Google Navigation Challenge 2. Prudhoe Bay - Ushuaia

[DemocalypseNow]

La-da-da-da-dahh, it's the motherf***ing J-E-V, La-da-da-da-dahh, you know I'm mobbin' with the F-M-V

Yeah Yeah Yeah, you know who's back up in this motherf***er!

What what what what?

So blaze the weed up then!

Blaze it up, blaze it up!

Smoke weeeeeeeeeed everyday.

Today didn't start great. We both slept in, and Freddy can't get enough of the croissants at Comfort Inn, so we clocked out about an hour after the De Bocks. This was a fatal error. We heard on the radio not long after leaving that there were two seperate accidents on the I-25 southbound causing tailbacks, so we were left with little option but to head onto I-70. Colorado being Colorado, everyone on the roads must be high or something, because we heard over the radio yesterday that there were about four different accidents on I-25 when we were heading into the state.

We calculated the fastest way to get towards our destination meant trying to settle in Snyder, so I guess that's probably where the De Bocks were headed too. Unfortunately however, being forced to the I-70 set us back, and there's no way we'd get to Snyder within 10 hours. So, we improvised, and ended up in Lamesa, a little bit west of Snyder. I'm not sure we can get back onto our original route again after this, I think we might end up being beaten to Panama. Though I think we'll only lose about an hour or so at most, so that's not too bad.

Voeckler Route, Leg 8

[Shadaza]

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... ues3h3pOJ0

All teams are now closing in on the Mexico border from a wide variety of angles, in fact, Leg 8 marks the first leg in which no 2 teams share a hotel. Everyone has spread out.

It appears the West Coasters are in a little bit of trouble, Peteroli deciding to cut his losses and head inland whilst V8Fan has decided to chance the LA traffic, brave.

3 of the Salt Lake teams decided to move on through Phoenix Arizona with THIS and myself moving more Westerly. Wafflecat is right on my tail and he took the Denver route. The other 5 that went through Colorado have continued South Easterly and are around the Amarillo-Lubock area. Rivals tommykl and Biscione have taken slightly different routes in the front of the train, does this mean they are going different routes, or will they meet up again next leg?

Leg 9 is officially open. Good luck Seniors.

[Nessafox]

There's no need to consistently write my name in capital letters

[Peteroli34]

Day 9

Start: Death Valley Inn, U.S. 95, Beatty, NV, United States
Finish: Hotel Los Lagos, General Pedro María Anaya, Santa Ana, Mexico
Distance Traveled: 659 Miles
Time Traveled: 9h 48M
Total Distance:4423 Miles
Total Time: 84h 56M

Today sees us head through Las Vegas home of Casinos and CSI no time for gambling or forensics we have got to keep moving. Roadworks slows our progress as does 2 accidents near Phoenix. We head south through Tucson towards or third country on our trip. we cross the border into Mexico and drug cartel territory. Hermosillo is to far away for us to make so we found ourselves a hotel to stay tonight

[HawkAussie]

Day 8: Embassy Suites Phoenix - North, 2577 West Greenway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85023, United States to Hotel Finca Real, Francisco Javier Mina 216, Díaz, 85970 Huatabampo, Son., Mexico
Total Distance: 7363 kilometres
Total Time: 83 hours and 55 minutes

[Nessafox]

Leg 9

After spending the night in the fake alps, it was time to go. Beautiful scenery aside, the road was quite curvy, and not fast enough. We decided to go for the central route, as the roads would be faster than on the Pacific route. Going straight south would be impossible because of some national parks. So New Mexico it was, in preparation of the old Mexico, the real one.
So in Deming, we headed east towards Las Cruces. Judging by the names, it was clear that we would soon enter the part of the route where we didn't understand the language. From now on, it will all be Spanish! (Maybe some Portuguese though, we haven't decided on that yet)
But yeah, construction work. Strange though how in Canada or Alaska, there were never construction works...
So we reached the border in El Paso, it took us a while to explain the officers that we weren't smuggling waffles, but we were actually planning to eat them! Sure they haven't met Belgians yet! Eventually when we explained we were family of Ron Mignolet, it ringed a bell, and they let us pass. Not for free, they wanted some of his famous waffles. I hope we have enough waffles for all the countries we have to pass. The other Belgian team will probably encounter similar difficulties.
When we entered Mexico, it was as expected, deserts. So we had to keep moving. And what can make you move? Chihuahua! Oh god, am i seriously singing a DJ Bobo song? No mom, these dogs aren't cute! They're evil monsters! We hitting the time limit, so we tried to get into Delicias. The down is not quite as delicious as it sounds. We took a gamble and drove past it, as our GPS told us there would be a motel, but with a name like Instituto Mexicano Del Seguro Social, that can't possibly be right? So we returned to Delicias to the Los Cedros Inn. It looks our trips in Mexico will be slightly boring.

