Sunday, December 29, 2013

Mulege -> Bay of Concepcion -> Lorreto

Again, not quite sure where to start. It doesn't seem like I'd forget the smaller details of this tour, seeing as how my days aren't bogged down with work or anything too busy. However, the less I do and the more I ride, the less I remember and the more I forget. Anyway, I woke up on Christmas with no plans other than to share some breakfast with Rich and Melodi, two motorcycle tourists. They made some French toast, eggs and fruit salad. It was quite delicious and felt like something I'd have to eat back home. Rich and Melodi are great people! If you'd like to know about their journey, visit 2 Wheels 2 Live on Facebook. They're still in Mulege and let me tell you, they know how to relax.

After eating I packed up my rig, said farewell to Rich and Melodi and hit the road toward Coyote Beach, in the Bay of Concepcion. Short ride, just under 30km, but I knew that Bobby and Alix were staying there so I figured it'd be fun to share Christmas night with them. My stomach was still acting up, so the short ride felt much longer. After an hour and a half of riding I found the exit to the beach and soon after, Bobby and Alix's site. They were off having dinner with folks they befriended, so I just hung out and napped on the beach.

Later that night we were reunited once again. I met Cameron, Michelle and Deadra, Bobby and Alix's friends from Oakland, who drove down to say hi and to bring Bobby a replacement front wheel. We all hung out next to a fire with another couple, Brandy and Trevor until it was time for bed. Good times. I love falling asleep with the sound of waves crashing just yards from my tent. My stomach pain still was not settled and again woke me up several times throughout the night.

The next day was as lazy as it could be. I napped, ate a little bit and napped some more. Later in the afternoon, three more bicycle tourists showed up. We all ate some shrimp tacos together. Cameron, bought a bag of shrimp from a guy on the beach and like an assembly line, we de-shelled and de-pooped them. First time I've done that... Sushi chef is definitely cut from the list of occupations I'd enjoy having. The tacos were very tasty, though. Again, my stomach made me uncomfortable all day and I just couldn't sleep well at all.

The next morning led to a day I'll never forget. My stomach pain grew worse. I decided to make a break for Lorreto, the next town, 107km away. After riding for 30 minutes, I threw up the meal I ate for breakfast and with it all of the water I drank. I kept riding... I just wanted to get to Lorreto and to a clinic to help me diagnose the stomach issue. After throwing up my breakfast, I knew I wouldn't make it without nutrition and energy in my body. I stopped riding and prepared some lunch for myself. After eating and before getting back on my bike again, I threw up every bit of my lunch and once more, the water I drank. At this point I was in the middle of nowhere. My options were to set up camp without much water or to attempt making it into Lorreto. I realized it would be very, very stupid for me to camp without a good amount water, especially if I would just throw it all up. I decided to use what little energy I had to keep pushing. In between lunch and getting into Lorreto, I was startled by a car horn and the feeling of the wind as it zoomed passed me. I was in the middle of the road when it passed and I realized that the car horn had woke me up and that while on my bike, my eyes had closed and I was falling asleep. I was seriously dehydrated and exhausted. The sun was blistering with no clouds in the sky. My body was shutting down, however it soon surprised me. I was hungry and dehydrated, but the last 20km just flew by. My legs kicked into another gear and I was zooming. I felt brain dead and like I was on a small dose of acid, but my legs felt like an engine. I was telling my dad on the phone that I think it was my body going into survival mode, putting all of its energy into the muscles that were being used to get me to a safe place. Really bizarre feeling. After 6 hours on the saddle, I coasted into Lorreto and called my folks. I didn't have service until this point. It was a struggle putting sentences together. I was completely shot.

Unfortunately, this day just couldn't end on a good note. I went to an ATM to withdraw cash for a hotel, so I could use the cash I had to pay for a visit to a clinic. "Your card cannot be read." Worst feeling in the world. The magnetic strip on my card was scratched and couldn't be swiped. I can't withdraw cash. Awesome, right? No, not awesome at all. Sadly, the cheap hotels in Mexico only take cash, which I needed for the clinic. I found a ritzy hotel that was able to manually enter my card number, so fortunately I did get a room. This whole thing would've been easier to deal with if I hadn't been on the verge of collapsing due to dehydration and complete exhaustion.

The next day I went to the clinic. Before I go further... IN MEXICO YOU CAN PAY $50 AND GET MEDICAL ATTENTION IN MINUTES. ON TOP OF THAT YOU'LL GET RESULTS IN JUST HOURS. !! IN MEXICO !! WHAT THE HELL AMERICA!!!! GET YOU SHIT TOGETHER! PUT YOUR POLITICAL RIVALRIES AND BULLSHT ASIDE AND HELP THE PEOPLE THAT NEED YOU F****** HELP!!!

