Cycling with Kevin (2024)

21/02/2024

Mexico Day 41 - Mazatlan to Tepic - just hot boring rides on the toll road

This section wasn't much for ideal riding. The surroundings were pretty. But nothing amazing. Just open expanses to the west and distant ridge lines to our east. We have just kind of been town hopping on our way to start climbing the mountains. And boy did the climbing start.

The first stop was El Rosario. It was a tiny little town with a big church and cemetery in the center. Probably the most exciting thing for us there was our dinner adventure. Just when you're feeling good about your ability to understand and communicate in another language, something happens to make you feel good and stupid. We went to dinner, and it took 3 people to finally get our order. I'm still confused from that... but that's life.

Next up was Acaponeta. We got into town pretty early to shelter from the heat. Then, he went out to find some food to find that 90% of the town was shut down for what I assume is Sunday night church service. We ended up having some pizza and then calling it a night.

Ruiz was a more lively and interesting place. It seemed like a sudden change from a more European Mexico to a more indigenous Mexico. More people in traditional garb and a lot of handmade goods. Wandering around the market brought a lot of glances for us. I don't think they get many tourists.

Finally was the grueling climb up to Tepic. All of these rides so far had been incredibly flat. Then the last 30 km up to Tepic was suddenly up a 90° slope. Ok, it wasn't 90° but still. Really, it wasn't that steep. Or even especially hard. The part that made it bad was the 30+° heat and 5km/hr tailwind. Tess and I were both exhausted from it and got to town, ate, and got in some cool.

We have been staying in the hotel. Somewhat a combination of the heat (and subsequent desire for shelter from it) and somewhat because there isn't much camping availability. We don't tend to wild camp much. But up to Tepic hotels have been very reasonably priced and well accommodated, so neither of us really mind. I am looking forward to being back in the tent and cooking more, but for now, I'll enjoy this.

18/02/2024

Mexico Day 38 - La Paz and Mazatlan. A bunch of hard riding involved here.

No, it was really a restful time off in La Paz and a bit of a chaotic overnight ferry right across the Gulf to the mainland.

It just so happened that we were in La Paz for Carnaval. It was a lot of fun seeing it from a different perspective. Growing up near New Orleans, all I really know is Mardi Gras. So this was a nice change. It was a lot the same, with some minor differences. The floats and costumes were amazing, though.

There was also a little bit of sightseeing in La Paz. Anthropology museum, telling the story of Baja Sur from indigenous all the way through to post revolutionary period and becoming a state. Mostly, it was just enjoying some rest with a few bike rides interspersed in there

Next up was the ferry. So it boards at 4 pm, and departs at 7pm. Thankfully, this gave us plenty of time to figure out we didn't have the right tickets and rectify the situation before having to stay in La Paz longer. The ferry itself was...nice enough. I called the room we were in the cattle car. The ferry ride itself was 14 hours. And after about 8 hours on there, it just smelled like BO and fart. Sleeping was a bit rough. Lots of snoring and talking and not quite enough room to ever be comfortable.

For all of these reasons, we decided to stay in Mazatlan a night before heading out. The day in Mazatlan was mostly filled with walking around biding our time until a reasonable time to go to bed.

Now begins the next major chapter of the trip. Mainland Mexico. It feels a little surreal. Riding through places I dreamt on a map all of those days locked in an office or an apartment somewhere. It's kind of like a dream come true. Enough of that, on to Mexico City!

10/02/2024

Mexico Day 31 - Baja Part the Last - what a ride it's been.

I plan on doing a future post to reflect back on some of my favorite parts, so I'll hold off on that for now. Right now, let's talk about the ride to La Paz.

So I suppose I last left you in Santa Rosalia. I can get a little tunnel vision when I get close to a major destination, and this time is no different. I'll try to quickly wrap up the last 550 km quickly.

First, the coast ride from Santa Rosalia was a beautiful blend of cliffs and horseshoe bays. A lot of it is in protected inlets or sheltered by islands, so there isn't much surf, which also leads to quite shallow water. We waded out some 100 feet and were still in knee-deep water. But it's all crystal clear and makes for some beautiful views from the cliffs above.