Start: The Alpine Inn Bed and Breakfast, Co Rd 2053 #3, Alpine, AZ 85920
Finish: LOS CEDROS INN, Av. Samuel Guzmán No. 201, Obrera, 33029 Delicias, Chih., Mexico
Distance Traveled: 565 miles
Time Traveled : 9h 45m
Total Distance: 7313 km
Total Time: 84h 59m

[Samster]

Leg 9 Amarillo, TX - Nuevo Laredo, Mexico https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Court ... !3e0?hl=en

Looks like everything really is bigger in Texas, took us all day to cross this damn state.

Just barely made Mexico, however we are at least as far south as those that entered further west and we have a shorter route to the rest of Central America. Our route saw us cut across Texas mainly on US-83 before picking up I-35 into Mexico. Now where we are relative to the rest of the teams on similar routes remains to be seen. Probably still some way behind.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Leg 9
Start: Holiday Inn Phoenix - Chandler, 1200 West Ocotillo Road, Chandler, AZ 85248, United States
Finish: Best Western Cumbres Aeropuerto, Av. Vialidad CH-P s/n, Mármol, 31063 Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
Distance: 896 km (total 7,454 km)
Time: 9 hrs, 47 mins (total 3 days, 13 hrs, 03 mins)

[V8fan12]

Day 9

Start: Residence Inn Santa Clarita Valencia, 25320 The Old Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91381, United States
Finish: Hotel Palace, Blvd. Guillermo Padres No. 501 Col. Niños Heroes, y Calle Allende, 84600 Santa Ana, Son., Mexico
Distance Traveled: 650 miles
Time Traveled: 9h 30min
Total Distance: 7256 km / 4509 miles (approx)
Total Time: 84h 43m

[WaffleCat]

Leg 9

Start: BNSF Lodging, 2143 Camino Del Llano, Belen, NM, United States
End: Hotel Jimenez Plaza, Guadalupe Victoria, José Mariano Jiménez, Chih., Mexico
Leg Time: 9h 42 mins
TOTAL TIME: 3 days, 13 hours, 5 minutes

New Mexico

We're piling right on through the desert. We seem to be going good for time. Mike forgot to charge his phone, though, so he's not happy. The last thing that was on his phone before it died was him searching 'how to get a skunk out of your car while still moving'. No wonder why the car started to smell like hell. I asked Mike how on earth he got a skunk in here. He simply said that when he opened the door, he saw the skunk go in, and had no idea what animal it was until he looked it up on the internet.

I pulled the car over, found the living stink bomb, hurled it out of the window and carried on driving. Mike took out cologne to mask the smell.

Ciduad Jarez

We had been in Mexico for fifteen minutes. We've already seen more dead horses here than in Deadhorse. I've had to avoid more stray dogs than potholes. Just. Mike feels hungry, but plans to starve. He'd rather die than eat Mexican. Well, he'd have to hold on to his spam collection for quite a few days more if he wants to live, we're going to be here for quite some time.

Chihuahua

Mike had no clue Chihuahua was a city in Mexico. Or a state. He thought Chihuahua's were just those cute little dogs blondes had whenever they break up so they don't feel lonely.

Admittedly, I used to think the same thing too.

When I was twelve.

