My name is Ron Manganiello, I'm from Vermont in the United States, and currently living
in Oaxaca, Mexico more permanently.
I started mountain biking well into my late 60s, and got my first full-suspension bike
just in March 2020.
I just started doing more and more of it and the stuff that used to really scare me started
being fun.
We're just rolling through the beautiful historic city of Oaxaca in Mexico, and it's taken Ron
71 years to go on his first backpacking trip!
You don't want to rush it.
You don't want to rush.
So Ron, what can you tell me about the pyramid that we're at at the moment?
We're at San Jose Mogote, which is about 16 kilometres from Oaxaca, and these stones were
laid about somewhere between 3 000 and 3 500 years ago.
It's the oldest settlement in this area, and the folks who lived here before were really
adept at agriculture.
This is one of the first ceremonial sites anywhere in Mexico, and pottery, you know
just very, very advanced people.
And they possibly also built the famous Monte Alban, which you can see from the city of
Oaxaca.
So, there's not a lot left to this place, just a staircase and a few walls, but it's
pretty amazing to stand in the same place as other people were 3,500 years ago.
It is, and they probably were a little lighter on the planet.
Since the pandemic, when I decided to stay permanently in Oaxaca rather than go back
to Vermont about a year ago, I started doing some mountain biking, started getting a lot
stronger.
I tripped over the videos of some crazy guy named Alee from Australia, who I eventually
got to meet.
And I got really inspired by those videos and by conversations we had once we met, and
I thought, "well, I haven't done that before, maybe it's time to go?".
So, what do you think, Ron?
We've not been able to make it up into the mountains today the way we wanted, but we've
improvised, and we're still up in the mountains, but there weren't very many flat places to
sleep.
Well, we only needed one.
It's true, and here she is.
We've got quite beautiful light at the moment.
It is wonderful.
I'm happy.
I was able to climb the hill up to La Mesita, and my gear didn't fall apart, and you know,
this is good.
And I've got a great company, and the weather's great, and life is good!
How's the packing up going there, Ron?
Pretty good.
You've worked out where all of your stuff is?
It's different than it was last night!
It normally happens like that for about a week or two before you work it out.
Whether it's better or worse remains to be seen, I'll find out tonight when I start looking
for stuff.
How was your first night in a tent?
I had 11 hours sleep.
Well, I know that I had one.
I'm not sure I had anymore.
I was semi-comfortable after trying several different sleeping positions.
I got semi-comfortable lying on my back, which is not my normal.
I usually sleep on my stomach, that really didn't work.
But I just might not have slept well.
I knew that coming into this, and that's probably one of the things that have made me a little
hesitant.
But, you know, I woke up, took a walk, I feel great, I'm ready for another day of hike-a-biking.
If I only sleep an hour tonight, I will survive, I won't regret the trip.
I came into it knowing
that might be an issue.
It's really hard to tell on a camera, but these roads are incredibly steep, so I normally
ride up here without any equipment in my first gear.
That makes it much harder with all of my gear!
But Ron has just shot up the road.
I took a nice photo of both of us and told Ron to keep going, and now I can't find him.
Ron, I was just chasing you up the hill after collecting my camera, and I couldn't get you.
But it looks like you put in a bit of an effort and now you're taking a rewarding break with
your little jungle seat.
I am, this is the best seat I've had since I left home yesterday morning!
What's going on with the webs here, Ron?
I don't know, it's like totally solid, like a thin nylon stocking or something.
They just keep going over and over and over it.
Ron and
I
cycled up to about 3000m or 10,000ft last night and arrived at some cabins in the forest,
which was a pleasant surprise because it was a bit of a wet night and the temperatures
get pretty cool up here.
Let's go and find out if Ron got a full night of sleep.
Well Ron, that's your second night in a tent.
Did you get more than one hour of sleep?
I think I got close to seven.
Pretty amazing.
Seven hours would be pretty darn good for me at home in bed.
All right, so maybe you need to do more backpacking?
I think I do.
Although I'm hooked on your sleeping mat, I'm going to give this one away or sell it
because you gave me yours and it doesn't compare.
Yours really made a big difference for me.
Yeah, much warmer much more comfortable.
When I was a lot younger, I was really seriously chronically depressed.
And I think a lot of that found its way into my body in the form of aches and pains, and
need for a chiropractor and all kinds of things.
I worked my way through that and then I just get a lot of exercise biking and walking,
and I eat really well.
I think all of those things kind of come together for me, with my pure dumb luck, to have me
being in great shape now.
We're currently at 10,500ft. Ron is going to attempt a very steep little climb here.
I'm going to try and do it with one arm!
I think you're gonna make it, Ron.
The oxygen levels got the better of you.
Definitely.
I've decided to call Oaxaca home because this is a place on the planet where I'm the happiest
because we have some great friends, and adopted family here, and because the weather is phenomenal
and the biking opportunities are endless.
I just love the idea of doing something new and having the challenge, and with complete
confidence that my biking mate would know what to do and how to do it and take care
of things.
I had absolutely zero worries about that end of it.
Ron is acting like a 71-year-old and climbing trees.
I think it's about ready to give out here.
Yeah, you should definitely be careful.
I think this is it!
Maybe if you were 40 years younger you'd go to the top.