Sun Rims, who supplied their best rims to make our wheels strong.  Thanks Tony!

Schwalbe Tires, who sponsored us with bad-ass kevlar-belted touring tires.  Yea, Celeste!  You're the best.

Ortlieb Bags, Jeff hooked us up with racks and packs, waterproof and muy strong!

Phil Wood, Brent arranged to help us out with bulletproof hubs. 

Via Bicycles in Philly, Curtiss and his gang helped out tremendously, allowed use of their shop space. 

Neighborhood Bike Works/Bike Church, Philly.  Thanks to Bob and Andy for use of the shop and ordering supplies. 

Old Man Mountain Racks, thanks Channing for your awesome racks!

Bilenki Cycleworks, Philly frame builder and brazer of cantilever bosses! Thanks so much Stephen!

Bicycle World in Brownsville, Texas- where we rebuilt Amy a new wheel and spent the night at Terry and Suzie's great house camping ont he lawn.

 

Friends who helped with bikes and general support and pre-trip rowdyness: 

Harlan Hotdogface for being so darn hotdogfaced, Kurt-Dirt for keeping me company and being dirty, and the Philly posse of Stewie Cholesterol for his marvelous Melissa Etheridge/Leadbelly covers, Mike Ball the Vienna Sausage for all his square office antics, Emily for inspiring me to collect hair off the street, Jake for helping me with my place and kitty and Dave for almost being able to take her (it would've been hell), Claudia for baking her ass off and being amazing in all sorts of ways, Jim Comey for making scary pinatas, Jean Jacques for stopping by randomly, The catbox for putting on great shows, Sam's coffee shop for all the yummy treats, Buckingham Place for being a marvelous place to enjoy morning pancakes and anyone/anything else we're forgetting. I will miss all the wild late-night excursions to the South Philly pretzel dumpster, pilfering for work clothes at the Salvation Army "dumpster bin", sleep-overs at the abandoned oilcans and bonfire goodness mixed with post bonfire tick badness. I don't usually like bars but sure will miss the freak parade of Fiume in West Philly. Also, thanks Metthea, for the extra inner tube and cans of beans. We all wish you luck in your travels!! Also, a major thanks and a million kisses blown toward San Marcos!!!

 

Jim Roche and Max (for mailing me my shit from Seattle and generally being wonderful), Annie Danger (for the fork tattoo and the warehouse debauchery and costumery), Anna Ocenas (for being THE BEST OCENAS and helping me stay calm and focused and pack and prepare and get my stuff to the airport on a skateboard), Nine and Decca and Bob (for hanging out and putting us up and being awesome and dealing with my stuff), crazy jeff for the yummy Spanish rice brunches and for storing all my crap in his room, sarah (for being the sexiest former intern and shit-eater i have ever met), THE BENT SPOKE BIKE SHOP in Oakland and Berkeley (for giving me work when I was in dire need of cash) and anyone else I'm forgetting. Hey Christofer~ thanks for putting on the racks, yo (Amy loooves you!) ...

 

In Brownsville, we want to send an extra special sloppy wet kiss and thanks to Suzie and Terry, owners of the wonderful bike shop 'Bike World', where we ordered a rim and hub and used their tools and space to build amy a new wheel. Also, we wanna thank  Eric and Ernie, the wonderfully helpful staff there. We also want to thank the Public Library of Brownsville, where we lived for the past few days, and all the staff and guards who treated us so nicely. And we last but not least want to thank the delicious snow cone huts that are scattered all throughout Southern Texas. MMMMMMMMMMMMm. Raspa chamoyada.

 

 

Amy thanks her parents, for their support - even thought they think she is crazy. Lucie also wants to thank her parents, who are in the Czech Republic & scared she's gonna get into troublle, but she wants to tell them "Nebojte se".

 

-Suzie and Ernie and Eric and Terry in Brownsville, who let us use their terrific bike shop and let us sleep on their lawn.

-Irving in Tampico, who helped us with internet use and showed us around his beautiful town. Thanks Irving!!!!!!!!