Jimenez

We headed right into our hotel. After a week of more of motels, B&B's and lodges, and nearly a camp, a hotel was a nice change of pace. Mike beelined for the pool in these hot conditions. I found some decent food at the restaurant there, and so did Mike. We were quite a way behind other teams, but for now we are enjoying this hotel right now that they'll probably skip.

Heck, I don't know if we're in the lead or not. I don't see any other teams. And while in this hotel right now, I'm probably going to shrug the race aspect aside just for today. Besides, I'm having some fantastic quesadillas and the pool is calling out to me.

Wait here, I'm going swimming.

[Nuppiz]

Leg 9
Start: Super 8 Plainview, 4005 Olton Road, Plainview, TX 79072, United States
Finish: Motel Aeropuerto, Carr Matamoros N/A, 88780 Reynosa, Tamps., Mexico
Distance: 1102 kilometres (685 miles)
Time: 10 hrs

Total distance: 7677 kilometres (4770 miles)

Day 9. Our only goal for today was to reach Mexico, as staying in the US for another day would've surely put us behind others. Having gone through San Antonio we reached the border with minutes to spare, and after finally getting our passports checked (for whatever reason the border guards were a bit suspicious about Nikolai's Russian passport) we made a mad dash to the nearest accomodation we could find in Mexico. We pulled over to a motel and as I stopped the clock it showed 10 hours flat. Pretty good planning I must say.

[Shadaza]

Finish: Hotel Jimenez Plaza, Jimenez, Chihuahua

After a smooth border crossing and a simple run through the northern state a large problem became apparent, there is flat out nothing for miles south of Jimenez. The next town is well over an hour away and time has run out. So with nearly 45 minutes still on the clock, I've had to call it early. It appears I am not the only team with this problem as interestingly enough I can see the Mike fella in the pool. Speedos don't suit him.

[DemocalypseNow]

We had to do something. We heard through radio chatter that the De Bocks had settled in Snyder. This meant only one thing - they were heading for the coastal route. We would lose about 30 minutes trying to get back onto the same path as them - the one we had originally intended to take - and fail to make our intended destination on the coast. This meant heading towards the centre of the country, where at least we'd have a chance, thanks to the better road infrastructure for highways heading towards Mexico City.

Apart from the small frontier town of Stanton, there was no sign of civilisation whatsoever until we reached the Mexican border. After a brief but awkward discussion with border patrol about the croissants I was carrying a large quantity of in the back of the van, we pressed on. The first major settlement we came across close to the end of our time limit was Monclova, about nine hours in. It would be very tight for time, but we expected we'd just make it to Saltillo, a town not too far from the SW edge of Monterrey. We checked our information, and noticed a truck stop in Arteaga, a small settlement next to the highway and east of Saltillo. Sure enough, there was a motel, Hotel La Paz, where we could settle down for the evening.

Now we've seperated from the De Bocks, I don't imagine we will run into anyone again until Colon. It seems clear to me that the De Bocks are focused on going the shortest possible route, even if the road conditions aren't quite as favourable as the alternative. Hopefully traffic enforcement in Mexico isn't so strict and we can speed down the nicely paved highways!

Team Voeckler's Leg 9.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Day 9

Start: Knights Inn & Suites Canyon TX, 1700 23rd Street, Canyon, TX 79015, United States
Finish: Hotel El Dorado, 26700, Ignacio Zaragoza 158, Sabinas, Coah., Mexico
Distance Traveled: 564 miles
Time Traveled: 9h 5m
Total Distance: 4,585 miles
Total Time: 3d 12h 3m

We were unsure this morning on what route to take through Mexico: The coastal route which would only take us as far as the border, or go through drug cartel-infested Coahuila. Either way, finding accommodation was difficult. In Coahuila Monclova was too far and Sabinas would have wasted about an hour of precious driving time. There was nowhere in between. We weren't able to find any better options in southern Texas either, so we made our decision by coin flip: We were going through bandit country. We nervously packed our things and set off to leave the United States, this time for good. We turned off the Interstate for the last time at Sonora, heading for the border, crossing it at Ciudad Acuna, then continuing on to the Hotel El Dorado in Sabinas.