Okay, continuing, I got my results and because of eColi, I was suffering from Travelers Diarrhea aka Montezumas Revenge aka the Aztec Two Step aka A PAIN IN MY F****** ASS! Sorry, long week. Anyway, the doctor advised against antibiotics and told me to rest and drink drink drink. Electrolytes. Electrolytes are key!

Now, back to the money issue. My folks have a back-up card of mine, but it's going to take awhile to receive it down here. They wired me some cash via Western Union. I was going through town hitting up the banks that offered WU services. Closed. Closed. Closed. It was Saturday. I asked some military dudes where I could go and within seconds they were helping me load my bike into their truck. We zoomed off, me sitting in the back of the bed, total Mexican style, with four military dudes holding automatic rifles, wearing camo and full face masks. Classic. I was just going with the flow and despite the language barrier I knew they were helping me. Five minutes later we pulled into a small parking lot and there it was, an open Western Union that was closing in ten minutes. Immediately I knew the military guys knew it was closing and got me there in time. It is closed today, so if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been able to get money until tomorrow, which would have left me without money for the weekend. Thank you, Mexican Military, you saved my day!

Now for today, I woke up and am feeling a bit better. Well, much better. I slept all night, uninterrupted. Another good night tonight and I might be ready to hit the road again. Less than 400km to La Paz and a ferry which will take me to mainland Mexico. Crazy. Almost done with the Baja.

All for now. Peeeeeace!





















Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas in Mulege

Well, I'm still in Mulege. Several reasons why. After my last post I came down with a horrible stomach issue. It wasn't painful and certainly didn't make me feel "sick". It was uncomfortable and, well, lets just say I wanted to be close to my room. I didn't eat anything but apples and bananas for two days, sucking down as much water as I could. Although it still lingers, I feel much better as I'm writing this. Another reason, it's beautiful here. The weather has been terrific and has made relaxing and being lazy pretty fun for me. There are also several other hotel guests that are either on a bicycle tour or motorcycle tour. We've all ended up here for the holidays and have really enjoyed each others company.

I haven't taken any pictures since my last post, except for a few of the sky last night. There were thousands of birds flying around and together almost blackened the sky. My iPhones camera couldn't capture it all, but I was able to take a few decent shots. The pictures don't show the whole story... There were soooo many more birds that weren't captured in the pics. Anyway, they're below.

Pretty crazy being away for Christmas. Not only will I miss spending time with my family, but also everybody in my life Ive known longer than a week! Small sacrifice, I suppose... The timing couldn't have been better for this tour.

All for now... Merry Christmas you fine folks! Bye.





Saturday, December 21, 2013

More pictures of Mulege

Still hanging out in Mulege... I ran into another couple on a bike tour. They're from Spain and are on the longest trip I've heard of so far. From Spain they rode to Frankfurt, flew to Alaska, rode south along the west coast and just pulled into Mulege. They spoke great English so it was nice to hear about their trip... Started in March and they expect to be done in another 10-12 months.

I went adventuring through town again this morning. I went to the Mision de Santa Rosalia de Mulege, a 300 year old Mision founded in 1706. After that I followed the river that runs through town, which leads to the Sea and a very old, abandoned lighthouse.

Anyway, short post today... Just wanted to throw some pictures up here.

Also, thanks AGAIN to Judy Igoe for donating to my tour a second time. Thanks for the Christmas present, Judy! You rock!















Friday, December 20, 2013

Rest day. Mulege.

Really laid back time in Mulege. Rodney, a motorcycle tourist from New York is staying at the hotel. I met Rodney in Guerrero Negro. He's on an indefinitely long, self-sustained motorcycle tour around the world. Starting in New York about 7 months ago, he's made it here. Cool to run into him again. Two other motorcycle tourists are here also. Rich and Melodi, from Washington. We're all on the second floor of the hotel, which has a great communal kitchen area and deck. It's kind if an adventurists headquarters right now.

In the middle of that last paragraph, the French couple on recumbents were being taken to their room. It's really fun reuniting with folks from the road.

Anyway. Here's a few shots of our headquarters and the view of Mulege it offers.



Thursday, December 19, 2013

Santa Rosalia -> San Bruno -> Mulege

Great couple of days. Left Santa Rosalia around noon yesterday and planned on finding a place to camp before getting into Mulege. Bobby and Alix went to play music in the street before leaving, so Shawn and I took off. Really great ride yesterday. After about 30km, we came to the exit for San Bruno. It looked like a quiet little town and from the highway we could see access to the beach. We tried our luck, rode down there and ended up right on the shoreline. Couldn't find any decent spots to set up a tent, so we went a little further to the tip of a little peninsula. I hollered at some folks to ask if it was safe to camp. They told to us come onto their property and set up camp in their backyard, which was basically a miniature, private beach. On top of that, these amazing folks (Joe and Gloria) invited us to their dinner party to hang out and feast on lasagna and salad. Had a few beers and filled my stomach. Had a really great time last night.