We ended up in Loreto longer than planned. We intended to overnight there, then take a short day the following day. My bike, however, wanted a day off. On the way into Loreto, I broke a spoke and rather than bodge it together, I brought it to the shop. While it only cost 100 peso, it did take quite some time. We got to the point where we either had to evacuate our campspot or pay another night, so we just bit the bullet. Loreto was a nice place to be though. A very walkable and lively. Chock full of tourists/expats but quite enjoyable place to spend an extra day.

Out of Loreto we but off the last bit of desert riding.for Baja. The ride from Loreto to La Paz is 350 km. We'd originally planned it for 4 days, but after our extra day off, we decided to tackle it in 3. The only cities between were Ciudad Insurgentes and Cuidad Constitución. Both quite close together around the first 3rd of the ride. The ride overall was quite flat and we had a tailwind for the majority. For doing 120+km per day for 3 days in a row, it really was quite easy.

Now we are in La Paz and will be taking some time off here for a bit. A little rest time. A little planning time. A little more rest time. We are thinking of taking the ferry the 15th, but not totally decided on that yet.

So this pup? Or wait....I'm out of space. Pup talk in yhe comment.

03/02/2024

Mexico Day 23 - San Ignacio to Santa Rosalia - Flat tires abound

Not for me, but can't seem to keep any air in her back tire. 3 patches yesterday and one today. Dude! What are you doing.

We did about 75km through mostly desert, but as we got closer to Santa Rosalia, it got a little more mountainous. We passed just south of Las Tres Virgenes. Three extremely prominent volcanoes sticking up out of the desert. We could see them coming all day and finally went around the southernmost one and got a view of them from the back side. They were stunning.

After we went over the pass, around the volcanoes, it was generally a descent down to the coast. The landscape changed from scrubby desert plants to more sandy and grassy. The rock formations seem to change the instant we crested the pass. It's always so amazing to me how two sides of a single hill can be so different.

From the pass we cruised another 10k or so down the coast to Santa Rosalia. Santa rosalia was build by the kiting company around the turn of the 19th/20th century. The architecture very much resembles a goal rush town. With the exception of a metal church. We had heard about this church a little ways back. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel (of tower fame). I expected something much more grandiose, but it is rather simple. Moderately decorative fascia and some stained glass windows are all that really sticks out. The steel arches give the inside a very open feels. Maybe the coolest thing about it is that it was built in Paris, moved to Brussels, then bought by the mine and moved to Baja. I don't think I've ever been in such q well traveled church.

02/02/2024

Mexico Day 22 - Gurrero Negro to San Ignacio. It's been barren for so long, the sudden lushness was a bit striking.

For any of you that like to follow along pictures the order for this one will be 5&6 then 3, then 2&1, then finally 4. You're welcome.

I could post 4,000 pictures of the environment the past few days and I don't think anything would really show how barren it's been. From the time we left Gurrero Negro it has just been flat desert wasteland. It had it's charm for a bit but eventually for me the sun and heat got a little relentless. At least it was flat though. Along with the terrain there has been little opportunity for distraction along the route. There was 1 town in the 150km between San Ignacio and Gurrero Negro. We were planning to eat lunch at this restaurant but it has been abandoned for quite some time. (Don't worry future cyclists, I took it off google.)

Then, suddenly, wr got to San Ignacio. San Ignacio is situated at the confluence of 2 rivers the flow out to a lagoon. This lagoon is a winter hideout for some more grey whales. But up here what you're met with is pristine blue water and huge groves of date palms. I'll say again, the sudden change was striking. Also in San ignacio is the Mission. It was completed in 1740 by Dominican missionaries. We have apparently been passing by a bunch of missions that are just ruins now, and we are getting to the territory that they are still standing and we'll maintain, so expect more Mission pics to come. Sorry, I'm not sorry.

Are you keeping up? Do you know whats next? La Casa de Ciclista. It is a rather small and spartan bike hostel. There are 2 rooms to rent and you can camp. There are 3 other cyclists and one other traveller here and we have the place full. It is nice to be with some other cyclists for a bit. They're all doing the divide so our experiences of baja are quite different, but I think that just makes the sharing better. Only problem is they're all Canadians. I swear they're invading baja.