[tommykl]

Prudhoe Bay - Ushuaia Challenge - day : Snyder to San Fernando

Seeing the Voecklers a few minutes behind in Lamesa, we could finally set off completely relaxed. And yet, we were frustrated. We planned to go straight South towards Mexico, past Monterrey and about half an hour down the road from Saltillo, but despite the predictions with no traffic, at no point did simulations show we'd make it under 10 hours. More frustratingly, it reached 10 hours and 1 minute at times. We had to think of something else, and fell back on plan B.

We were so salty about the Mexican traffic that we were only rivaled by the Bonneville Salt Flats. We headed through Sweetwater then South towards the I-10. We passed Kerrville, but gave no Kerrs. We were annoyed that we'd have to stop far short of the 10-hour limit. We soon reached San Antonio, then powered South towards the Mexican border on State Highways. After a while, we reached Edinburg (the lack of an "h" was more irritating than it should have been") and McAllen, where we'd cross into Mexico. The industrial quantities of beer and lacquemans we were carrying made things slightly awkward, but after some convincing, we managed to get into Mexico and the city of Reynosa.

Finally, after far too short a drive, we reached San Fernando. After a short drive around town to be sure of where the best location was, we stopped at a hotel that was reassuringly called "Hotel", in the neighbourhood of Paso Real. Hopefully the East coast would be the best solution on the way to Colon...

http://www.formularejects.com/uploader/ ... e/leg9.png

Staying at Hotel, Huamuchil, Paso Real, 87606 San Fernando, Tamps., Mexico

Route details: E Roby Hwy, Snyder - Huamuchil, San Fernando.

3 days 14 hours 19 minutes total driving time
8114 kilometres total distance

[Shadaza]

Coast to Coast.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... ues3h3pOJ0

Teams are flying down Mexico as we go into the double figure leg numbers. From no teams in Mexico at the end of leg 8 to all teams (some only just!) in Mexico by the end of leg 9.

Those on the Gulf of Mexico side of things look in great shape. But as we make our way south, the number of routes and hotels decreases to Colon, so we may all according again.

Leg 10 is open. Good Luck, don't speed, don't join a cartel.

[Samster]

Leg 10 Nuevo Laredo - San Juan del Rio https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/City+ ... !3e0?hl=en

Mexico is alot more difficult to find hotels in and the Mexico City area was just out of reach. As a result we had to cut short our stint by 30 minutes. Still we aren't far out of Mexico City and it seems to be autopista almost all the way from here to Guatemala. Should be there day after tomorrow.

[Nessafox]

As it looks now, V8 fan and Peteroli have to think of something extraordinary to finish on the same day in Colon, so i consider them out of the race. For me it will be close.

Here's leg 10:

Boring day, boring night, start of another boring day. Also ridiculously hot. Nothing to drink but cactus juice (it's the quenchiest!)
In the beginning of the day we had some agricultural scenery, but that didn't last very long. As usual, cities were a rare sight. At the first major city today, Torréon, there were some mountains, though. Like we haven't seen mountains before. Still they were dry. And close to the finish, we almost ran out of water. And out of tampons. That's something the other teams don't have to worry about, so we request they a 5 minute penalty every day! Well maybe those Canadian girls have that trouble too, but i'm not sure if they even hit puberty yet.
So we ended a boring day a little bit south of the boring city of San Luis Potosi. We're going to have to hurry to make it to Colon in 5 days, though.

Start: LOS CEDROS INN, Av. Samuel Guzmán No. 201, Obrera, 33029 Delicias, Chih., Mexico
Finish: Hotel Zar San Luis Potosi, Carretera Mexico 57 #7931, Delegacion Municipal Villa de pozos, 78421 San Luis Potosí, S.L.P., Mexico
Distance Traveled: 957 km (finally in km!)
Time Traveled : 9h 44m
Total Distance: 8270 km
Total Time: 94h 43m

[Peteroli34]

As it looks now, V8 fan and Peteroli have to think of something extraordinary to finish on the same day in Colon, so i consider them out of the race. For me it will be close.

