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I am in Mazatlan. Mexico. With my bike. My heavily-laden bike. And having a bit of a melt-down. I arrived a little less than a week ago and spent a few days in a nice little hotel in the Historic Centre part of Mazatlan: nice, friendly, low-key. I went out on the bike for a pleasant 40-ish km ride to make sure everything had survived the flight intact. And to test my reassembly as it came out of the box. Then I relocated to a hotel on the Malecon, for a different experience. A mistake. Touristy, not really appealing. But that's not my problem. Not my big problem. I'm here primarily to have fun, do a bit of riding, a bit of exploring and to enjoy the winter away from the cold and snow of Canada. (Unfortunately, that also means away from the warmth of my wonderful Bev.) My initial plan is/was to ride up to Durango, 300+ km away, but I am now overwhelmed by the enormity of that task. The route is seriously hilly: I will have to ride/walk up 9000 metres for a net gain of 2000 m...

 After our pleasant social stay in Dresden, we continued upstream. The weather was not especially fine but the riding was still relaxed and pleasant.  Sometimes the houses had eyes with which to follow us... Through the trees, beside the tracks, under the cliffs... A little damp but our raingear was up to the task. We rode only as far as Bad Schandau on Monday; we had planned a further day sight-seeing with our friend Bernd and his son for the following day. I had first met Bernd in Texas at a rock-climbing area in El Paso, Texas thirty years ago. We had then travelled to California for more climbing and now he wanted to show me the area where he had learned to climb: Saxon Switzerland, between Dresden and the Czech border. (The climbing continues on the Czech side of the border.) It is quite a well-known area amongst climbers, with a fearsome reputation for very traditional climbs with the potential for long falls. The climbs ascend sandstone towers and we saw the first of th...

Reduced almost to rubble by Allied bombs in 1945,  the Frauenkirche was recently restored and opened its doors to the public in 2005... It now dominates the skyline. Lest we forget: the venerable Trabant,  still to be seen, occasionally, rattling along the streets, just as roadworthy as ever. About 50 (of the 23000) Meissen tiles that make up this wall. A traditional mural from the Soviet era. Preserved on the old Stasi building where Vladimir Putin once plied his trade. The Elbe is low, after a summer with little rain. A liquid, early lunch.   Two wheels (or feet) rule.