Painful Progress

The road from Zacatecas to Durango should have been nothing to me... a little less than 300 km, three days of riding, mostly flat, should have been easy. Yet I found these days to be brutally painful, all for different reasons. The first day, maybe due to the comforts of two nights in a bed in Durango, I was not adjusting back to the bike very well. The last twenty miles of my 60 mile ride through mostly flat agricultural land was very tiring, and I thought my bones might crack. I set up camp behind an unfinished work of stone (possibly a house or store) just off the side of the highway around 4pm, and didn't move until 630, when I made dinner, and then went back to sleep for another twelve hours or so. The sun is rising around seven and setting seven in these parts. Days are generally warm in the sun (which is ample), chilly in the shade. Nights get pretty cold, but nothing like the night before I arrived in Durango. It seems I have made it to a highway (Mex 45) that runs from Mexico City up into New Mexico. It is a historically rich highway, as the construction of this road (or path several centuries earlier) aided in the colonization and habitation of northern Mexico up as far as Santa Fe. Although there were many attacks by natives back in those days on the early settlers, the Mexican nation finally subdued these peoples and in so doing secured a vital agricultural part of the nation. It looks by all means like the central valley of California.
My second day, because of a lack of opportune campsites, was my longest day of riding yet... Seven and a half hours pedaling 80 miles. Mentally, physically, and emotionally drained by the end of this day. There were several highlights though... At one point, about halfway through, as I approached the top of a hill, an SUV pulled over ahead of me at the top and a man got out waiting for me. As I neared he approached me and asked if he could do an interview. He was a sports reporter for a local news station and pulled out his video camera and gave me one of those big news reporter microphones. It was a pretty simple interview there on the side of the road - who are you, what are you doing, whats the hardest part, tell me about your bike, where are you going, etc. He said it would air the next Monday. That night I arrived in the town of Fresnillo just as the sun was setting. After asking a couple policemen for some cheap rooms somewhere, they directed me to the firemen station, where I talked to the bomberos (firemen) for a while and they put me up in one of the dorm rooms that they reserve for the public (homeless, such as myself). They opened up their kitchen and bathroom to me, and it was a pleasure to stay with these mostly young men that night.
I thought Sunday would be an easy 40 miles to the colonial city of Zacatecas, but sure enough, nature would not oblige and I had one of the strongest headwinds I have had blowing against me, limiting my pace to a grueling crawl. When I did finally arrive, I checked out the beautiful city, laid gracefully in between three peaks of somewhat large hills. The streets are laid in stone, and the architecture of the many temples, goverment buidlings, and churches are absolutely amazing. I feel that it is one of the most tasteful cities I have passed through yet on this trip. It is clean, and the houses surrounding the center do not appear as if they have been thrown together in a matter of minutes. It might have something to do with the amount of money that the city brings in through its toursim. I have posted up near the central cathedral in a pretty cheap hostel with a rooftop terrace looking out over the city. It has a kitchen, and I have enjoyed making meals fit for a family, which I happily eat in one sitting.
It has been good to relax a bit here in the town and sit in the central plazas and parks watching the people. There are teenagers rolling around the grass, little kids eating icecream, businessmen trying to sell jewelery - pretty typical.
I am a bit confused at the moment in which direction to go, literally and figuratively. I am getting into the central section of Mexico, where cities are easy to come by, and campsites are a bit harder to find. Although it is nice passing through these cities, it is a completely different kind of trip then what I have experienced so far, and I am unsure how my wallet and tent are adjusting. I feel as though I might be better off returning to the mountains to camp peacefully among the trees, rural ranchers, and beautiful scenery. Afterall, isn't this what I would prefer to do in the states? Maybe cobblestones and museums will have to wait for a different trip. We will see.
Today I head south. I can head west to Guadalajara, directly south to Aguascalientes, or more east to San Luis Potosi. I am tired of planning a trip through land and cities I know nothing about, so I think I will just hit the road and which ever one I find myself on, thats the one I will take.
To infinity and beyond.........