That all depends on what day Tommykl and Biscione who are leading reach Colon its still possible that i can reach it on the same day as them

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Day 10
Start: Hotel El Dorado, 26700, Ignacio Zaragoza 158, Sabinas, Coah., Mexico
Finish: Hotel Plaza Venecia, Carr. Panamericana 60, Centro, 76800 San Juan del Río, Qro., Mexico
Distance Traveled: 970 km
Time Traveled: 9h 37m
Total Distance: 8349 km
Total Time: 3d 21h 40m

Luckily, we made it through northern Mexico in one piece. Now, it was on towards the capital, or as close as we could get. I felt as though I was in the Carrera Panamericana. Eoin of course not being a motor racing enthusiast and just came along "for the craic" didn't know what that was. So I spent a good half hour telling him about the batshit crazy race from the 1950s that killed a number of people, kind of like the Mille Miglia. Then he asked what the Mille Miglia was, and well, you can see where this went. I eventually ended up telling him pretty much everything I knew about motor racing in the 1950s (it was a wonder he stayed awake) and was just getting to the story of Joe Kelly's unfortunately named Irish Racing Automobile when we arrived in San Juan del Río, where we pulled off the highway at the same time as the car we'd been following for the whole journey. Another team? Who knows, we weren't staying in the same hotel anyway.

[Nessafox]

As it looks now, V8 fan and Peteroli have to think of something extraordinary to finish on the same day in Colon, so i consider them out of the race. For me it will be close.

That all depends on what day Tommykl and Biscione who are leading reach Colon its still possible that i can reach it on the same day as them

I don't want to crush you dreams, but you're more than half a day behind TMLW, so the chance that all of Tommkl, biscione and nuppiz screw up that big is rather small.
*psychological warfare*

@whoever ran the Edinburgh-Beijing race: when is the winner going to be announced?

[HawkAussie]

Day 10: Hotel Finca Real, Francisco Javier Mina 216, Díaz, 85970 Huatabampo, Son., Mexico to Carretera Federal 15 hidalgo, Centro, 63940 Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, Mexico
Total Distance: 8274 kilometres
Total Time: 93 hours and 18 minutes

We have almost five days to try and get to our stop to catch the ferry, but I don't think I will make it as the people going down the Gulf of Mexico has a massive advantage. I need an absoluite miracle as I want to go longer than the 10 hours required, but as it against the rules, I need an absoulite miracle for me to get to Colon.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Leg 10
Start: Best Western Cumbres Aeropuerto, Av. Vialidad CH-P s/n, Mármol, 31063 Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
Finish: El Faro de Peter, Privada de Zihuatanejo 90, La Playa, 78140 Mexquitic de Carmona, S.L.P., Mexico
Distance: 989 km (total 8,443 km)
Time: 9 hrs, 43 mins (total 3 days, 22 hrs, 46 mins)



I'm falling behind slightly, but I might still be in touch with the leaders at Colon.

Maybe.

[V8fan12]

Day 10

Start: Hotel Palace, Blvd. Guillermo Padres No. 501 Col. Niños Heroes, y Calle Allende, 84600 Santa Ana, Son., Mexico
Finish: American Inn Hotel & Suites, Prol. Ave. Rio Florido 1001, Centro, 33000 Delicias, Chih., Mexico
Distance Traveled: 845km
Time Traveled: 9h 28min
Total Distance: 8101 km / 5869 miles (approx)
Total Time: 93h 71m

Really falling behind now...

[UncreativeUsername37]

Leg 9
5035 E Chandler Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85048, United States
Hotel Oro Negro, Navojoa, Son., Mexico

Leg 10
Hotel Oro Negro, Navojoa, Son., Mexico
Hotel Casa Dulce María, Abasolo 20, Centro, Tequila, Jal., Mexico

[DemocalypseNow]

I was hoping we'd hit traffic today and it would halt our progress. That would have meant staying either near Mexico City or in Puebla, both I'm familiar with thanks to competing in years past at their respective racing venues. However, we got what was for the most part a clear run. Especially surprising was the Mexico City bypass, which was actually rather quiet, allowing us to go full tilt. The first tailback we go into was in Puebla.

