Day 131: El Salto to Durango

October 31, 2014

52 miles

Exito! Success! We have finally completed 40D La Quota from Mazatlan to Durango! 4 days of gruelling hills starting at sea level in the jungle, rising up to the alpine forests, and continuing on across rolling plains and rocky canyons to the arid Mexican highlands. And we have logged our first 50+ mile day in over a week.

At the end of the day we sat in our hotel room sharing a giddyness that can only come from bike touring. We all agreed that Mazatlan to Durango is extremely difficult, but also extremely rewarding.

When we woke up this morning there was frost on our tents. This made me happy because I have completely missed Autumn, the Minnesota kind that I know and love with its crisp biting air. I feel like I found it 2,000 miles south, and 9,000 feet up in the mountains.

Black Hills feel.

Nobody ever told us that Mexico has spectacular canyons like this.

This is in the running for the Most Meaningless Sign award. Considering we passed multiple toll stations, talked with several highway officers, and that this sign came up only after a hundred miles of riding, I think it is senseless.

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!

Waterfall at the first place we considered staying at.

Must ford river to get to the house.

Chickens, corn, and a beautiful autumn evening.

Day 129: 40D Quota to medical headquarters

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 29, 2014

42 miles

Jungle folliage

Some of the tunnels have these vents/natural lighting arches in them.  

One of many crazy spiders.

Imagine living here. Photo taken form one of the many many bridges.

At the tropic of cancer again!

Yay!

The longest tunnels have lights and fans and the whole deal. This was one of the previous few downhills we had.

More jungle vistas.

This guy is supposed to be monitoring the electronics and computers for the tunnels. I saw him walking around the mountainside with his machete. 

First suspension bridge. This is the small one.

Bike. Tunnel. Bridge. Mountains.

This is the big bridge. 300 meters from deck to ground.

And then my camera died, obviously overwhelmed by all the beautiful scenery I forced it to take in.

In the morning my shirt was completely soaked, but I hardly cared because it was so beautiful out. By the afternoon the temperatures had moderated since we had climbed so high. We tried to camp behind one of the electronic stations for the tunnels. The guy gave us permission after asking his boss. Then the boss showed up and had us get in his truck. He took us to the quota headquarters where we were able to sleep inside with the medical team who were on the overnight shift. They were very helpful and a lot of fun to talk with.

Part of our mission for the quota is to record and publish information that is helpful for cyclists in the Philtron's blog. When we took the ride in the truck, we skipped about 10 miles of riding. That means in order to accurately record everything, we will have to ride back in the morning (without packs) and cycle the part we skipped.

Day 128: Mazatlan to 40D Quota

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 28, 2014

Day 128: 32 miles

6000 Miles!

The quota has sexy shoulders and the smoothest pavement. A cyclist's dream.

Mountainous jungle. So hot and humid it was one of the top 5 sweatiest moments of my life.

Pueblo in the mountains. Note the bridge in the middle of the photo is the "Libre" the non-toll road from Mazatlan to Durango.

First of many, many tunnels along the toll road.

Jason and Daisy conquering the hill.

We wild camped 32 miles from town at this spot.

And so we concluded our first day on the Mexican mainland. We did fewer miles than I anticipated, but I'm not complaining because the hills and heat are too intense to go any further.

Day 126-127: La Paz to Mazatlan via Ferry

October 26-27, 2014

There are few certainties about bicycle touring, but I think I can be certain about this: You will accumulate a massive Karma debt. Our La Paz hosts, Jerry and Celine, were incredibly kind to us: hot breakfasts, hot dinners, food recommendations, and a snorkeling guide connection that was superior in every way to the company we had originally planned to go with. Jerry had even more recommendations, but we didn't take him up on all of them. 

So a big thanks to Jerry and Celine for helping us to maximize our time spent in La Paz!

But it was time for us to continue to the mainland, and so we said goodbye and made our way to the ferry. 

This ferry is much more oriented towards cargo transportation than tourism, like the British Colombia ferry. As such, we had to cram our bicycles into a small control room without touching any of the buttons, knobs or switches. And we had to leave room for Menno, Spencer, Kate, and a fourth German man who we would meet later.

A semi truck is backing into the tunnel in the middle. 

The ferry is an 16-18 hour ride that goes overnight, leaving at 5:00 pm. They provided dinner and breakfast, which was better than I expected. They played movies and so I watched Gravity, which everyone else told me was a ridiculous plot and too far fetched to be a good movie. I got caught up in it and was really excited. Then I saw a picture of the sunset I missed because I chose to watch the movie instead of going up on the sun deck and I got mad at myself. 

While everyone else slept in tents on the deck, I stayed inside to take advantage of the air conditioning. I slept in the chairs, but judging by my the foul mood I was in when we arrived in Mazatlan mid morning I did not sleep well.



The sleep was so poor and our ability to conquer our chores so diminished, we switched plans and got a hotel. Once again I was able to successfully save 50 pesos by bargaining it down! The hotel reminded me of a Mexican themed Hogwarts, beautiful and with lots of mysterious passageways and staircases to explore. And all of this was for less than 500 pesos, I think. There was a jankey cieling fan and the beds were a little worn, but no matter. for less than 50 bucks you can get 4 beds, wifi, and beautiful hallways, courtyards, and views.

You should see this thing in action. It is terrifying. We turned this fan off before sleeping under it.

Day 125: Snorkeling in La Paz

October 25, 2014
0 Miles

Snorkeling has been at the top of my to do list for La Paz, and we were extremely fortunate to have our hosts set us up with two amazing guides who created an unforgettable day on the ocean. This was truly a highlight of the trip. Throughout the day I reminded myself, this is happening, this is real life. 

First we went to a place where whale sharks gather to eat krill and plankton and whatever else it is that they eat. We were unlucky and after 20 minutes of put putting around we gave up and headed for  Isla de Isantu and to swim with sea lions. They sound really funny, like they are all belching at each other. They are also very graceful and friendly in the water. We got within a meter of some of them as they played with each other around the rocky island.

This is a small rocky island off the tip of Isantu.

Note the gap in the island. We were able to snorkel underneath it and so were the sea lions. That's where you could get really close to them. 

Next we went to a beautiful beach on Isla Isantu and swam in the shallows. No stingrays stings this time!

The boat we road. Our guide Leo at at the bow and Israel at the stern.

And after the shallow beach we went to another unique beach that has a pool of freshwater flowing into the ocean. The guide said he had never seen so much water pooled up there. There were also many little crabs scurrying around the sand.



Then we went to a coral reef where I found interesting shells and a starfish on the bottom. And we did some more playing around with the shoals of fish. Finally, we went back to the spot where there were supposed to be whale sharks. We stopped there on the way out and there were no whale sharks, but on our way back we saw the fins of a whale shark poking above the water, and a group of snorkelers swimming alongside it. We were not as successful as the other group, but most of us were able to get a glimpse of it while snorkeling. I got a good view of its back and tail fin as it swam underneath me. It was so big I wasn't able to see the whole thing at once! And then it dove deep and we did not see any more.

Menno and Spencer had GoPro cameras that could go underwater. Here is the link to Spencer's blog that hopefully will feature some of those underwater photos. He hasn't updated it yet. I will put some of Menno's pictures up on a separate post after I look at them and organize them.

When we weren't swimming in the water we enjoyed each other's company on the boat. This truly is a great group to travel with, I feel very fortunate to have met every one of them.

It was blue day.

Don't you want to know what she's talking about? Leo at helm looking for whale sharks.

The true Mexican experience.

La Paz is a trip highlight for sure. We could definitely stay longer but more adventures are down the road!