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   Welcome to the second Ride for Climate update! Since last update, I have biked from the northwest corner of Mexico to its southeast corner, covering over 3,000 miles. I have stayed at 7 fire houses, stayed with 16 different families, and camped on many roadsides. The awareness-raising-campaign has proceeded well, and I have talked at 12 different schools, been in 4 different newspapers, and appeared on national television.

   It is sometimes difficult to believe everything that I have seen these past three months. I have a notebook full of names of people who have helped me out and who I have promised to send a card to when I reach Argentina. Mexico has proved to be a beautiful country to bike across (although there are lots of hills), and every day – from Baja California to Mexico City to the southern coastline – has provided exciting new adventures.

   All of these experiences are recorded within the journals of my website, and below is an index with links to all Mexico entries, as well as a few additional comments. There is a lot here, so feel free to read only what interests you.

Entries in Mexico:

BAJA CALIFORNIA:

12/12 Crossing the border

12/12 My message in Mexico and my first Mexican school

12/21 Riding the one-car-a-day road

12/26 Riding with two Mexican professors

12/31 Discovering the firehouses

1/3 Water problems and climate change

1/9 Hitching a ride on a yacht and wind power

NORTHERN MEXICO – MAZATLAN TO MEXICO CITY

1/10 Home schooled kids at the Mazatlan marina

1/13 Stomach problems…

1/19 Climbing in the mountains and dodging forest fires

1/20 American School of Durango

1/24 Tec de Monterrey

1/26 Joining forces with other gringo cyclists

2/1 5 School presentations in 5 days

2/6 Millions of monarch butterflies and a few small farms

2/10 Will we lose monarch butterflies because of climate change?

SOUTHERN MEXICO – MEXICO CITY TO THE BORDER

2/15 Bicycling in Mexico City

2/22 Riding to Oaxaca and playing soccer with the locals

2/28 Climate change and small Mexican farms

3/3 Fishermen along the Pacific and indigenous villages in the mountains

A ride to the border: ruins and bandits (not yet posted)

   I have also put together a short album of narrated videos providing a virtual tour of small Mexican towns.

WHAT DOES CLIMATE CHANGE MEAN FOR MEXICO?
   I have posted about water issues in Baja. You can also read about how we may lose the monarch butterflies due to climate change, as well as entry on how Mexican farmers will likely suffer under climate change. There are plenty other possible effects that I have not written about, ranging from health-harming heat waves in Mexico City to flooded coast lines in places such as where I went fishing with shrimp fisherman.

   I talked about the monarch butterflies, saying that we may lose biodiversity as the climate changes. Indeed, some studies that I have recently looked at show that the forest types all across Mexico will have to change to another forest type to survive at the right climate. According to one paper I have read, 50% of the deciduous forests here in southern Mexico may be completely lost due to climate change. These massive shifts in ecosystems, combined with the fact that there are people everywhere, will undoubtedly cause extinctions.

TAKE ACTION
   If you haven’t yet, consider signing the following two petitions.
   www.stopglobalwarming.org
   www.undoit.org
   Also, here is a great list of recommended ways to cut back your energy use.

CONTACTS?
   I will be traveling through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. If you have contacts with schools, local researchers, or people who have an extra bed, please let me know! (My route has changed – I am now biking through Belize instead of central Guatemala so that I can visit the coral reefs).

LEAVE A COMMENT
   You can leave a comment here!

   I am now one day from crossing into Guatemala, entering the third country of the trip! My next update will probably come in two months, when I reach Panama and prepare for the cross to South America.

David

Miles biked: 3,905
Flat Tires: 4

A Ride for the Climate is sponsored by:
Tarptent
Mike’s Bikes of Palo Alto
Pearl IzumiChaco
Clif Bar

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