7000 Miles: A cycling tour from Alaska to Panama: Day 130: Quota headquarters to El Salto

October 28-October 31

Mazatlan to Durango via Mexico Highway 40D: Quota

Just days after a trip highlight in La Paz, the Philtrons and I have had yet another trip highlight on Mexico Highway 40D: "The Quota" from Mazatlan to Durango. Quotas are toll roads, and to bicycle tourists that means excellent pavement, lower traffic, wide shoulders, and, if the road goes between Mazatlan and Durango, unbelievable scenery and North America's highest suspension bridge.

The road was extremely grueling. Maybe we were a little soft from being off the bikes for so long, but I think we can safely say that riding from sea level to 9,000 feet over the course of 200 kilometers through sticky jungle heat is indeed an intense ride. What made it more difficult was that we were uncertain of what services were available to us because the road is 1 year old and there is little development along it, and by its nature of a toll road there are few exits to the pueblos along the way. So we carried about 10 liters of water each at the beginning, almost 20 pounds of water weight.

What made up for the uncertainty and difficulty were two things: exploration and beautiful scenery. In fact they more than make up for the difficult conditions. I will elaborate with photos and descriptions.

The Philtrons' photos are even more impressive, and I recommend you check out their blog for these days because the scenery is so incredible.

October 30

Last night we skipped 10 miles of riding because the highway officers took us to their headquarters to stay. Because we want the full experience of the road, and Daisy and Jason are on a mission to document services and things of interest to other bicycle tourists, we decided to go retrace our steps and cycle the 10 miles we skipped. Without bags. We left all that at the headquarters.

First I had to fix some things on my bike. Something very sharp tore my tire along the side wall, which is some serious tire damage. Luckily I had some special patches for the tire that have held up so far. I also switched out my chain and adjusted my brakes. All good to go now! That kept me at the headquarters for a while and I only went about 6 miles back when I caught up with them as they were riding back up the hill.

Somewhere along the way the scenery transitioned from jungle forests to alpine coniferous forests. By the end of the day we were in the Black Hills, South Dakota. I swear.

Mountain scenery is starting to look like the Black Hills, but more intense.

Delicious gorditas for 12 pesos each, and the view comes with it.

They made a staircase for the water to go down so it doesn't wash out the road.

Quaint stacks of corn.

This is the most beautiful cloud I have ever seen.

The altitude, the headwinds, and the continuing uphills made progress slow. Exhausted, we took the El Salto exit to search for a place to stay. While inquiring at the hospital we met Manuela, who told us about a camping place. She said she would find us and if they charged too much she would let us camp at her place in the country. I had just paid the man to camp in the campground when she showed up. We were in an awkward situation of having to ask for our money back seconds after paying. Fortunately Manuela and the man knew each other and he gave it back without any hard feelings. I gave him a piece of rope that we had accepted as a gift from somebody else even though we had no use for it. He seemed even more excited about the rope than about the money.

"It's rustic," she warned us. It was, but we still felt like we were in a palace because they fed us dinner, let us use their hot showers, and in the morning had hot tea and coffee for us. Daisy and Jason shared photos of their trip and we got to see some of their photos and play with the baby, Enoc. If you like baby photos, click on Daisy and Jason's blog here to see some crushingly cute baby photos.

And so yet again the kindness of strangers turns an extremely frustrating day into a great day. Muchas gracias, Manuela y Maciel!