Montando Para Mariscos

The day is upon us! Someone told me that if I wanted to do a bike tour, I had to pick a date and stick to it, otherwise it might not happen. September 1 seemed like a nice round date, and boy did it sneak up fast. The past few days have been a bit of a scramble. Packing, assembling, checking, double checking, triple checking, fitting, adjusting, testing. Just a few last minute trips to the hardware store. Nit picking every ounce: do I really need this book cover? How many pairs of socks can I really get by with? And yet, every cycle tourist has his own indulgences. Mine: a hammock (it only fits one), and prayer flags (though some might argue they're a self defence device against bad spirits). Lluc: an inflatable pillow (a man must have his comforts). And then there's the essential kit. Spice, not first aid. Arguably just as important. Still it's hard to believe, starting tomorrow, we'll be on our bikes daily for two months. Guess it'll get into my...

Google biker and I are good friends, through he often beats me. It's like he never takes a break! 250 hours straight? No problem. Anyway, this is essentially the route, with some minor detours not included. Go ahead, explore. I dare you. (Click 'Read More' to see the map).

The ocean is big. Really big. 139,434,000 square miles big. That's bigger than all of Earth's land area big. That's the kind of big that we humans just can't wrap our heads around. Seeing as our conscious mind can only hold about seven things at once, tops (according to some experts even less [1]), then trying to imagine the estimated 3.5 trillion fish in the ocean is a downright folly [2]. It’s understandable then, how something so unimaginably big as all the fish in the sea would seem inexhaustible to us. What could ever impact something so huge? The answer is us. Our appetite for seafood and energy, along with our propensity to pollute are exhausting the ocean. I’ve read enough staggering statistic to know how real the situation is, and how paralyzing those numbers can be. Chances are if you’re reading this, you don’t need to be convinced. You’ve probably seen these things on your own coastline or the news: Ocean acidification, oil spills, declining populations...