Guadalajara 3

(This part is a bit redundant from our last post but oh well)
Leaving Paul and Alexa's house took basically all morning as we woke up to find ourselves in a rain puddle on the tile floor of the roof.  Luckily there was a couple hours of good sunshine to help dry the tents before setting out.  We finally said our goodbyes to everyone early afternoon and made our way towards lunch since we had only been snacking all morning.  We ate at this wonderful cafe, ordered spiced coffee, meals and dessert.  Bryan, Maggie and Justin were our company and ended up being a lovely final meal before parting ways..Bryan and Maggie are off to Mexico City to stay with friends and Justin is spending some time in Guadalajara learning spanish.

From lunch we went over to Torry's (who has a place to himself for a little while) and met up with Peter, Paul, Sara and Pedro.  Pedro was in the middle of making a delicious Portugese soup with cheese, potatos, eggs, and a new kind of leafy green similiar to spinach.  Thanks Pedro! While we were there we used the internet to try and find a place to stay that night.  None of our couch requests were answered within good time so we ended up going to a the cheapest hotel we could find.  But as usual we made many wrong turns before finding the place.  Pedro and Sara came later that night as well and stayed in the room next to us (on the second floor too).  The room was in the middle of the hotel so it was nice and warm which dried out my bags from riding in the rain.

The next day we had to pick up our package at ups about 5km away and then we had arranged to stay on a couch that night.  Gres's house was about 7km away from where we picked up the package.  Normally thats a reasonable distance to bike but the sky had decided to start dumping on us and never really stopped.  The streets and sewers could not handle the amount of water so roads became rivers and lakes and we were biking through it. We left the hotel around 1 and spent a couple hours making wrong turns in the vague direction of ups.  We kept bringing our tablet out to show us where we were on the map but that became hard to do with all the rain.  Finally making it to ups, we were fronted with a wonderful extra charge of 1788 pesos to get our package that the ups guy said were mostly Mexican fees for importing goods.  Our package was only worth $215 too....just brutal.  Nonetheless we coughed up the money and received our Christmas presents.

The ride to our hosts's house was the absolute worst.  We made a major wrong turn taking us south instead of west.  The reason we were making so many wrong turns was because there are crazy complicated roundabouts, poor signage, it was pouring rain and anytime we stopped at an intersection some vehicle would drench us by driving through a puddle err..lake.  Normally we don't make that many wrong turns.  The highway we took south was super busy with barely any shoulder and because of this I nearly got hit by a semi, he came within 6 inches of me. All I could think of as I saw how close his wheels were was 'stay in a straight line.'  After that we stopped at a much needed fast food chicken restaurant for a bite before rerouting ourselves.

Flooded streets...this wasn't even the worst

Rigel looking dashing in his poncho :P

By that time it was starting to get dark and we realized we would be riding in the dark soon.  Instead of taking the more major roads we decided on a few secondary simpliar roads.  Our adventure for this leg of the ride (still raining I might add) didn't lie in wrong turns but in traversing an intersection.  Rigel stopped short seeing what was ahead but it was too late for me.  I didn't understand why Rigel stopped until I passed him hearing 'Just Keep Going!' The whole intersection was an ocean.  As I pedalled through it, it just kept getting deeper and deeper until I was pedalling through a foot and a half of water surrounded by cars doing the same.  The feeling of the water entering my shoes won't leave my mind.  The bottom of my rear panniers got soaked as well.  Rigel having stopped went off the road to the 'sidewalk' which was mostly old train tracks and crossed without too much trouble.  Until that point I was worried about getting wet but after that I didn't really care because all I could think about was 'I'll be in a warm house soon and I can change into dry clothes and everything will be better'.

Drinking a crazy delicious drink at a mariachi restaurant

 An hour or so later around 7:30 we finally arrived at the house.  We were greeted by a wonderful family that helped us dry off and warm up with a cup of hot chocolate, dinner and a hot shower.  They sure took care of us.  They gave us our own room and we spread out all our wet things to dry and went to sleep.  We stayed with them for two nights until the rain slowed down and our shoes dried (with the help of an infrared heater).  On Sunday we were ready to bike to Lake Chapala with Dave and Uschi.

Christmas!

Once we got to the house we were greeted by many familiar faces; Uschi and Dave, Justin, Torry, Paul, Peter, Paul and Alexa, and our newest aquaintance, Steve. Later that night and the next day Maggie, Bryan, Sara and Pedro arrived.  Sara and Pedro have been travelling through the states and then down the Baja since May and flew to the US from their home in Portugal.  Aside from the cyclists taking over the house, many members of Alexa's family were there too.

Amazon did an amazing job, delivering our christmas items promptly without additional charge

The house was basically a small mansion.  It is about 300 years old, or so I was led to believe and has been in a constant state of renovation since tthe family acquired it in a state of disrepair more than a decade ago. It is a two story with ceilings that go on forever, elaborate doorways, many bathrooms, large dining and sitting rooms, and two courtyards that connect the house. The second floor hosts the master bedroom, a sitting room and a rooftop terrace. The terrace is what we took over. Eight tents in total with once being a six person.

View from the inside door of one of the many giant churches

Our first day we walked around the market and gazed up at giant beautiful churches and cathedrals. We walked through one of them which housed one of Orozco's giant murals. That night we went out for quesadillas then spent some time with tequila and sharing our stories from the past couple weeks.  Friends of the family joined in so it became more of a party by the end of it.  And we had to make a second trip for more tequila.  

Rigel, left, Justin, centre, before an enormous Orozco mural on the ceiling

Christmas Eve we were told to take lots of naps and just relax becuase the party and dinner didn't start until 10pm.  So thats about what we did. It also started to rain off and on throughout the day.