So after today, we are headed down the east side of baja for the first time. We have about 4 days on the coast before heading back across. Hoping to do a little beach swimming

31/01/2024

Mexico Day 20 - Cataviña to Gurrero Negro

A bit of a catch up post because I'm to lazy to actually stay up to date. The ride from Cataviña wasn't too remarkable. We overnighter behind an old Pemex then carried on towards Gurrero Negro. We did a 130km day to get to Gurrero Negro. At Gurrero Negro we crossed the border from Baja California to Baja California Sur, and also crossed into a different timezone.

Most eventful thing of the past few days was our time in Gurrero Negro. We decided to take a couple of days off here to enjoy some civilization. Gurrero Negro is also home to a lagoon used by grey whales to calve. We took a little tour out on the lagoon, and i personally was amazed at the number of whales. It got to be a little overwhelming. Trying to look at one that was surfacing, only to hear another blow behind you, then someone on the boat call out that one was breaching in another direction. It was amazing.

I have a million videos and pictures from the boat, but the largely all look the same and none capture how close and friendly and playful the whales were. Anyhow, it's very much worth the stop.

We are hitting the road now to cross BACK over the Peninsula and over to the gulf side. I'm looking forward to a few days on gulf beaches. Hopefully, they'll be warm enough to take a dip.

27/01/2024

Mexico Day 14 - el Rosario to San ignacito

A day of wind for sure. From the moment we started down the road, we got hit with a heavy headwind. As we progressed, we turned further south and got to more of a cross wind. All the same for a short mileage day it was very tiring.

We stayed at a restaurant both nights between Rosario and San Ignacito. The one in San ignacito was considerably more hospitable. Not that Helyken wasn't nice. The welcome here was much warmer. And had some niños y perros to play with.

Now, we head further into the desert with a promise of more high wind. The forecast is all crosswind, but it's never all anything. A few more days to Guerrero Negro and a bit of a respite.

27/01/2024

Mexico Day...it's complicated - Santa Maria to just past El Rosario

So...the story goes ... I got stuck in Santa Maria for 5 days while I got a new hub. The freewheel on my old one broke, and it free spun in both directions. I braved the local bus to get back to Vicente Guerrero to get to a bike shop. Unfortunately, they had no hubs and had to wait on one to get shipped. Also, unfortunately, the bus stopped running early in the day, so Tess and I ended up abandoned in Lazaro Cárdenas and had to call for a ride from our host. A few days later, the shop called to say my hub was ready, and I boarded the bus again. This time, it was a full-on flood, and none of the farms were calling for workers, so the busses weren't even running. Once again, I got stuck in town and had to call for a ride. No more busses for a while. I'm much better at riding my bike than a bus.

So, picking up from Santa Maria, we left heading towards El Rosario. It was a wonderful ride. After days of not riding and frequent rain, we had a perfect 46km ride in beautiful sunshine. A slight tail wind and no extreme climbs. It was one of my favorite days of riding. Mostly just because I'm back moving again.

In El Rosario, we stayed at the Hotel Sinahi. Not in a room, but we camped at the hotel. Well, we did have a room, but we camped. It was all quite weird. The hotel also functions as a campground and rv park. But they don't have separate facilities for campers. So they gave us the keys to a room to use for the bathroom. Unfortunately, once we figured this out, we already had the tent up. Otherwise, we would have just slept in there. We got a fair night's rest, except for the traffic noise echoing in the hotel courtyard.

Out from El Rosario is where the real desert started. The cactus is just a little teaser of more to come. They're everywhere. And they're huge.

And now, for the studious few still reading (jeez get a life already), the picture at the table is the crew that was there in Santa Maria most of the time. Going around anticlockwise, starting with me: Kevin, the host. William, Kevin's son. Brian, Kevin's brother. Marie, a French volunteer English teacher.

18/01/2024

Mexico Day 6 - Vincente Guerrero to Santa Maria - 41 km

As the distance shows, it was a quite easy day. A flat 40km. We have been I tentionally doing pretty short days the past few days. We both were very lazy over the holidays and want to give our legs some time to get warmed up before we start chucking consistent 90km days in the mix. But this one was really short. Mostly due to us riding further the day before.