Unfortunately, Freddy being Freddy, wasn't content to settle in Puebla city, and wanted to go further east into the county. I wanted to settle in a nice comfy chain hotel in the city limits, but he was driving at the time and refused. He seemed to think he knew two off-the-beaten-path 'hotels' that he could find. We got to the highway junction for the first, and yet he wasn't satisfied. He wanted to hit the 10 hour limit. A few miles further down he turned off, heading into a small town called Palmar de Bravo. Somehow, he found the motel there, I haven't the slightest idea how. His Spanish must be better than mine. There was basically no sign of it until you arrived on its doorstep. It's not exactly what you'd call luxurious...

Team Voeckler's Leg 10.
Start: Hotel La Paz, Fundadores, Villa de Arteaga, Saltillo, MX
Finish: Hotel Palmar de Bravo, Avenida. 7 Oriente 203, Palmar de Bravo, Pue., MX

[WaffleCat]

Leg 10

Start: Hotel Jimenez Plaza, Guadalupe Victoria, José Mariano Jiménez, Chih., Mexico
End: Quinta del Lago, Corea, Santiago de Querétaro, Qro., Mexico
Leg Time: 9 hr, 46 mins
TOTAL TIME: 3 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes

Jimenez

Mike did not want to leave. The hotel was nice and comfortable. The best in the entire trip so far. They even had some non-Mexican food for Mike to tuck into. But now Mike just wanted to stay here and probably chill by the pool more often. I threatened to call out the other team staying here to see Mike in his Speedos again. Mike's face turned bright red and gave in to my form of blackmailing, which wasn't really blackmailing at all.

Gomez Palacio

We had lunch here as we passed by this city. Mike continued to grumble about the lack of non-spicy, non-Mexican cuisine as he shoveled a can of Spam out of his bag for lunch. I, on the other hand, had an absolutely delicious handmade tortilla roll I kinda borrowed from the hotel. We continued on our adventure through the Mexican landscape

Somewhere on Highway 49

I stopped the car for a short while to admire the gorgeous scenery out here. It was like Wyoming; plain, arid land, but at least the rock formations looked absolutely breathtaking. Here I was wondering about probably ascending these rock formations out here, marveling at how these are formed through thousands of years of wind erosion and stuff.

Mike used the stop to turn the aircon up to full blast. He wanted cold air in this heat, quite the opposite from Canada just a few days before. He joked about the probable cruelty of the air-conditioning going bust in the car.

Seven minutes and twenty-four seconds later, the aircon packed up.

Quinta del Lago

By the time we arrived to our destination, we were absolutely drenched with the heat. Mike went off to find an electrician to repair our air conditioning. He left a river of bodily sweat as he trundled into town. I, meanwhile, grabbed a water bottle, a towel, and went to check in. While Mexico may be terrible in terms of roads and-in Mike's case- food, they had some damn good places to stay.

This lakeside resort was fantastic, and as I was admiring the view from the window, I was planning my next adventure. Maybe an adventure across the ocean on a yacht or maybe even kayak across a large lake. It sure sounded promising.

A few hours later, Mike burst into the room, screwdriver in hand, stumbling all around the place, crashing against the bed and the wall in an oscillatory manner, pressing his face against the window, said "Damn car", turned to me, giggled, and then passed out on the floor.

For that adventure that I was planning ahead, I made a note not to ever select Mike as partner again.

[Nuppiz]

Leg 10
Start: Motel Aeropuerto, Carr Matamoros N/A, 88780 Reynosa, Tamps., Mexico
Finish: Hotel Maria Bonita, carretera Poza Rica Ver carretera fed.180 km.90+0.20mt., Mexico
Distance: 823 kilometres (511 miles)
Time: 9 hrs 56 mins

Total distance: 8550 kilometres (5313 miles)

Day 10. After much planning we decided to keep gong along the eastern coast of Mexico, as we believe it to be slightly faster than trying to enter the busier central areas. Although the coastal roads aren't as good, there's very little traffic and plenty of resorts to choose from as accomodation, and indeed we managed to get to a small hotel with only four minutes to spare.

