the lead. “Ok.. I usually put up 600 of these every summer since I work with an outdoor company. No Puneeth that doesn’t go there but is folded out like this”. So much for trying to be smart.
Dom turned out to be quite handy and had all the right things with him nail cutter included. Maybe being a Scout helps on such trips. Just a hunch.

I saw the Atlantic coast that day before going to sleep and thought of the next 8 days. I’d be meeting its sister, the Pacific Ocean by the end and I wondered how the ride would be. Would I have many punctures? Was I ready and physically fit for cycling 600 kms in 8 days , an average of about 75 a day? Would the food be enough for us? Damn, did I remember to pack my energy bars? With these thoughts churning restlessly in my head I dozed off on my new grey mattress.