Wandering with Tedder and Tamara

We are still in Rio Dulce, but the day ended better than we originally thought it would.

After sleeping in a little, we went out for breakfast, then walked down to the local Internet cafe. It was closed, even though we tried to confirm their opening time the night before. So, we walked back the other way, past a hotel that we knew had a Net cafe. They let me hook up in their back room, but I couldn't get an IP address. It didn't make sense- their computers were connected via DHCP, and it didn't work even when I stole an ethernet cable. Maybe they had it restricted by MAC address? (some places here do that). They had strong wifi, but they didn't know the WEP key, so we went walking again.

We ended up on the main drag (only street) in town. It is really crowded- it looks like an Asian street. Very chaotic, shops out on the street, people everywhere, plus it is the main highway through the north end of Guatemala. So buses, trucks, scooters, and every other bit of traffic was trying to get through. Generally the road was too busy for more than one vehicle to fit. Crazy.

Anyhow, on to the next cafe. It was down an alley, next to the water. Hooked up to an eth cable and got a great connection. In fact, it was probably the most reliable connection we've had in several weeks. We checked in on our emails and research from the day before, which confirmed we really needed to replace a rear wheel bearing on the bike. I didn't know if I'd be able to find it locally, but I did some research so I knew what it would take. I also confirmed that the outer bearing race was in place, but the rest of it was gone. I'd have to figure out how to get the outer race free from the axle.

We went back to the hotel and disassembled the bike- again. Tamara then got a taxi, and we took the wheel to the other end of town to a small Suzuki shop. (How small? They also sold chainsaws, marine engines, tools, and a few other things. No bike over a 125cc). After pointing and bashing into the language barrier, he pointed us across the street to a small auto parts store. It wasn't really a normal auto parts store, though- they sold suspension bits and other mechanical parts. I guess it is kind of like a Grainger or McMaster-Carr.

Anyhow, that fellow looked at my bearings- thankfully the other side was still intact- and pulled the replacement off the shelf. Since the original bearings aren't sealed, I requested a second one so I could replace both of them with sealed bearings. He told us to take them to the machine shop, which ended up being a shed right next door. It was a bicycle repair shop, the guy had a hammer, two crescent wrenches, a handful of screwdrivers, and a cold chisel. Apparently that's a machine shop around here!

Our bicycle repairman got the intact bearing out, but really struggled with the damaged bearing. Since only the race was intact, it wasn't possible to hammer or pry it out- and the axle is too narrow to use a socket or tube on it. I asked him if someone could weld a bit onto the bearing race, then pry that out. He went across the street and called his friend, who had a welder.

While we were gone at lunch, they did the work. When we got back it was all fixed- there is some damage to the axle, but nothing major.

The next task was to research the dust seals. Off to my Internet cafe. Since the dust seals hold the spacers centered in the axle, I thought they were necessary and the bike wouldn't run with out them. Thanks to an Iron Butt friend, I found out that I was wrong, they weren't necessary and we can do without them, at least in the short term. Some checking with my Dad helped me come up with a solution- my moto shop of choice should be able to get the parts, then they will ship them to Costa Rica for us to pick up. This was a lot better than our initial plan of sending Tamara on the bus to Guatemala City, waiting a day (because tomorrow is a national holiday), and probably not finding the parts anyhow.

Costa Rica is still probably a week away, but that's okay- the bike should be fine without them. If we are around at a reasonable hour tomorrow (not entirely likely), we may get a second set of bearings so we can replace them again.

We like Rio Dulce. It's a small town, not touristy, and quite gritty and self-sufficient. Prices are much more affordable- we are staying in a decent hotel, with an internal courtyard/parking area and AC, for about $25 a night. Meals, including drinks, are $3-4 per person. The pair of bearings was $6, and the “machine shop” work was $11. It's just far too warm for us to enjoy- about 100 degrees with near 100% humidity. At night it cools down to about 80.

On the personal front, I have an ear infection, likely from snorkeling very deep in the cenote a few days back. I went down as far as my breath would allow, looking for the bottom. I didn't have fins or a weight, so I'm guessing I went about 35 feet. If I can find some “Swimmer's Ear” or rubbing alcohol for my ear, I'll get it. In the meantime I'm keeping hydrated and taking some amoxycillin that we bought locally.

Tomorrow we'll go to a nearby little castle, the Castillo de San Felipe. It was built to protect against the pirates. Then we'll come back through town, get a bite of breakfast, then hit the road. We should make it into El Salvador. Because of the heat we expect to keep moving for the next few days. Of course, that was the plan today, but that didn't work out too well..