[Peteroli34]

Day 10

Start: Hotel Los Lagos, General Pedro María Anaya, Santa Ana, Mexico
Finish: Hotel Monterreal Cristobal Colon 970 ote Las Vegas 80090 Culiacan, SIN Mexico
Distance Traveled: 544 Miles
Time Traveled: 9h 19M
Total Distance:4967 Miles
Total Time: 94h 15M

The day begins strangely when we see those Canadian kids heading back north for some strange reason. We meanwhile head south along the Gulf of California. Heading towards Cullican we discover that all the accommodation available after this town is no far away so we will have to stay here some 40 minutes short of the time limit. Our hotel is down a street named after Christopher Columbus "Cristobal Colon" surely making us the only team to reach somewhere called Colon shame its just not Panama. Especially as we now believe we wont make it to the ferry on the same days as the other we have just lost too much time.

[Shadaza]

Jimenez - Quinta de lago.

It has become clear that my route through Mexico isn't as good as I had hoped. Regardless, we are now on the outskirts of Mexico City and can't be too many hours behind the leaders.

[tommykl]

Prudhoe Bay - Ushuaia Challenge - day 10: San Fernando to La Mancha

We finally reached the Gulf of Mexico today. The Voecklers were in Saltillo, and presumably heading South through Mexico City, while we went along the coast, with perhaps a couple other teams following. We had a set stop planned for today, but it would be very very tight. We were a bit bored with our way of approaching the race, so we decided to relax and enjoy the sunshine. We headed South, leaving "Hotel" with a sigh of relief and the town of San Fernando with it.

After a peaceful couple of hours, we reached Villa Manuel, turned left and soon enough, there it was...the Atlant-what's that, Y'all? The Gulf of Mexico? It's basically the same thing, right? Oh shut up, we didn't see the Pacific, and not a single coastline since Deadhorse, let me have this small victory over the American continent...

We passed through the typical coastal city/metropolis of Altamira, Miramar and Tampico, then continued, relatively close to the coast, through the oddly English-sounding Tuxpan. We drove along the coast, only separated from the water by a veritable multitude of resorts that were too close to San Fernando to be useful to us. We passed by our final option of accommodation, Villa Rica, with ten minutes to spare. We would easily reach our target destination. But then, as we were getting ready to turn off the highway, a major roadblock. The regular gap in the highway centre fence had been taped up specifically for the challenge. We'd been warned that this would be done for bits of road that didn't appear on Google Maps. We could no longer turn left into the road

Suddenly, we had to speed forward to the next possible U-turn spot, two minutes down the road. We did the turn, sped off, turned right off the highway into the correct road, drove as fast as possible (under the limit, of course) and pulled over at the very first parking spot, stopping the clock just when we stopped. We were 2 seconds under the limit. That was a close one...

The place is small. Rustic. And that's on purpose. It's a place for adventure seekers to find nature. We're sleeping on small cots in huts. But it's a bed, so it counts.

http://www.formularejects.com/uploader/ ... /leg10.png

Proof of the place's existance: http://www.ecoturismolamancha.com/

Staying at Ecoturismo La Mancha, Km. 31- Carretera Federal No.180 Cardel-Nautla, La Mancha-Actopan, Estado de Veracruz, Mexico.

Route details: Huamuchil, San Fernando - Just off Highway 180, km 31, La Mancha-Actopan

4 days 00 hours 19 minutes total driving time
8889 kilometres total distance

[Peteroli34]

Everyone locations as of Leg 10:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zSzqmltoEeME.kmFpdU5JBSpc

A three horse race for the lead, While an almighty scrap behind for the best of the rest while me and V8fan fight for the wooden spoon

[Shadaza]

Everyone locations as of Leg 10:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zSzqmltoEeME.kmFpdU5JBSpc

A three horse race for the lead, While an almighty scrap behind for the best of the rest while me and V8fan fight for the wooden spoon

Thanks for doing this, I got a little caught up today.
Leg 11 is of course, now open. Safe travels.

[Nessafox]

My location on the map is wrong. Oh, would i wish to have progressed that far!
Also V8fan should be the first of all teams to head north... Not sure where he wants to go..

