We have five rooms at the San Pedro Holiday hotel where we will coordinate our adventures onto the reef, into the steamy jungles, ruins and caves. There are a few open air bars in the area that we might visit in the evenings.
Our air conditioned beachfront rooms have a great view of the famous Belize Barrier Reef, which is a quarter mile from our doorsteps. 
The colonial style San Pedro Holiday Hotel is the first hotel ever built on the island. It is a full service resort in the heart of San Pedro, built and owned by Celi McCorkle, an island native. The hotel sits at the intersection of most happening things on the island. The hotel was built on a foundation of crushed conch shells. How cool is that?
Along with the nine very brave members of the expedition who are riding to San Pedro through the dangerous jungles of Central America are eight not so brave members of the ground support crew who are flying, busing and boating to the island. The leader of the support team is Candace. Candace's mission is to locate and purchase a permanent sight for future Belize mission headquarters. The other members of the support team are really there for only one reason and that is to have fun and buy the drinks for the brave cyclists.
Rick Schindelka
Scott Krishan
Barry Byer 
Shawn Darcy
Jordan Vanderzalm
Roger Hallingham 
Greg Shannon
Kerry Vanderzalm
Below: View of a ship grounded by Hurricane Ida in Corn Island, Nicaraguan Caribbean, November 5. Mexico's government issued a hurricane warning on Saturday as a strengthening tropical storm Ida bore down on the country's Yucatan peninsula.
http://www.stormpulse.com/fullscreen/current
Showers and thunderstorms have flared over the center of Ida after moving back over water Friday. This has led to a gradual intensification of the system overnight and early this morning.
As of 10 a.m. EST, Ida was moving to the north at 9 mph into the western Caribbean with top winds of 60 mph. Ida is located about 255 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico.
Hurricane watches are now in effect for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula from Cabo Catoche to Tulum. In addition, tropical storm warnings are in effect from Punta Allen to San Felipe.
The government of Cuba has issued a tropical storm warning for the Province of Pinar Del Rio and a tropical storm watch for the Isle of Youth.
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Grand Cayman Island.
The system is expected to slowly move toward the north-northwest in the direction of the Yucatan Channel and then into the Gulf of Mexico over the next few days. Additional strengthening to a strong tropical storm or possibly a minimal hurricane is expected when Ida reaches its maximum intensity in the extreme northwest Caribbean.
Beyond the northwest Caribbean, Ida is likely to begin its slow demise in the Gulf of Mexico due to cooler water temperatures and increasing wind shear. Eventually, Ida is expected become non-tropical as it is absorbed by a frontal boundary.
Direct impacts from Ida this weekend will be confined to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and western Cuba. These locations can expect gusty winds and heavy rain over the next 48 hours.
Farther north, strong high pressure combined with lower pressure from Ida is creating a strong pressure gradient resulting in gusty winds across eastern Florida down into the Keys and the Gulf of Mexico.
High Surf and dangerous rip currents will persist for days and boaters and swimmers are urged to use extreme caution. If you are not a good swimmer you don't want to press your luck and take on the waves, you could lose your life. The persistent onshore wind flow could also result in some coastal flooding along the central and western Gulf Coast.
Over the next several days, waves of 6 to 10 feet are expected along Florida's eastern coast. East facing beaches in Texas will see surf of 5 to 9 feet. The western Florida Panhandle may eventually see the highest waves of 10 to 15 feet in about 3 to 5 days.
Moisture in the southwest Gulf of Mexico will move into the central Gulf Coast early next week. This combined with the eventual approach of Ida's moisture may result in some heavy rains and gusty winds for the central and eastern Gulf Coast Monday into Tuesday.
Mariners and residents of the northeast Gulf of Mexico should continue to monitor the progress of Ida as it heads slowly northward.
Stay tuned all weekend to The Weather Channel with frequent updates on Tropical Storm Ida with Tropical Expert Dr Steve Lyons and Weather.Com.
On average, about one tropical storm develops every two years during the month of November and every three years a hurricane develops. The southwest Caribbean is the most favored location for this to occur.
The last season with a named storm in November was 2008 when Paloma developed and impacted the Cayman Islands and Cuba.
Only 8 more sleeps until we take to the air. Seven of us are flying out of Vancouver on WestJet and one guy (Steve) is trying to save a few bucks by flying standby on Air Canada via Toronto. Good luck Steve. The seven smart guys will meat up with Shawn in Edmonton and continue to Cancun where we will take a short cab ride to Puerto Moralos and assemble our rides, have a few drinks at the local watering hole (no drinking and riding this time Roger AKA "Crash Hallingham") and off to bed so we can get an early start on the first leg of our journey to Tulum. Roger and Kerry did this ride last year so we have included a few photos and a video to show what we can expect.
Roger Working On The Blog In The Hostel
Roger and Kerry near Tulum
Sun Set on the Highway in Tulum