Before yet another ornate church the Guadalajara's city centre area

In the evening we started into the tequila again, socializing and having a great time.  Lots more family and friends showed up to fill up the house.  When the rain started you had to start finding a better spot to sit as the bar and some hallways filled with water.  Delicious appetizers came out then a couple hours later the feast began.  The food was absolutely amazing! Roast ham, turkey, and chicken with three pasta dishes, wild rice with mushrooms, bread, three types of salads and ceviche crowded the dining room table.  For dessert warm pecan pie with ice cream, chocolate cake, and shortbread rounded out our bellies.

The dinner spread

After dinner Dave brought out his sitar and played for us.  The music was so relaxing; a perfect end to the wonderful evening.  

Dave entertains with the sitar

Christmas day began sunny and hot forcing me from my tent by 9am. The plan for today was to relax, recover and clean up.  Rigel and I looked at our maps and started planning a route for the rest of Mexico which has us splitting up with Bryan and Maggie as they are going to Mexico City and we to the coast.  Dave, Uschi, Pedro and Sara are planning on cycling down the coast so I see them keeping a foot in our story.  

Later in the day, avoiding the rain as much as I could I started the task of altering my saddle to make it more comfortable; cutting a hole in the middle of it. It was a little difficult cutting through leather with a serrated knife and a thin exacto knife but I managed with only a couple mistakes which I will have to fix later.  The reward for this risk being a wider range of sitting positions on my bike without crowding out soft tissues and causing eventual harm to myself.

On Boxing day Paul, Alexa and her immediate family were leaving to go back home to Minniapolis (Paul and Alexa are going to Mexico city to study and work) so the cycling gang had to clear out.  Unfortunetly the weather was not cooporating so it took much longer as everything was soaked.  Luckily mid morning we got a sunny patch in the sky so we could dry our tents out a bit.  Finally by 1pm we were on the way out.  Rigel and I still had not received our package from Jenson's yet so we gave some money to the Grandpa (who lives there full time) and went out for breakfast.  At the restaurant we saw the UPS truck drive by so Rigel raced back to the house (only 2 blocks away) but was about 5 minutes too late. The package came when everyone had stepped out and was gone again.  After much hastle we were able to redirect the address and have it sit at the UPS store for us  to pick up the next day.  After breakfast we wandered over to Torry's (who is staying a few blocks away) to spend the afternoon with good friends and wifi but especially out of the rain. Pedro cooked a delicious soup while we searched for somewhere to stay the evening. Our stay was also coloured by the stress of the ups situation as we took advantage of Pedro's and Torry's spanish language expertise and phone access.  

Having selected a hotel (the one Pedro and Sarah looked up with a reasonable price) we headed out for the night.  The next day in town to hold hopefully a different couch to stay on, a package, and more friends.

Guadalajara

We arrived by bus from Mazitlan after a long sleeper night on a comfortable, if cramped bus.  When we arrived in western Guadalajara, it was still dark and we unloaded our bikes and started assembling them (the wheels and bags had been removed).  The flurry of activity unfortunately masked the fact that my air pump that was attached by a velcro wrap had severed itself by splitting the velcro in transit. Dam.  That's the second important item I've lost in as many days to the failure of velcro as I also lost my bike seat cover in Mazatlan. And the severing of the velcro on my shoes has now been repaired atfter a good sewing session to reattach.

When we got our stuff together, we used the pay toilets at the bus station and then were on our way.  The ride into downtown to our couch for the night was not very long - maybe an hour or so - and we arrived just after our forecasted 12 o'clock.  Our two hosts, Selene and Michelle, are both native spanish speakers and have lived in Mexico their whole lives.

Michelle, Erin, and Selene in front of the Orozco-featured art museum

It was splendid spending time with them as we immediately took to eachother.  It was like having two best friends for the weekend to hang out with in their home town!  We hit up the street markets only a few blocks away shopping for gifts for Michelle's nieces and nephews, and a touque for Erin on those cold evenings.  We wandered the street market, and I sampled some crickets being vended out of big sacks set on the sidewalk and various imitation doughtnuts called churros. We arrived on Saturday morning, and decided to pass on parties and clubs in favour of a visit to Michelle's parents house where we tried traditional peruvian dinner (rabbit, potatoes, and rice - delicious) and drank tequila with various of Michelle's extended family.

Someone forgot to tell this manequin at the night market than Movember is over for the year

On Sunday, I introduced the girls to Dexter, letting him walk on my hand and arm and absorb the heat of my breath (the lack of fresh crickets has since lead to Dexter's demise - who knew that it would be so hard to find roaches and crickets in Mexico cities??).  We spent the day relaxing inside as Erin (inspired by the art at the museum?) further developed her water colour skills with instruction texts and practice.  She and Selene also worked together to design an expansion to Selene's belly tattoo.  In the evening we cycled like mad to meet Michelle who had gone on her own for the day to see a sick relative and gorged ourselves on delicious tacos and a taco stand well endorsed by the 10-15 minute wait caused by the line of locals eating there.

Saying our goodbyes to Selene (left) and Michelle (right)

Monday morning it was time to go to meet the many cyclists congregating at Alexa's family's place for Christmas so we packed ourselves up, said our good byes, and headed out.  On the way across town, we stopped at a Nike factory outlet store to look at clothing that is no longer simply overpriced, but actually somewhat practical given our currently very active lifestyles.  Unfortunately we didn't buy any as they are still overpriced :(.

Erin looking killer in a deceptively good looking athletic dress

After a short ride (though with much sweating as the humidity and temperature were rising) we arrived at Alexa's family's place for Christmas!