Here's leg 11, until Colon, i will take the initiative.

you guessed it, boring day part 5443! Altough after some hours, we reached Santiago De Queretaro. That meant we we approaching Cuidad De México. How original. The capital is called the same as the country. To be honest, we don't like Mexico at all. By now, there is significantly more traffic, and those Mexicans are crazy!
And wowzie, a third major city in a row, Puebla! Even more trafic trouble here. After that there was a mountain range, and after that we reached a more forested zone, near the coast. That is near to Mexican standards, as it i was still further away from the sea as our home if from the North Sea.

And oh great, internet just crashed Thankfully because of our webmaster, the information wasnt lost.

We decided to find our hotel near the city of Coatzacoalcos. Wasn't that an Aztec God? How do you even pronounce that? So eh, we choose for Hotel Madrid, because we miss Europe.

Start: Hotel Zar San Luis Potosi, Carretera Mexico 57 #7931, Delegacion Municipal Villa de pozos, 78421 San Luis Potosí, S.L.P., Mexico
Finish: Hotel Madrid, Minatitlan - Coatzacoalcos Km 264, Nueva Mina, 96760 Minatitlan, Ver., Mexico
Distance Traveled: 954 km
Time Traveled : 9h 41m
Total Distance: 9224 km
Total Time: 4d 9h 24m

[UncreativeUsername37]

Nice to see people pulling out a gap!

Leg 11
From Hotel Casa Dulce María, Abasolo 20, Centro, Tequila, Jal., Mexico to Comfort Inn Cordoba, Avenida 1 2623, Plaza Fundadores, 94550 Córdoba, MEX, Mexico
There are places 10 or 15 minutes ahead of where I chose that are marked on Google Maps, but I'm not too sure about them....

[HawkAussie]

Day 11: Carretera Federal 15 hidalgo, Centro, 63940 Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, Mexico to Casa Mama, Avenida Niños Heroes, Peñuela, Mexico
Total Distance: 9224 kilometres
Total Time: 103 hours and 5 minutes

As we look at the rest of the competition compared to where we are on the map and we are behind UgncreativeUsergname in terms of position and about twelve hours behind the rest of the teams, we try and go as quick as we can to get to the ferry before it closes. I only that the competor that I am trying to bear stuff up somewhere on the trip.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Leg 11
Start: El Faro de Peter, Privada de Zihuatanejo 90, La Playa, 78140 Mexquitic de Carmona, S.L.P., Mexico
Finish: Hotel Arcos Del Parque, Calle Miguel Hidalgo 804, Centro, 96000 Acayucan, Ver., Mexico
Distance: 958 km (total 9,401 km)
Time: 9 hrs 57 mins (total 4 days, 8 hrs, 43 mins)

I haven't written an entries over the last few days, because I've been too busy relaxing in privacy for once.
I think I've fallen behind by quite some way, but I believe I'm still close enough to make the ferry on the same- oh no, I just realised.
I'll have to share the ferry with almost everyone else.
Dear god.

[V8fan12]

I've fallen too far behind to make it to Colon on time so I'm pulling out. Thanks to Shadaza for organizing this and to everyone for a good race.

[Nessafox]

I've fallen too far behind to make it to Colon on time so I'm pulling out. Thanks to Shadaza for organizing this and to everyone for a good race.

Oh come on, i need you to make me look good!

[Nuppiz]

Leg 11
Start: Hotel Maria Bonita, carretera Poza Rica Ver carretera fed.180 km.90+0.20mt., Mexico
Finish: Hotel Esteros, Central Norte 12, Centro, 30540 Pijijiapan, Chis., Mexico
Distance: 805 kilometres (500 miles)
Time: 9 hrs 32 mins

Total distance: 9355 kilometres (5813 miles)

Day 11. We had to make a difficult choice today. Should we keep heading to the center of the continent which is less populated, has a poorer road network but is a straighter route, or switch sides and head for the Pacific coast instead. In the end we decided to do the latter, as we believed it'd be easier to find accomodation here. Although we had to end our day almost half a hour too soon the next accomodation would've been a few minutes too far away, and checking on the tourist map the other direction wouldn't have been much better. Tomorrow we'll definitely exit Mexico and hope to spend our time allowance even better.