Well my head is still intact, and still rolling down the road on my bike (no pun intended).
A great man once said, "live slow, ride slower", and I intend to do so. I'm going nowhere fast, but somewhere slow, and savoring every bit of it. Mexico is a great place, I'm really enjoying it
Every once in a while, someone will ask me if I'm riding for a cause. If I could have one, I would say this:
If you want to do something in your life, do it. Don't let ANYONE or ANYTHING stop you. It's your life, do what's going to make you happy. If people tell you you should do something different, they are possibly jealous, they can't do it themselves, or simply don't understand why you want to do it. Uninformed people will always cast their opinion as fact, even when it may be far from the truth. Get out there and see and do whatever it is that drives you. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WILL HAPPEN, for better or for worse.
Every day, you are one day closer to death. How do you want to enjoy your life with what you have left?
I wanted to thank Howard and crew at Punta Santa Rosalita. Somehow, I forgot to mention them in my last post. They moved into the palapa when Wyatt and Allen left. They gave me some of their fabulous dinner they cooked, and even threw in a couple brews. I don't remember everyone's name, but you know who you are... thank you.
I also wanted to extend a big thank you to Lucian at Hotel Ballenas. He was such a great hotel host. Not only did I break a candle upon my arrival, but he also let me keep my stuff at the hotel after I checked out and went to watch the whales. Thanks again If you ever go to Guerrero Negro, be sure to stay at Hotel Ballenas.
The wind kicked me out of Guerrero Negro like a tumble weed. I headed back into the desert, and into more heat. In a couple days, I reached the Sea of Cortez, and at some point noticed I had some play in my front wheel bearing. As usual, when I needed something, it was Sunday, and the bike shop wasn't open in Santa Rosalia.
Mulege is a beautiful oasis town, that is my favorite in Baja so far. Mulege is muy tranquilo, very quiet, which is very unusual from all the other cities I've seen so far. Getting into town, I found the bike mechanic after asking around. When I arrived at the shop, it was actually closed. Fortunately, the mechanic (I think it's Antulio) was out front watering plants. I guess his other job is taking care of the parks in town. He kindly obliged me and opened up his shop. Taking apart my front wheel, we realized that a couple of the ball bearings had actually begun to break down, and scored the outer cone as well. Again, fortunately, no damage to my hub occurred (good thing I noticed before it became worse - would have had to buy a whole new wheel).
The only bad thing, is that he had no Shimano parts. He rummaged through his many bins of spare parts, and found a part that was similar. He said it would work, but that I should find the actual Shimano part in one of the other cities I'd come to (especially since the one side didn't have the dust seal in it). He replaced the grease in my other wheels too. After having spent a couple hours there, I was off and rolling... The bike is so much smoother now.
Thanks Antulio!
Not long after Mulege, I caught my first glimpse of Bahia Concepcion. The bay is incredibly beautiful, with turquoise/blue water near the sand, islands in the distance... the stuff postcards are made of. I passed so many bays with beaches, and finally found one I couldn't pass up. Stopped for lunch, and soak up the view, and salty warm water.
After winding around Bahia Concepcion, I was inland again with rolling hills and heat, only to return to the Sea, and get to Loreto (nearly running out of water, went through 10liters of water in about 24 hours = hot). I went to the bike shop, and of course he didn't have Shimano parts for my wheel bearing. I realized I'd probably have to wait for the next big town like La Paz, and the wheel was holding up fine.
I hung in town, did errands. {I'm at a coffee shop working on this, and a futbol game came on. There are already people getting loud, and they just turned up the volume. Mexicans love their futbol...} I met a guy Pedro in front of the supermercado, who spoke English really well. He told me his tragic story of being deported from the states, leaving his family in the state of Washington because of a drug conviction from 1991. He gets to see them about once or twice a year. Never once did I have the feeling like he was wanting something from me, nor did he ever ask for money. He saw my bike and struck up the conversation, saying how he likes talking to the traveling cyclists. Hope things work out for you Pedro, all the best.
Spending too much time in Loreto, I ran out of daylight quick. I had planned earlier on just staying at one of the RV parks (never sounds nice), but a couple people had mentioned the nice beach south of town about 20km, Juncalito. At the last minute, I decided to go for it, and booked out of town with dwindling sunlight. It was dark by the time I reached the beach.