Mazatlan

We visited the tourist information booth in La Paz and acquired information about the different options we had for getting across the sea. The guy there was very helpful in calling around to find us information. We found that taking the frieght ferry would get us to Maztlan and be less expensive, although it was still 950 pesos.  The cost included dinner and breakfast.  We made our way out to the ferry terminal Monday around 1030 after fixing my Arkel rear pannier at Ace Hardware.  Arriving around noon we bought our tickets and waited. and waited some more.  The ferry didn't leave until 4. At about 230 they took us over to send our bags through the x ray then we waited some more while they loaded the ferry with trucks.

TMC ferry

After eating dinner which I think was made from scratch, we pretty much waited for the gravol to set in and went to sleep.  Bit uncomfortable trying to sleep on three airplane like seats but it was ok.

look guys... PELICANS!! 

Once we got to Mazatlan we wound our way to the seawall to start our route to our couchsurfers house.  We stopped at a little restaurant and had french toast with bacon mmm bacon.  and checked our emails.

Mazatlan is a pretty touristy town but very clean and welcoming. Along the seawall there were fishermen selling the days catch out of their boats so we stopped to take a look. Mostly because all around the boats were pelicans, gulls, and some other giant bird waiting to catch a nibble of the fish guts. The best part was when one of the fishermen threw a piece to a pelican, he ran away with it trying to gulp it down and in doing so another bird comes up and takes it out of his mouth..must be a hard life for a pelican.  We ended up buying some fish and crab claws and cooked them up once we got to our hosts house.  Ourhost was very welcoming and gave us our own room and bathroom. The bed was super comfortable as well! Thanks again Bryan!

Rigel, me, Bryan

We stayed there for two nights deciding to take the lazy stress free way out and bus to Guadalajara in a few days.  While we were there  we took my bike to Kellys bike shop (the first bike shop since the US) to try and fix the rear rack a little more.  The owner fixed it a bit but didn't do the greatest job on it so we shall see if it holds up.

After leaving Bryans we headed to the bus station to check times and prices then to our chosen hotel; Hotel Lerma.  On our first day in Mazatlan I was told about this hotel as being a really good place to stay that doesn't hurt the budget. So far he is right, although I think I'll charge my tablet somewhere else...

sunset on the boat

La Paz! The last of the Baja!

We began our day as early as possible while still getting a good sleep.  The day before it was really windy and awful to ride in and we hoped that by morning the wind would have died down but of course it did not.  The ride was hilly and slow. We stopped at a little store, got some pop and pastries then kept going.  A little while later Rigel stopped for a break and saw a small backpack on the side of the road. Picked it up, examined it, looked ok, and now its my new handlebar bag! I have been quite sad that I didn't have one and was just using a crappy mesh bag so this was a big upgrade.  Turns out its for a small child but you know..whatever.

Once we were past most of the hills and could finally see the ocean..Rigel noticed my front tire was a little low on air.  I checked it out and it was right flat. My First Flat! WOW! Deciding it was only another 20km to La Paz we pumped it up and kept going. After only 8km it went flat again and we were just passing through the military checkpoint so we stopped and changed the tube.  I used a new tube instead of patching the old one only because I've been carrying 3 extra tubes. I guess I underestimated how good my tires really are.

We had hoped to be in La Paz early but with the wind and flat tire this were not looking great.  Finally we got to the outskirts but still had another 10km or so to the centre.  We stopped at Wal-Mart (the first since Ensenada) to stock up on much needed supplies and I spent some time in blood sugar shock from not eating quick enough and only eating cookies till we got to town.  That and my stomach being upset from something else I probably ate, we spend a great deal of time in Wal-Mart. After I ate some good food and my stomach settled down we started out on the hunt to find cheap hotels.  The sun had set so it was much more difficult to find anything while avoiding all the bumps and holes in the road.  After checking probably 10 different hotels, all ranging from the springy bed type to comes with everything including breakfast, pool and hottub, we finally found the right one. We were told there was a cheap hotel down the street from the bed and breakfast we checked out but the street was closed to cars as there was a fair going on.  We thought yeah lets try and manouver our loaded bikes through a giant crowd..thats easy enough.  We didn't find the cheap hotel but we found Hotel Yaneka. The owner barely spoke english but was willing to negotiate his price.  It was getting quite late and we were super hungry so we settled on 380 pesos.  A little more than we would normally pay but it has been well worth it.  The whole place is filled with knick knacks. Just filled! But with organization. Which is important because you really wouldn't be able to move otherwise. You walk through the foyer and the rooms are in the back with a central coutyard.  This place has everything and anything and at night you don't get to see the breadth of everything because the lighting is quite dim, such as the preserved monkey sitting in a vintage shell of a truck wearing a hat. There is not much of a roof to the courtyard so many of the metal pieces are rusty but that just adds to the character.  And then each room had something different going on..different paintings on the wall..different furniture...different architecture.. you could spend weeks wandering around and not see everything. Best hotel we've stayed in ever.

Reminds me of Jack. 

Upon entering the hotel there is a sign explaining what is included. Amongst the normal hot showers and wifi there is laundry service, continental breakfast and of course two shots of tequila...each. I've had shop keepers offer one shot of tequila to get you interested in their stuff but TWO shots each. Jeepers. So he brought them out to us and we took them. After a long hard day maybe thats just what we needed. Tomorrow, we thought, we will figure out how to get to the mainland.

the view from our room

Found a video about the hotel on youtube as well, though it is from 2008:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qh7STb_TUA  

Day 2 of Constitucion to La Paz

Dexter is feeling much better after a drink.  He is much more lively.  While I was giving him water this morning at 5 am (before sunrise) a mouse ran up to investigate the open water situation.  The mouse was big, with a very long tail and a tuft of fuzz on the end.  He sniffed Dexter's leg, scaring Dexter so that he withdrew into his jar a bit and away from the water he was drinking, but then maybe the mouse noticed me because he ran off.

