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Week one in Mexico - what a place. Never have I seen such a distinct culture change over a single border. They say a change is as good as a rest and I have relished the new experience after a seemingly never ending cycle down the USA! When traveling solo your perception of time changes a lot, making some months fly by, others last forever. It actually took 34 days to pedal north to south down America.

This new energy was just as well as the had the extra challenge of being very high risk. I was joined for this area by Julian, a local photo journalist, who writes for Reuters and who has also published a number of books. Covering the first 700km as fast as possible whilst filming the story of the region was a tough task, but Julian was the perfect guy for the job.

We both made a practice of telling people that I was just cycling to the next big town, to divert interest and had a list of other precautions to keep my profile low. Only once was my cover blown when I turn up at a hotel to find there had been a leak and the local press had somehow been tipped off! Apart from keeping me safe Julian also did a great job and introducing the country and its history, culture and...food.(muy picante!)

I am now back on my own and to be honest, the cycling is not particularly exciting, through vast open valleys. However, the big challenge is quickly finding my way with the language and trying to find enough food that I can actually eat!

Despite being my idea of hell, the highlight of my time in Mexico so far was to look around a chilli farm where the fresh plants are smoked and cooked ready for being made into hot sauce! I struggled to film as I was sneezing so much from the spice in the air!

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