The scenery was still 90% farms. One thing I can't get over is that there is no natural water anywhere here. All of the rivers look like the 3rd pic. I don't know if it's the time of year or if everything is just marshaled into irrigation channels. But the result is clear. There is no wild water here. The first ground water we saw was this flooded road in town. I can only assume there is a subterranean water leak. It hasn't rained at all, and judging by the quality mud produced, it's been flooded a while. I had to do some real acrobatics to get around one spot.

We are staying at a Christian mission. A guy named Kevin has a place set up here to assist with education and childcare for the itinerant farm workers. We went by and saw the daycare, school, and lodging they have set up. They have 1 other cyclist here and a few volunteers. It was nice to just sit around chatting for a bit last night.

After the chatting, though, it was time for business. We are about to hit a very remote and dry section of road. For the next 450km there are only a couple of towns. And what towns there are are sparsely supplied. So Tess and I arm wrestled for a bit and came up with a plan that seems to work pretty well. I will say that despite the lack of water and food and amenities, I'm looking forward to some remote time. The chaos of these farming towns is wearing on me. Never thought I'd be ready to be out in the desert, but I'm ready to be out in the desert.

17/01/2024

Mexico Day 5 - 77km from Llano Colorado to Vicente Guerrero.

It was a pretty uneventful day. Mostly just riding through massive industrial farms. As we got deeper into them, the traffic picked up and got a bit hectic. The semis bringing produce around, the school busses taking workers to and from, and the smattering of cars and pickups in between. It got pretty busy. As we got into towns, we got a small respite as there was sometimes a lane or shoulder for us. Otherwise, just fending for ourselves. With that said, 98% of the drivers are very courteous and patient. Not nearly the amount of rude impatient drivers as we would have experienced in the states in the same conditions.

After a quick stop at the grocery to re-up the chorizo supply, we carried on. Finally , I got to Emiliano Zapata, our planned destination. We turned off the main road to head towards camp, and we met with sandy hills for about 5km. I personally wasn't having any of that. So we called an audible and went on to the next town and got a hotel. It was nice to do laundry, sleep in a bed, take a hot shower and all that. But ultimately, I would have paid twice the rate just to not do 10k of hills in sand.

16/01/2024

Mexico Day 4 - Uruapan to Llano Colorado - 62km

I'm starting to settle into a routine. Wake up cold, read for a bit, cook breakfast, enjoy some sunshine, finalize plans for the day, pack the bike, and go ride. This was no different.

We pulled out of the hotsprings pretty late in the morning the mountains finally started showing themselves in gradient. We had a few decent climbs but nothing too steep or long. Just enough of a climb to reward you with a nice view of the valley below and mountains beyond.

We stopped for lunch and groceries in San Vicente. Ordering lunch had been an adventure at first. Its all quite simple, but a lot of the roadside places are a little different. But we are starting to get the hang of it now. And for those wondering, it was birria, but I'll try to do better at capturing some food.

Then it was an easy 11km to the windery we are staying at. Best i can tell, the windery is fairly new, or at least in the midst of a big build-up. They will eventually do tastings and such, but they let people camp here for free. When we got here, there was no one around, so we just kind of wandered around bit and then made ourselves at home. Then came the other part of the routine. Rice and beans dinner and an early bedtime. I'm not sure I've seen 8:00 pm the last 3 days.

15/01/2024

Mexico Day 3 - Ensenada to Ejido Uruapan - 40.5 km

All things considered, it was a pretty easy ride. Short distance, not a ton of climbing, and fair enough traffic/road conditions. Leaving Ensenada, probably somewhere around El Maneadero, traffic got a little chaotic. Everyone was courteous and careful, but it was the first insight into the potential chaos of Mexican traffic. There were somewhere between 2 and 4 lanes, depending on your interpretation of "lane," and cars were kind of going every which way. But like I said, it really wasn't too bad. Everyone was nice and courteous, and we mostly just peddled on through.

As the road turned east, we started getting into the mountains. I think this is the first time I've ever ridden into the mountains without riding UP as I went into the mountains. We just kind of stayed in a valley and ended up surrounded by mountains. I wish it could always be like this.