Dexter, on a brief hiadus from his peanut butter jar prison cell. He's feisty again and must want another cricket!

In the morning I had to remove a bunch of ants from my food bag.  A new menace!  I think they were after the cheddar which we keep out of a bag so that it can sweat and dry rather than molding.  So tonight we made quesadillas to use up the cheese and 4 avacodos too.  It also meant we didn't have to cook with water, which is important because this is the third night we've been out of the city in a row and we only have enough to fill the water bottles in the morning.  Today was a hot day, and both Erin and I found ourselves drinking more than the usual 2- 2.2 liters of water we drink while riding. We will run out of water in the morning and cannot use water to cook tonight to ensure we have enough to drink tomorrow while we ride.  3 nights on one load of water stretches us thin.

We met a fellow cyclist today named John.  He is riding from San Francisco I believe, and anyhow saw Bryan, Maggie, Dave, and Uschi yesterday afternoon at 2pm between Ciudad Insurgentes and Cuidad Constitucion.  That means two things.  First, they are a day behind us.  And second, John rides really fast.  Anyhow, we will either see them again tomorrow or the day after it seems in La Paz.  Whether or not we can get a ferry, we still do not know.
Tonight a giant moth Erin said is called a hummingbird moth took a liking to me.  It kept flying into me over the course of an hour.  It is HUGE.  About the size of a large hummingbird.

Santa Rita

Dexter the tarantula had quite  a meal!  He didn't seem to like the grasshopper I got him at all, but the cricket was quickly grabbed for a very pointy hug. In the morning, only cticket shrapnel remained.  Our campsite at the police station had a ton of bugs including scorpions and crickets so I grabbed him a second cricket but it was still there in the morning so I guess one gets him his fill.  We'll try another in a day or so.  All day he has been very lethargic which I hope is just his digestion taking the gusto out of him.  He is in an air-tight jar though (until we finish the jar of peanut butter we're on, and then it's upgrade time) so I try to give him some air a few times a day.  Erin, of course, is very excited whenever the tarantula jar is open and especially if it is pointed her way.  Oddly, she has been a big advocate for the well being of the giant spider.  She seems to feel that, as a wild animal, it would do well to be released in the morning as we're riding away.  What a sweetheart.
The ride was mostly uneventful.  The road was flat or rolling and very straight.  Very prarie-esque. We still hope to be able to board the Sunday ferry to the mainland even though it is reportedly full.  If we cannot get on that ferry, it will be more expensive and more complicated to make it for Christmas.  Of course, the hosts are only a couple days ahead so they're really in the same boat so to speak.  Time will tell.

High voltage power lines need to be maintained: this provides convenient in roads to the desert where we can camp!

Ciudad Constitucion

Starting out from our camp spot the road very gently sloped downward and with the wind perfectly behind us we were able to cruise down the road at 40km/hr easily. After a bit I started to notice a familiar sound; it was what sounded like the song of a meadowlark. Not sure if the birds' song was from a meadowlark but it sure sounded similar. Does anyone know if they migrate down here?  The terrain had also changed quite a bit going from cactus to bushes and grass and very flat.  For a while I thought I had stepped back into Manitoba and starting thinking about family and friends back home and how this is the first Christmas away.  Overall I had a very pleasant morning.

The meadowlarks (maybe?) like the prarie-esque weather and grasslands of the southern baja

Then we came to Ciudad Insurgentes and we took a nice break for an hour, ate some snacks, and I did a bit of maintenance on my bike. By 2:30 we made it to Ciudad Constitucion.  We decided we needed to wash out the salt from our clothes so we dropped our laundry off at the first laundromat we saw and searched for lunch and wifi.  We found both at this wonderful little pizza place and I was able to have pasta with alfredo sauce! I've only been searching for and craving alfredo sauce this whole entire trip. No big deal.
 Afterwards we donned our clean riding clothes, stocked up on water (20 litres between us) and started out looking for a good camping spot.  Much like back home, the sides of the roads in this part of the Baja are fenced off because of farmers fields; thereby making it rather difficult to find somewhere to camp without trespassing. We eventually came to a small town, asked an owner of a small restuarant where would be a good place to camp and he said we could stay in the plaza behind the police station.  Seemed safe enough, you know, behind a police station so thats where we stayed.  Since we are still terrible at speaking spanish, you can probably imagine how it went asking the officers if we could camp there. Its a very nice spot though, lots of trees and theres even a playground.  One of the officers gave me a pastry too.
Also..Rigel sort of kept that scary spider...in a jar...and feeds it crickets. Not Happy.

This is a poem Rigel made up a while back in California when his gears on his bike were in need of a tune up. We meant to post it much sooner, but here it is:

Twinkle, twinkle little gear set,
How I wonder what gear you'll pick.
Climbing up a hill so high,
Wiping sweat drops from my eye.
Twinkle, twinkle little gear set,
How I wonder what gear you'll pick.