When I pulled off onto the dirt road, it was rocky and slow going with my full load and aired up tires. There were several different roads to go down. I went down one, only to find dogs barking at me. As usual, had to use my "make-my-day-stick" to keep them at bay (as well as 50 lumens of light). Went down another road, with more dogs, but finally somebody came out of their house, and he directed me how to get to the area to camp at.
I found a nice spot to camp, and met some Canadians camping nearby in their RV's. They invited me over to enjoy their fire. The next day, I packed up camp, but was torn about taking the day off. I figured why not, it's a free place to stay, and I have access to lots of water, I have plenty of food... Just as I finished packing my tent, I stopped, walked to the water and said to myself, "why I don't I just take the day off at this gorgeous spot"... and I did. A couple of the Canadians, Nigel and his wife (sorry forgot your name!) had me over for a fine dinner that evening. Nigel told me of his traveling days. He is a mariner, and has sailed all over the world.
After a relaxing day, I was ready to tackle "Sierra de la Giganta", and battled heat as I powered up the hills. Dropping down into the open, flat, farmland around Ciudad Insurgentes, I took cover under the shade of some trees at a 'minisuper'. A very nice fellow came over and started talking to me in English. Turns out he's the mayor of Ciudad Insurgentes. He's the kind of person that just feels comforting to speak to. He even offered me a cold soda and some cookies. Gracias Martin, eres muy amable!
The road is so straight, and so flat for so long through Ciudad Constitucion and south. The heat remained intense for several days riding towards La Paz.
Nearing the end of one day, I found a gate in the highway fencing and was about to head down the lightly used dirt road to make camp somewhere. The temperature had cooled a bit, but there was a steady right-quartering headwind. My butt was sore, legs tired... I was ready to eat and sleep. Taking a few minutes off the bike, I was recharged and ready to go. I wanted to try and do 100km that day, to make an easier day to La Paz. I pushed on.
There was lots of highway fencing, and it was difficult to find a spot to camp. Light fading fast, I saw a market and decided to ask them where I could camp. They kindly offered me to camp in the back, and I accepted. I camped under the carport, next to some cars. On some concrete for once, it was nice not to deal with wet sand or dirt/dust. Curious younger guys, Jesus and Benjamin, sat with me in the dark as I cooked dinner. They don't speak a lick of English, and we struggled to communicate in Spanish, but we had lots of laughs.
At one point, Benjamin said "Asi como tu hablas, asi hablan en las peliculas". I had no idea what he was saying and even when he wrote it down, still didn't get it. It wasn't until I reached La Paz that Suzy told me it means basically = the way you speak, is like how they speak in the movies" - I thought that was funny.
I cooked breakfast in the morning, and started packing up, trying to get to La Paz early. The mother invited me in for breakfast. I was so full, but couldn't say no. She gave me a homemade machaca burrito, that was so delicious. After, I packed up, and as I was getting onto the road, I looked over to see the woman and her grand-daughter(?) waving goodbye to me, with big smiles.
I've been in La Paz the past couple days. Staying with couchsurfers Peter and Suzy. Suzy is a local, that grew up here. Peter is from Austria, that has some interesting stories of his recent time hitch hiking. They are both a lot of fun to hang with. We went to the beach and tried to play frisbee in the gale-force wind yesterday.
I spent the morning on the usual wild goose chase, trying to find a bike shop to get parts for my front wheel. I finally found "Ressel's", and for only 190 pesos (about 16 bucks) rebuilt my front wheel with a new axle, bearings, and grease. I've got to go back there in the morning for bearings for my trailer wheel.
Heading south tomorrow for Los Cabos (Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo) but first going through Todos Santos - a popular surfing destination :) Although it's more of a summer spot, hopefully I'll get lucky and get some waves. I'll return to La Paz, after doing the loop, then ferry to the Mainland.
Some Thoughts While Riding:
Mexico is not for the timid - you have to be aggressive and confident, or people will pass you up.
Noises while riding is a pet peeve of mine. Besides the usual bump or two of gear moving around, there are squeaks, rattles... other sounds that just start to drive me crazy. Recently my trailer wheel has been making a horrible rattling noise that gets so loud once I get over 15 km/h. Hopefully once I put new bearings in tomorrow it will be gone.