-Marcus and Delifilia and Michaela in Papantla, who invited us into their home and took amazing care of us. Thank you for your generosity and kindness.

-Karina and her daughter Karina, for being so smiley and helpful and helping us out in Veracruz, and sending us lots of emails throughout the trip so far.

-ProfessorDaniel Mena Marquez and Professor Raul Lopez Mijangos in Acayucan, for going out of their way to drive Lucie around to look for Amy and for the complimentary internet use. You restore my faith in humanity!!! I thought Amy was dead and you took me to the police and helped me find her.

- Lucy Gabriella and her nephew Joaquin, and her son Alejandro - in Nuevo Progreso, who put us up in their amazing home, let us bathe and fed us. Gabi is a really great lady who knew how to speak with us so we understood in our limited Spanish. Her generosity is beyond words!!

- Our new friends in Yalshion in the Yucatan...

Thanks Benno, Sulmy and Wendy --  for taking us on a beautiful fruit tour of your village, for showing us the old Mayan caves, and introducing us to guyaya, pitaya, and maracuya and your families. Also, thank you for taking us into your homes and allowing us to watch the tortilla-making. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. We love Yalshion!!

- in Tizimin... we were lucky enough to run into Ruth Minerva and her husband Juan Manuel, who invited us to stay with them in their awesome home. They saw us the day before staying in an abandoned beach house in a town up north, and in Tizimin took us food shopping, and let us sleep in their hammocks. Their two daughters are the cutest girls and they have a white-eyed puppy husky named Camillo! Thanks for your hospitality!!

Gabriel Pech in Chemache, Mexico- who showed us through the village and got us a nice camp spot by the town mercado, where about 30 people surrounded us and watched us for the better part of the night. we also learned some mayan words that night.

Luis A. Alcocer Loric, the town baker in Chemache, who loaded us up with gayettas and gave us a private tour of the anal of the bakery which has been in his family for ages.

Alex Doran, in the beautiful coastal area of S'iaan K'aan in the yUcatan Peninsula, who is running a school for the local kids here in the village and with whom we spent a terrific afternoon on the dock, had a delicious dinner and drank her wine, and ended it with a lovely hammocked night on her porch overlooking the water.Thanks Alex!!!

Tammy and John and the kids and dogs... in Santa Marta, Belize- we stayed with these intentional community pioneers in the Maya Mountains in Belize, and learned to use machetes, chop down bananan trees and swam in the prisine river waterfall. Thanks!!!

Jim Scott in Punta Gorda, Belize- a local biker and fly fisherman, who put us up in the 'bat house' next to an orange grove on his property.

Quira and Alvaro de Boche - in Los Amates, Guatemala...

This wonderful family let us camp in their yard, by the local swimming pools, and fed us in the morning. Their daughters Quira and Flory were super nice too.

Thomas- who stayed at the same hostel with us in Antigua, Guatemala. He wa starvelling for a long time, and lives in Sacramento California.

We can't thank Maya Pedal and the staff and friends there enough for allowing us to live at the bike shop while working and observing the bike machines and visiting the local groups and farms and women's organizations with them. Thanks so much for wonderful accomodations, interesting work, eye opening visits with the local community and for your overall warmth and generosity. Y'all can see the wonderfulw ork of Maya Pedal at: http://www.pedalpower.org/maya.html

Fiona Bell- a traveler whom we met in Mexico and later had a chance small world encounter with her postcard in Antigua... We may never see her again though.

Nely and Nely- at a little roadside tienda in Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico...

Mardi... in Huixtla Mexico, who gave us the rare rombutan fruit and took lots of photos of us.

Rosalinda and Freddy aka 'carlos' - in Huixtla, Mexico- for putting us up in their home for a night while it rained really hard outside. The fireworks that fell on our heads, the waterbed, the chicken foot (fried) and everything...

Eney Arguello and his wife Luz, at the carnival in Ariaga, Mexico- two awesome and strange carnies who let us sleep int he backs of their truck and made us liquados.