Sierra de la Giganta

We ended upstaying a second night at Loreto despite the impending Christmas deadline to get south. This was for two reasons. Mostly because we were shopping for some needed bike and travel items like a replacement jersey for me since my white one seems to have permanent stains, as well as many replacement comfort parts for our bikes like bar tape, red tail light for erin (old one broke and fell off somewhere), maps for central america, replacement bike chains for when ours wear out, spanish lesson book, new gloves since ours are worn and splitting, some new bike chain cleaning tool, and probably a few other items. If you gave us money for Christmas you can feel assured that there will be some presents under our tree!  Speaking of which, on the way out of Loreto, a pretty funny choice for a Christmas tree in a cordon cactus was strung with lights.
The second reason we stayed, other than our online shopping extravaganza, was that Dave and Ushi were in town and staying another night since they had used a laundry machine and didn't have access to a dryer since the laundromats were closed on Sunday.  We met up with them for dinner and then icecream in the evening.  I was completely distracted by the sci-fi (men in black 2) on the movie channel at the ice cream parlour which just goes to show how exhausted I was in the evening.  Erin and I both benefited enormously from that nights sleep as the next day we put in over 80km including a severe up-hill climb for a good portion of it.  During the day in Loreto, I also patched Erin's rear rack which has broken.  Hopefully it is well anchored so it cannot bounce up and off of the supports that it is resting on near the rear hub.

a little ways after the top of the steep hill

We expected to ride out with Dave and Ushi, hence the waiting, but Dave ha been having trouble with importing the items he bought for Christmas (like new saddles) delivery and wrestling with the UPS and customs people by phone. When we left, we had not heard a definitive time when the issue would be resolved, but entirely expected Dave and Ushi to pass us on the long climbing hill.  They did not, so either we were faster than we thought or, more likely, Dave was having trouble with customs for quite a while.
During the ride, Erin hollared that there was a tarantula and asked if I wanted to see it.  She had ridden past it and it had been crossing the rode but when we rode back we could not find it.  On the plus side (I guess), Erin noticed another one at our camp when she went for a pee and was quite startled by it.  I proved my mousely worth by catching it in a jar... pet tarantula!?

Rigel named him Dexter :(

We hope to make the ferry to the mainland on Sundaythe 15th, though there is still some question about whether it is completly full or if we can still buy tickets.  Still, Tuesday to Sunday only leaves a very tight timeline to make it to La Paz. We'll need some good rides...

Loreto

Our ride from the beautiful beaches of the Bahia to Loreto was a particularly hard one after so many days off.  It was also over ninety kms of self punishment along rolling hills with a cross-wind.  Still, we made the distance we needed to and resolved to push the hill and get inland today.  We still hoped to get to Guadalajara for Christmas, and will need to average 80km a day to get there!

Loreto is a sleepy town of 14,000 with a historic district, several grocery stores, and beautiful views of the ocean and mountains. There is an island offshore that boasts fantastic scuba-diving, but I bet it generally has some incredible beaches that would be wonderful to while away some time at.

We got food, water, dinner, and a shower before our trip inland into the desert again.  After so many days on the ocean, a hot-hot shower was just what the doctor ordered.

Bahia De Concepcion #2

Erin and I left along with most everyone at our own time. It was sort of a shame that the group became so fractured, but at the same time it is nice to have some space after being with friends for so long.  Bryan and Maggie stayed behind to enjoy that same beach longer, while we planned to meet up with Dave & Ushi.  We didn't have any luck finding them where we thought we would at km 92 (92 km from Loreto) but we did find an incredibly beautiful beach to share between us.  Once again we were never charged to stay there.

We walked back and forth in the very still, very warm sheltered cove looking at the many sea sponges growing on pieces of shell in the sand.  We tried collecting shellfish to augment our dinner, and found one good one that wouldn't open, however when we tried pulling a second one we found open to check that it was healthy an octopus popped out of the clam shell and shot away after dumping ink in the water.  What a surprise that was! I also tried hunting sting rays with a spear but found that this beach had none!  It was full of fish 4 inches and smaller and tubular.  At least there were no super poisonous puffer fish here.  There were probably a hundred pelicans here crashing into the water from 4 to 10 feet high and then trying to eat their catches without being robbed by the many gulls hanging off of them.  The gulls were ridiculous - always bullying eachother and the pelicans and looking so goofy.

Erin and I parked the tent under a palapa here too. Many other people came by but only one group seemed to stay and they were on the other side of the crescent shaped sand spit beach.  This beach, unlike the last, had toilets but they were pit toilets in the worst disrepair, so much so that Erin and I were wary of using them as they seemed to be quickly moving towards collapse.  And no one wants to fall in that...

In the middle of the night (11pm? lol) we went out and walked a bit on the beach to witness the firing of the phosphorence.  I actually woke up because of a splashing noise that turned out to be fish jumping.  Why so many fish were jumping and so continually we're not sure,  but my guess is that they just couldn't see where the water's surface was due to the darkness.  Even the moon had set.  It's amazing how much light a starry sky gives.

Bahia De Concepcion #1

Bahia de Concepcion
Following our two days off in Mulege we (and the convoy) headed for the sandy beaches of the Bahia de Concepcion for some relaxation in the sun.  It was about a 22km ride to the beach we had in mind.  Playa Santispac is the second major beach on the strip and quite beautiful.  We found free camping on the north end of the beach with big palapas and stayed three nights.  People even came too the beach selling groceries!  Our tents spread far as we had quite a group of people: Dave (from Canada) & Ushi (from Germany) played the sitar and carcosonnone, Justin (from Vancouver) took great photos of everyone, Paul & Alexa (both from Minniapolis) spoke spanish fluently and offered us all to stay with them for Christmas at Guadelahara (only 1000km and 3 weeks away), Peter (from Canada?) played music on his bike, Maggie & Bryan shot fish with the spear gun, Paul (from England) spoke with his crazy British accent and had a bit different view of everything.

From Left:  Justin, Paul/Alexa (tandem bike), Rigel, Bryan, Ushi, Maggie, Dave, Peter, Erin.

