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53 Guatemala

630 Kilometres – 15 Days

Copan, Honduras – Chiquimula, Guatemala - 65 kilometres

The ride to the Guatemalan border was easy and navigating immigration was
uncomplicated. Two mountain ranges ran west to east, dividing the country into
three major regions. No doubt Guatemala was going to provide another
mountainous ride. We made our way along hilly valleys sporting dramatic scenery,
which sounded more manageable than it was.

The route we followed headed toward Petén, a sparsely populated area and home
to Tikal, one of the largest pre-Columbian Maya civilisation archaeological sites.
Unfortunately, the weather remained sweltering, which made the going slow and
exhausting.

Ernest realised his front rim was broken and searched for a new one in Chiquimula.
He spent the remainder of the afternoon spoking it. Unfortunately, after all that
work, he didn’t have enough of the right length spokes. Regrettably, there wasn’t
any other option but to undo the whole shebang and use the spare rim he had been
carrying.