We woke up this morning to Joe telling us that the coffee and breakfast would be ready in a few minutes. Shawn and I broke camp and then ate a delicious meal of bacon, eggs, tortillas, beans, salsa, and potatoes. We were completely spoiled and, well, it felt terrific. Joe and Gloria split time between San Bruno and Palm Springs. They've slowly been building onto their home and property in Mexico. Amazing people!

On the beach, I found what seems to be half of a broomstick. I've turned it into a replacement flag pole and also a kick-stand. Folks, the kickstand is a game changer. I love it.

After breakfast we hit the highway. After maybe 10 or so km we ran into Bobby and Alix. We all made it into Mulege around the same time. Not sure where they ran off to, but Shawn and I found the cheapest hotel yet, and it's nice! 150 pesos. Around 13 bucks. Probably going to stay another day to check out the town and surrounding area. A lot of history here.

After hanging out in town a bit, I ran into some more adventure cyclists. A couple from California. Due to time constraints, they took a bus here, to Mulege, to begin their journey. These guys are on fat bikes. If you're not familiar, fat bikes are AWESOME! They have much wider than normal tires, some as wide as 5 inches. To put that in perspective, it's more than twice as wide as a typical mountain bike tire. It allows for extreme off-road riding, which is perfect for the Baja. They'll get to venture deep into the deserts, where nobody but them could reach on a bicycle. Really cool.

Want to give a huge thanks to Mark Bell. Mark donated to my blog and with it, I'll get to take more time to explore this really beautiful town. Thanks Mark! Super, super kind of you man.

Pictures in the post below.

Peace!

Just pictures.

Pictures of the Sea of Cortez and Mulege, after Santa Rosalia.























Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Santa Rosalia

Just a quick post tonight. I spent the day exploring Santa Rosalia. It's the biggest town I've been in since very early on in Baja. It has a really neat feel to it. The town sits along the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez and is the start of a little stretch of riding along the coast on the east side of Baja. Pretty cool journey from one side to the other. The pictures below were taken today while roaming around town.

While exploring the city I caught up with the French couple, who had just made it into Santa Rosalia. We stopped at the only ATM around and there we ran into Shawn, the solo rider from the San Ignacio camp. Shawn and I decided to stay another day and split a hotel room. It's great to be able to lock my stuff away and tour on foot. Also, by splitting the cost I made it the cheapest room in Baja so far.

After putting everything in the room, I went out again to walk around the area. Maybe an hour into strolling around, I ran into Bobby and Alix playing music on the street. They managed to make some good tips and even scored free food. Anyway, I told them where we were staying and later on they showed up and got a room. Again, oddly enough, we met again.






















Monday, December 16, 2013

Vizcaino -> San Ignacio -> Santa Rosalia

The wind couldn't make up its mind through this entire stretch! It was 75km to San Ignacio from Viscaino. San Ignacio is literally an oasis in the desert. The ride started off ideal. Flat roads, almost no climbing and a helping wind. The landscape didn't change for 50km. I just put myself into cruise mode and kept pedaling... everything looked the same and there was little around to keep me entertained. It's tough to remember what I was thinking about, but it definitely wasn't about the wind I'd be facing later that day. The last 25km gave me brutal headwinds. It was near torture trying to pedal through it. I stopped a handful of times with hopes the wind would pass, but eventually realized I'd have to make it to San Ignacio with the wind. Anyway, I made it. What an awesome place. Out of nowhere the desert turns lush green. Date palms everywhere with dates falling from them. The campsite I wound up in had natural dates littered everywhere on the property. Really cool. I pitched my tent right next to a river and really enjoyed hearing the water roll by all night. It was great.

In the morning I discovered that three other adventure cyclists were camping in the same campground. A solo guy, Shawn, and a French couple... I can neither pronounce or write their names. The wind didn't let up all night and was still there when we woke up. We decided to stay another night after the campground owner, Manuel, offered to let us sleep in the house on the property. No electricity, water or a bathroom, but it was amazing to be out of the wind. I went into the town this day. It was absolutely beautiful. There's a 300 year old mission right in the center of town. It was really a treat to see. Definitely the oldest structure I've ever seen. Later in the day, of course, Bobby and Alix come rolling into camp. We just keep running into each other. As we were cooking dinner, another group of 4 riders came to camp. We had 10 adventure cyclists in our spot. Super awesome! The most cyclo-tourists I've ever spent time with in one place.

The next morning, this morning, we all set off with our own agendas. The French couple and Shawn left first, then me and the group of four... Not sure if Bobby and Alix stayed or kept going. I passed everybody about halfway through the day, pushing through intense headwinds once again. They did let down, though, maybe 25-30km from the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez. The last 15km were incredible!!! One of the most incredible descents I've ever been lucky enough to enjoy and a wonderful view of the Sea just prior to it.

Another great few days of bicycle touring!