What a paradise! From white sandy beaches, plenty of fish and shellfish (which we cooked on the fire) to palapas for shelter and, on the other end of the beach, hot springs sometimes too hot to stick your toes into.  Paul (an architect) decorated the fire pit with shells from the sand (of which were plenty) around the pit.  The result was very attractive!  The fellow that owned the beach (Marco) had chickens and geese that were absolutely crazy.  Crazier were the birds that would dive-bomb fish the ocean from 250 feet in the air like kamikaze pilots.

Boredom leads to wonderous achievements

And while cruising around we quickly realized that the many sting rays and blow-fish meant we should really be wearing shoes and watching where we step before going into the ocean.  In the mornings the ocean was very calm, but each afternoon the wind seemed to pick up and make the bahia choppy as well as shrouding the sun with clouds from the North East.  Still, each morning was dew and condensation free which was a real treat after the desert.  I tried using the spear gun and mistook a puffer fish for something edible.  Well, easily edible.  What a hassle trying to push a puffed up ball of poisonous spikes off a steel spear is. The fish lived and swam away - small consolation for not getting a real fish.  The mornings are definitely the better snorkel fishing time of day as the sea is much calmer then.

A puffer fish on a spear is a liability

Mulege

We left the beach at Santa Rosalia expecting to hit a store right away but ended up eating snacks on the road before getting to San Lukas not far along.  There we filled a water dromedary and got some other snacks and supplies.

The road was rolling, and went quickly.  We kept waiting for Dave and Ushi to catch up (later learning that they had a number of flats on the trailer tire probably due to cactuses in the desert at Viscanois and the beach sand dislodging the spines). The ride down the canyon into Mulege is incredible, and the palms and water give the area a hidden treasure island kind of feel.  Arriving in town, we ate ceviche and fish tacos (over and over for days), and located a cheap hotel in town to stay at - and so beautiful as to warrant another rest day!  The grapefruits off the tree were so sweet that they didn't even require sweetener.

Mulege is a land of mysterious memories for me as I spent time here with my dad twenty odd years ago.  The town tickled my memories while I was here and the heroic mulege archway spoke of old tales i'd heard here.  Mulege was once the site of a battle between the mexicans and americans in which the local regiment used tricks to keep the americans at bay until mexican reinforcements could arrive. Mostly though,the town has incredible seafood.  Yum!

examining the strange seed pods of one of the local trees

Santa Rosalia

The start of the days ride out of San Ignacio was a hard one.  The morning showed promise as there was no wind at all but once we got on the road and up out of the valley the wind was a howling. The first large hill was brutal. We were going straight into the wind and it was not forgiving. I was ready to call it a day 4km in. Luckily we rounded a corner and the wind died down a little but on most of the downhills I actually slowed down and had to peddle. A little frustrating.

Most of the day was spent on a very gradual uphill that made you feel like you would never gain any speed. Then we came to the steepest grade on highway 1. Those that got to the top of the hill first waited for the rest to show up in order for Maggie to film us all going down the mountain on her go pro.  Everyone sped ahead so I was basically the star of the show. The road didn't have any guard rails and had many sharp curves so it was quite scary riding down.  

We arrived in Santa Rosalia late afternoon, spent some time looking for a cheap hotel but never found any as they were all full.  Then a lady stopped to talk to us asking about our story and such.  Paul and Alexa are quite fluent in spanish so they did most of the talking.  They asked where a cheap place was to stay in town was, the lady didn't know of a place but instead said she would take us to a beach that her boss owns so we could camp.  We followed her vehicle there with quite the train of cars piling up behind us (because we were going bike speed, not car speed lol). We made our own convoy.

We got to the beach and only stayed there because we were promised a really gorgeous sunrise; the beach was extremely windy otherwise throwing sand everywhere.  Eventually the wind died down a little, and the temperature never dipped much lower than 20C so the evening turned out to not be so bad.

The sunrise we were promised definitely delivered

San Ignacio

Waking up in the morning Rigel wasn't feeling a hundred percent yet as his stomach didn't have anything in it anymore. We didn't have any crackers yet so I gave him a banana. I told him we could stay put so he could rest but he wanted to make it to San Ignacio.  I packed up camp and we set out stopping to get some electrolite drink at the next store to start rehydrating Rigel's system.  He didn't get sick again but was super tired the whole day.  Luckily the road was mostly flat with only some hills near San Ignacio so we kept a decent, although still slow, pace.  The roles were a bit reversed, so instead of Rigel riding behind me because I'm so slow, I was riding behind him pedaling only half the time.  It was a nice break from riding as fast as I can all the time. :)

We arrived in San Ignacio around 4:30, found everyone camped just on the waters edge in a campground.  San Ignacio is an oasis town filled with date palms so it was a wonderful change to the sandy cactus filled desert we have been in for the last week.  Everything was so green and lush.  Rigel and I made camp, had a light, no spicy in any way pasta for supper and took a shower.  The shower heads came out of the ceiling and used graviy as water pressure. The water was nice and warm and served its purpose.

Since the camping was so cheap we stayed an extra day to explore the town and let Rigel rest. We sat and watched Dave play his sitar in the morning then picked oranges and lemons at the old missions orchard before going grocery shopping.

Dave, a Calgarian, playing the sitar he hauls around on a cart behind his bike

the campgound with all the date palms

Vizcaino

We left Guerrero Negro fairly early (before anyone else) in order to stay ahead of the wind. It was about 72km to Vizcaino then another 73 to San Ignacio. We decided to wild camp just past Vizcaino.  The ride went by fairly quickly stopping at a small store to make lunch. Lunch for me was jam, avocado and cheese on a tortilla since I don't really like beans and salsa too much.  We made it to Vizcaino around 2 or so and ate again at this cool chicken barbeque restaruant.  It was super delicious. Rigel and I shared half a chicken and got fries, tortillas, and a macaroni salad as sides.
We met up with everybody at the restaurant then made our way out of town (which is bigger than you would expect from looking at a map) to find a good spot to camp.

