The world is not always a friendly place for bicycle tourists.
Two pairs of cyclists wrote first hand reports in their bike journal blogs of being harassed recently in Latin America by locals armed with machetes. In one case the two bike riders lost a pannier to the bandits, who patted them down with the blunt ends of their weapons.
That episode in southern Mexico convinced Brooks Allen, shown above in happier times, to abandon his long-planned bike ride from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego to raise $50,000 for the American Diabetes Foundation. His partner Gregg Bleakney will continue on.
Brooks writes in his journal at the Ribbon of Road website:
“Of the 19 cyclists that we know of who have ridden through Southern Mexico into Central America in the last four months, nine have been robbed or attacked, six of whom rather violently. Although I am more than willing to hand over anything that a bandito might request from me, I’m not so willing to get gashed by a machete in the process.”
Attacked by bandits
Cycling through the jungle near the ruins of Palenque, Mexico, they said 4 or 5 masked men ran out of the jungle near the top of a hill but fled when a car approached. The driver of the car stayed with them along the road, and a police car arrived about a mile later and drove ahead to a small town to make sure everything was safe.
While the two cycled ahead alone, two masked men sprinted out of the jungle.
“We put our hands over our heads as they struck us several times with the blunt sides of their machetes and attempted to tear our pannier bags off the bikes. They were only able to remove two of the bags from Gregg´s bike and over the next minute or so the conflict escalated as their frustration increased. They retreated to the side of the road to dump Gregg´s bags and hide from a passing car.”
Brooks and Gregg rode back to a hut, where they were allowed to wait until that policeman showed up again.
“Neither of us were physically harmed during this assault but have both been rattled mentally. We urge all tourists and cyclists to avoid the road from San Cristobol to Agua Azul falls to the ruins of Palenque to the border of Bethel in Guatemala.”
They further wrote that police told them the bandits had been stopping tour buses, as well as bicycles.
Catcalls and harassment
The around-the-world human-powered expedition by Canadians Colin Angus and Julie Wafaei ran into trouble in Latin America as well. The pair represent Expedition Planet Earth and are finishing up their bike tour from Costa Rica to Vancouver, BC, on the final leg of their trip.
They describe their nerve-wracking ride through Nicaragua:
“Often, as Julie and Colin cycled the quiet roads in this country, locals would ride alongside, machetes strapped to hip, eyeing every item of gear secured to the bikes. Julie and Colin tried to pass it off as curiosity, but this was difficult when their attempts to start conversation initiated nothing other than a spit of disdain. Even worse were the men who would cycle within a metre of Julie ogling her from head to toe completely unabashedly, repeatedly issuing catcalls. Stopping the bikes and waiting for the oglers to carry on was fruitless. They would simply stop too, and silently wait for the show to resume.”
Their fears only heightened as they crossed into southern Mexico, a stronghold of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, a group supporting the indigenous Mayan population. At one point, they passed a roadblock of burning tires where people chanted anti-government slogans. Those slogans turned to comments about “gringoes” as they passed by.
To keep things in perspective, both websites frequently mention friendly relations with people along the route. Brooks and Gregg seemed to have a knack to get invited over for meals and even participate in local weddings.
But I would urge anyone heading through that area to keep in close touch with local authorities and even the US Embassy, because they might be able to warn or offer advice on avoiding local dangers.
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