So we camped at these hotsprings. It's probably the nicest camp spot we'll have for a while. For entrance into the hotspring, you get camping, power, water, picnic table with awning, showers, etc. Mind you, entrance is 80 pesos. It's a pretty good deal, I say. So after a soak in the pool, we made dinner. The last picture is a good feel of what camp looks like virtually every night. Stuff hanging everywhere. Bags strewn about. It's a bit of a mess. But it all gets cleaned up in the morning and loaded back up. Speaking of, it's time to get going.

14/01/2024

Mexico Day 2 - to Ensenada. Right about 50km.

The riding was pretty smooth. One big hill, but nothing too steep or crazy. The weather during the day is about as good as you can as for. Bright blue sky, full sun, and 16C. It's hot in the sun and cool in the shade. Perfect.

When we got to Ensenada, our first goal was to get a sim for Mexico. After only minimal miscues and langusge struggle, we got new sims and were on our way. Next, we piddled around town for a bit, mostly just wasting time until check-in. We'd booked an airbnb since it was only slightly more expensive than sparse campgrounds. Once settled, we walked down to the docks where there was live music and vendors selling stuff.

We went walking around town some more until it was time to eat. Then came the real struggle. Normally, we'd look on Google, find a spot that looked good, and then pop in. Our struggle was that Google is apparently massively outdated. Almost without fail places we picked on Google didn't exist.

About an hour into this exercise, we decided on the little hole in the wall place. We sat down, ordered a beer, and ordered food. And then....they told us the cook was sick and they wouldn't be able to make our food. Then he came right back and said they would be able to. Crisis averted.

So we ate then came home and went to bed (after watching a little Mexican tv).

Fun note, at the dock in Ensenada, there is a 50 METER flag pole. There is no flag on it right now, but I looked at pictures, and it's a huge flag on a huge pole. A 50m pole is huge. I wish the flag was up.

13/01/2024

Mexico Day 1 - 73km from San Ysidro to Alisitos.

Overall, the day was good. The weather was perfect, the road was busy but not too hectic. Just a lot of goofs on our part. So the biggest one was crossing the border. Somehow, as we went through the first time, we never got our visa. We ended up wandering around Tijuana for an hour or so, trying to find where we could go to immigration. Ultimately, we had to cross back into the US, then cross back into Mexico. The second time through it was rather obvious who to ask for a visa. There were people around that weren't there before. It was all very confusing and aggravating at the time, but all in all, only a few hours setback.

Once we were officially stamped in, we made a beeline through Tijuana and over to the coast. We planned on staying in Puerto Nuevo, but apparently, that campground is closed. Luckily, there was another only 16km away.

We set out tent up right beside the bluff but ended up moving it. The wind was much too much out there, and it was going to get pretty chilly. Also, it was Friday night, and people here like to do that small town thing of park up, drink beer, and listen to music. Well... we were in everyone's favorite parking spot. So after about an hour here we had a car on either side of us blasting music. It all died down early, though, and I was asleep at a reasonable 8:00.

12/01/2024

Short and simple one today. Tess and I are camped just north of the Mexican border and will cross early in the morning. We randomly decided today to go through Tijuana rather than Tecate, so hopefully, the chaos isn't too bad tomorrow.

Right now, we are sitting at camp playing cards to a symphony of helicopter rotors that patrol the border. Dollars to donuts, it goes on all night.

So tomorrow starts a new chapter. First real miles of 2024. First new country in quite some time. First new language. So many new landscapes to explore.

30/11/2023

Well, I guess I've been gone long enough, and this is over due....a quick recap to finish up the California trip.

I took some time away from Instagram for a bit to just enjoy the flow of the trip. Reflecting in these posts is nice, but it also does take time away.

So in Monterey, we met up with a big group all heading down to big sur. We traveled for 3 days as a group of 7 before everyone eventually split up. Tess and I kept riding with Cordell down to LA.

The ride down the coast was amazing. Some of the most beautiful coastline and even a few glimpses of nice riding. Some of the towns got a little hectic, though (looking at you Laguna)

So Tess and I got to San Diego on November 14th and headed home the 16th. I'm now hiding out in Mississippi enjoying family time for the holidays.