Not far out of town they herded us towards the spot they had chosen.  It was not as stealth as Rigel and I would have liked but since we were in a big group thought it was ok.  We set up camp and then went around to all the pitayas with spoons for a snack.  We spent the evening in Ushi and Dave's 6 man tent before heading to bed.  Rigel wasen't feeling to good that day and ended up puking his lunch and dinner up several times throughout the night.  We wern't sure what caused it but thought it could have been the beans and salsa we have been carrying or an old pitaya.  We went to bed hoping he would be feeling better in the morning.

into guererro negro

for the last leg of our journey to the coast, we were immediately surprised when we were leaving our campsite and were met by two other cycle-tourists!  Virgil and Maryanna from France made their way down the cascade mountains from Alaska, south. Basically riding the highest altitude route they could find south.

The ride was another longer one, about 110km, and got excited to hear that there were yet two more cycle tourists on the road with us, on a tandem, though we had yet to meet them.  At the next town we caught up with the Frenchies, had some pop and talked.  The tandem went by! I didn't even see them. Then Virgil and Maryanne left town but we kept talking to a fellow headed south by van ( thanks for the avacado, Clayton) and continued on.  We shortly passed the French cyclists fixing a flat and then kept on.   They did not pass us again but we did get into town after riding behind the tandem a while! where are they?
Couldn't see them, parked,waved at them when we saw them but went for lunch.  Headed south. Once we got into Guererro Negro, some military checkpoint personel (hear they're looking for guns) told us a big group of cyclists rolled in about an hour before.  They would probably be our erstwhile companions. We started to go about looking for a good price on a hotel with a blog guide giving us the idea that 250 pesos is a good number to aim for.
We met Paul and Alexa (the tandem) at the second hotel we checked and grabbed their email planning to meet later at the taco stand across the street.   They are staying a rest day too; perfect!
Got a hotel room (300 pesos, wifi and hot water)  but it wasen't quite as nice as Paul and Alexa's, went for dinner and then to  bed.  What a day!

south of Punta Prieta

Starting out the next day it was still windy but it was much drier.  The day went by pretty quickly as well since the really really strong wind was mostly behind us.  Once we got to the Laguna Chapala area we really started to fly.  It was finally nice and flat with only a few rolling hills so we were able to cruise down the road at 40km/hr without tiring. It was really great to get where you want to go fast.  By the end of the day we managed to cover 109km.  We camped off the side of the road just south of Punta Prieta.  This was probably my favorite although most dangerous camping spot so far.  We pulled off the road and went down a bit of a hill so we were out of sight of the highway but this time there was no road.  We carefully maneuvered our bikes through the catuses until we found a decent clearing.  There were some larger not-so-spikey trees amongst the bushes of evil that helped to create a good spot but mostly if you stepped in the wrong direction you got pricked.
I was amazed how many different types of catuses were growing there; big big ones and really tiny ones that if you wern't careful, you would have a pant leg full of them.

The next morning we decided to try the catus fruit that we had been eyeing up. Turns out they are amazing and taste somewhere between a strawberry and a kiwi.  They are called pitaya. 

spikes surrounding our camp that the yummy fruit grows on

South of Catavina

The next morning in the dried up river bed we woke up to our tent completely soaked in dew and condensation. By completely I mean inside, outside and dripping onto my sleeping bag.  We don't know if it was the slightly damp sand that made it extra special or what but it was awful. I didn't really know how to deal with all the wet so I pondered quite a bit in my morning sleepiness.  Finally giving up trying to dry it all, I stuffed my sleeping bag and packed up the tent hoping to be able to dry them out later.
The ride into Catavina was quite beautiful as we entered boulder country.  Giant rocks everywhere. My Baja camping book described it as a photographers paradise and it certainly was.  I didn't want to get off my bike in order to take the pictures so I have learnt how to take them while riding. Sometimes they even turn out good.

We ate lunch in catavina at I think one of the only restaurants, and picked up some snacks and water (our first fill up in a few days) at the smallest grocery store.  Since this was the gas gap (about 315km) there were guys selling it out of their pick up trucks at a premium.  

We rode about 30km more then started looking for a camping spot.  We didn't ride very far but it sure felt like a long day.  We pulled off onto this little dirt road carefull of not riding over thorns and camped on the road at the bottom of one of the little hills. The road didn't have any fresh tracks on it and you couldn't see us from the highway so we thought it was pretty safe. But to make sure no one ran us over in the middle of the night Rigel put up a stick with his helmet on it at the top of the hill before our tent.  But I wasen't that worried.  It was also very windy that day which made setting up our tent a little difficult.  

West of Catavina

We  all left at different times in the morning, with Melanie leaving first at 7:30.  The mud on our wheels from a night rain stuck oppressively and I wasn't able to remove it all for at least another 100km.  Erin and I ended up getting out of there and rolling at 10:10am or so and I got my second highest speed (Even with the muddy wheel break) going 69.4 km/h on a  down hill. Erin said I was really crouched into my high speed corner. For my part, it was a bit like having a motorcycle again.
We had lunch at a little ranch turned restaurant and then headed out again.  Bryan, Maggie and Justin rode together and soon outpaced us.  Erin and I made camp a bit after the turn off to El Marmal, the old onyx mine.  the region is callled the Sonoran Desert Vegetation region and certainly included much desert like including barrel cactus, chollar,agaves, boojum trees and huge cardons.