Reaching uncharted and unknown territory, the hallmark of my trip. I continue to cross more and more latitudes. This is the most time I've spent in another country (besides Canada which I don't think really counts). It's a great feeling to start feeling comfortable in a new environment, and blend in (try at least).
Speaking of latitudes, it's fascinating to see the contrast in climates on this trip. I've gone from forested wilds, through dense cities, snowy mountains, scalding windy deserts, oceans, lakes and everything in between. It's usually too slow of a progression to realize the change, but sometimes I'm riding and suddenly notice how different things are.
I don't blend in of course. I stand out like a sore thumb really. It's good and bad. I remember when I was at the lavanderia in Guerrero Negro, and hadn't realized that the time had changed entering Baja Sur. The woman said they were already closed, but that she could call and ask her boss. I heard her talking to her boss and mentioned that an American needed his laundry done. She said it was ok, and did my laundry that evening. Of course I'm glad that she did it, but it's not like I really want special treatment...
Some people have a pretty negative view of me on the road. There is no shoulder in all of Baja, so I have to "share the road" with the cars. I stay as close to the white line as I can. I've had some people tell me how I make it more dangerous for everyone else. I have something to tell them "what do you expect me to do, ride in the dirt? I mean how many cyclists are on these roads, you can't just slow down a bit, and wait for a good time to pass?" These people have no idea what a touring cyclist has to deal with on a daily basis i.e. driving steel in heat-stroke temperatures, rabid dogs in pursuit, menacing drivers... the list goes on. If they did have an idea, then they would know better, and make more of an effort to give me room and go around.
Of course lots of people love to comment on my surfboard that's with me. Bike touring is unusual to begin with, and I've never seen anyone pulling a surfboard behind them, on top of it. It makes me think of "The Matrix", at one point Neo is told it's never been done before. He simply responds "That's why it's going to work." - Exactly.
Dispelling more myths, rumors, and hearsay:
I heard from so many people that 700C wheels and parts are difficult to find in Mexico - not true at all.
There is limited selection in a lot of the stores. Some people said that I wouldn't find good coffee anywhere. All I say is, Blason.
Riding along the Sea of Cortez was strange. It was the first time while I've bike toured, to have a massive body of water on my left side, instead of the right.
I'm perpetually chasing summer on this trip, and sometimes, it's even chasing me.
I realized some time ago, that there are really no young people traveling down here. I think it's pretty sad, that there are even fewer Americans traveling down here. As usual, I run into a lot of Europeans, and Canadians.
The sun intensity has really increased the past couple weeks. It was so hot crossing the deserts. I'm glad to be getting off of baja, and although the temperature may not decrease any time soon, at least it will be wet. I've been told there are cyclists that cross baja in the summer - I have no idea how they survive.
The dogs continue to chase me. It isn't anything new, but much more common now. The
real interesting thing is that it's mostly domesticated dogs chasing me. Before getting into Baja, I always thought the wild dogs would come after me, but most of the time it's opposite; the wild dogs don't care, but the domesticated ones come running after me... barking and trying to bite. It's a good thing I moved my copper kick stand stick to within reach while riding. I've pulled the stick out many times now, swinging it to scare the bastards off. Twice recently had to make contact to a dogs head to make him get the point to leave me alone (at least they usually bark in advance before attacking - giving me enough warning to get ready for battle).
I need to think about it more, but I think there are whole days I go without speaking any English. It's a cool thought to me, and good, I need the practice.
Lots of people are so nice down here. I must have said it many times already. The drivers are definitely worse closer to the cities. On the open road, I get so many people honking, waving, saying hello... I actually, literally, get tired of waving. Maybe there is a lack of cyclists, or Mexicans are more friendly, I think it's a bit of both. I have had so many people wave, I tend to look down at the road more, conserve my energy haha.
A lot of times when I cycle through the small towns, people just whistle. It's like their way of saying hello. I started doing it myself.
People here are always happy to help me. I've realized though that even when somebody doesn't know where to go, they'll give me directions, it's not just a language barrier. I've been on enough wild-goose chases already and figured this out.
Mexico is not
that cheap. There are some things that are cheaper, but then a lot of things are almost on par with the states. I hear it does get cheaper when I hit the mainland.
Tally: 6 flats (none in baja so far!)
Happy leap day!
Kilometers ridden so far: 9,357.6