This is just a break. We will be starting back from San Diego in January (not sure when exactly though)

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to getting back on the road.

28/10/2023

Well, now that my fingers are fully thawed out, I can type again. Joking. But not. It got cold up there. Between the multiple freezing nights in a row (and worse yet freezing mornings) and road/campground closures, Tess and I decided to forgo Yosemite and head for warmer days.

We spent 2 nights in Lake Tahoe. That was our first day off in almost 2 weeks. So the day was spent industriously watchs SVU and eating cookies. I mean, I don't think I left the room all day. It was helped by the fact that it was raining/snowing all day. So outside didn't hold much appeal for me. But mostly, I just needed a lazy day.

From Tahoe, we struck west to get out of the mountains. Made out way over Echo Summit, then downhill most of the way to Sacramento. We camped last night in Folsom. After all of the cold days full of climbing, a warm day full of downhill was a welcome treat. And we're not even done going down yet.

We are making our way to San Francisco, and we should be there in 2 or 3 days. We are generally taking the US bike route 50. I'm not sure what the plan is yet in San Francisco, but we may take a day to play tourist.

Now that we are headed to the coast, I can feel California wrapping up. There is still a lot of country to go, but I can see the border approaching. I'm not ready for it to be gone, but I'm also happy with the progress.

PS: we stopped in Placerville for lunch. What a weird little hipster/tourist town. Words can't quite capture it. I think maybe it's best captured in our lunch selection. I had a pizza sandwich. pepperoni, sausage, ranch, pizza sauce, all on texas toast. She had a pot sticker (it's not a cheeseburger) cheeseburger. Complete with dumpling, miso, chili sauce, on a brioche bun. Who comes up with this stuff.

22/10/2023

Making our way on through California. From MT Shasta, we headed down to Lassen National Park. MT Shasta gave us some beautiful views in the rear view for most of the ride out of town.

We tried to take the rail trail arpund Shasta, but it was just thick, loose gravel. We were averaging like 5 mph, so we got out of there and went on some forestry roads before getting back on the highway. Then we headed down to Burney.

In Burney, we took a half day off to relax some. All of the climbing and building altitude were starting to wear us out. Burney Falls was a nice little detour off the bikes.

Jusbefore Lassen, we camped across the road from a big lava tube. The tube was 1300 ft long with little interpretive signs. The pictures are obviously taken with flashlights as it was pitch black in there. And a brisk 48°

Lassen was....pretty good. The park was beautiful but all but shut down for the year. All of the campgrounds were closed. We ended up having to get a backcountry permit to camp. We hiked about a mile in and camped beside Shadow Lake. As the sun was set, we were greeted with some beautiful views of Lassen Peak, which we were right under.

Now, we are making our way to Lake Tahoe. Should be there in 3 days. Then, take a full day off. The weather is getting cooler, and we are starting to get a little rain, too. The big question is how much more of this mountain riding we can handle before we throw in the towel and head to the coast.

17/10/2023

And thus ends my ride through Oregon. Yesterday, we crossed into California. Had to cross on the interstate since all the roads around here run through ranches and have gates... but I'm jumping ahead.

So I crossed over the mountains outside of Portland to get to better weather. It definitely was drier. As you can see from the pictures, I left the lush forest behind for high desert. The first night out of Bend, I was camped around 5,000 ft and got my first frost of the trip. It snowed in the area that night around 7,500 ft.

The stretch between Bend and Grant's Pass was pretty, but definitely, the highlight was accidentally being in the path of the eclipse. I knew it was coming but, for some reason, had assumed I wouldn't be able to see it. Then I saw an inforgraphic NASA put out saying Eugene Oregon would have it at 9:18 and got myself ready. It was cloudy, but I found a little break in the clouds and did the best I could. It was still an awesome sight.

From Grant's Pass, we mirrored I-5 for a while before finally having to get on to cross the border. All told we did about 10 miles of interstate riding before getting back off onto the old highway. From.here we are headed to Mt Shasta to see what that's all about, then carrying on south and east into the mountains. Lots of hills ahead.

Cycling with Kevin

21/02/2024

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