Boojum trees seen against the horizon - they look right out of a Dr Seuss illustration.

We followed a dirt road into the desert, and found a nice sandy spot to camp in a dry creek bed.  It was a beautiful night, and we were out of sight of the highway.  Perfect!

Impromtu Cycle Camping

We started out early, at about 730 am, and had resolved to put in a solid day's ride.  We knew that we were going to be oing some big hills and that water access wouldn't be convenient so we had to pack a lot of water (Erin took 10 liters, and I took 10 liters, plus our water bottles and my back pack). The road was VERY hilly, and we had only done 30 km by 11:30.  Not bad actually, given that we stopped to take cute pictures of the enormous Cordon cactuses.

Cordon cactuses, largest cactuses in the world, get up around 75 feet.  HUGE!

When we got to the top of the hill (730 meter climb, not counting the ups and downs - ouch) we were greeted with a group of cyclists including Bryan and Maggie that had spent the day at that location as well as Justin, Paul, and Melanie that had started in El Rosario (de Ariba) in the morning with us.  We camped out together with them and another couple we had met briefly in Ensenada named Ushi and Dave. The nine of us knocked down spent agave trunks and piled them up for an evening fire along with enjoying the  hilltop view of the very unique Baja desert.  Beautiful.  And yes, the dried, dead agave trunks burn very nicely.

Ushi from Germany, and Dave from Canada.  The two have cycled thousands of kilometers together, and Dave cycles with his sitar and a mandolin.

El Rosario

El Rosario was a short 30km ride from our back yard camping spot.  We had resolved before hand to stay in El Rosario despite its short distance fom our starting place.  We got there at around 11am and went for (second) breakfast. We met an Albertan woman along the way, Melanie, and followed her lead in finding an in-town wild camp.  We ended up staying in a commercial building still under constuction ( likely to become a pub based on the signage we could see in the building). The building ended up being a godsend as it rained in the evening to no small degree. A few big dune buggies rolled into town to the restaurant and were quite entrancing as they were quite decked out for their obvious purpose.  These beast were meant for the all terrain approach to the desert.

The evening started with the three of us (Bryan and Maggie elected to continue on on their own) but we quickly gained 2 more as two fellows Justin and Paul joined us as well - two Americans! The night had quite a lot of rain, surprisingly, but none followed during the next day.

Ej-Valle Tranquilo

From the hotel we made our way to Vicente Guerrero to get some groceries from calimax on some nicely greased chains. We were greated by a parade in the streets as it was some sort of a holiday (in the middle of the week too!) As we rode by the people in the streets cheered us on making us feel like celebrities! The terrain was nice and flat and we had the wind behind us so we just flew down the road.  We had sandwiches in San Quintin on the side of the road in a park like setting for lunch.  Even though it had trees it wasen't very sheltered from the wind and dust.  Carrying on from there it was a nice ride on easy terrain and after ascending a hill we got to see the ocean again.  Every time we get back to the coast its like seeing the ocean for the first time.  So beautiful! We made it to the extremely small town of Ej-Valle Tranquilo and looked for camping.  There was a man hanging outside the little store who spoke a bit of english and offered his yard to set up our tents in. It was just down the road a kilometer so we accepted.  His house was still under construction but it gave us a wall to set our tents behind to get out of the wind.  We made some dinner and went to bed around 7 or so. Nice and late.

Camalu

The ride to Camalu had some long contruction areas.  They turned out paved roads into rough dirt roads in several sections for up to 6km.  The road was hilly in the morning, but the afternoon was a long series of rolling hills with the air behind us.  I had filled my water dromedary right up and so my bike was very heavy, and Erin was riding quite well and stayed ahead of me through much of the afternoon.  We were riding between 20 and 40 km and hour most of the afternoon.  Wooh!  Nice to make so much progress so quick!

We decided to treat ourselves to a hotel and visited a couple hotels until we got a price we liked (250 pesos for the night for a room for 2 people, not terrible).

San Vicente

The ride back down the dirt road was a lot easier than going up.  We had finished the 20km of ride back to the highway within an hour or so, and started just before 9.  The highway south had a couple substantial hills to welcome us back to riding as we were going inland following the Mex 1.  The wind, when it was blowing, was behind us but it was not very strong.   The downhill ride into Santo Tomas was so steep, I set a new speed record for myself of 74.4 km/hour.  Yow! I whipped by the town going 60 and missed Bryan and Maggie waving at me.  Erin talked to them and then met me where I waited a few kms on.  The highway has a lot of construction, including the first of a few bridges over dry rivers. The highway had an immediate detour around the bridge that was under construction - the detour was a dirt road running immediately next to the future bridge!  Amazing what you can do when there isn't any actual water to avoid.

Bridge under construction on Mex 1 just south of Santo Tomas

We ended up having our first Mexican wild camp.  We made it to just north of San Vicente and stopped near a ranch.  The building next to the road was just a cement shell without a roof, and covered in graffiti.  The area was fenced off with barb wire, so we pulled back the wire and lifted our bikes over it. Cimbing the hill was trying, but we didn't go far, just behind some trees and out of view of the highway.  We camped with the road runners next to the dessicated horse and cow dung (I've heard they're good fuel but we didn't make a fire).

Puerto Escondido continued..

We decided that while the Baja 1000 was going on this weekend we would spend a few extra days at our couchsurfing host's house.  On our last day we had lunch at Baja Mama's where we feasted on a wonderful buffet. We then went to check out the hot springs on the beach (had to bring a shovel). The water got so hot it was hard to step foot in but we managed to get a nice hot pool we could all sit in. All in all a great day.